Customer Reviews

Irish Stories for Christmas

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Note: Amazon has incorrectly linked this short story collection with an audiotape of the same name. These products are completely different, containing different stories. This review is for the audiotape, ISBN 1-57093-051-9. The audiotape consists of seven stories: "The Curriculum Vitae," "Spreading Joy and Jam at Christmas," "A Cock for Christmas," "The Magic Stoolin," "Many Years Ago," "Cider," and "The Great Christmas Raid at Ballybooley."

Anyone with a touch of the Irish (and who isn't Irish on some level, especially at this time of year?) will delight in this collection of down-home stories written and narrated by John B. Keane, famous for his novels and stories of traditional life in Kerry. Keane's Irish lilt and unfamiliar local vocabulary require careful listening--preferably at least twice to be sure that one understands all the words and the goings-on, though the stories are such a delight that a third or even a fourth listen is as charming as the first. Telling about Christmas among the residents of poor farm communities (who often don't realize how "poor" they are because of the richness of their lives), Keane creates a magical portrait of lives lived close to the earth and to each other.

In "Curriculum Vitae," he tells of a postman who defies everyone with influence and hires the poor father of an enterprising young daughter to be assistant postman during the holidays. "Spreading Joy and Jam at Christmas" tells of the wealth of jam that "makes" Christmas for a young girl and her mother. "A Cock for Christmas" is a love story of a Kerry dove and two imported birds who fly to Paris for the holidays, and "The Magic Stoolin" centers around a keg of porter which falls off a lorry and is hidden in a pile of turf so that it can become the centerpiece at a local Christmas party. These and "Many Years Ago" are all relatively short pieces, ranging from five to eleven minutes long.

The two longest stories are by far the most involving--"Cider" and "The Great Christmas Raid at Ballybooley" are classics for their revelation of Irish character. "Cider" is the tale of a young man of seventeen who has discovered hard cider, something he does not want his parents to know. His encounter with a banshee on Christmas Eve, while he is drunk, leads to a new understanding of his own father. "The Great Christmas Raid..." is a hilarious Irish tall tale, in which everybody wins--at the expense (not surprisingly) of the British. These stories are twenty-two and twenty-three minutes long, long enough to completely involve the reader in the magic of Keane's Irish communities and the warmth and humor of their spirits. For anyone who loves John B. Keane, the opportunity to hear him reading his own stories is priceless. Mary Whipple

The Field, outstanding book by Keane

The Field, film, bears little resemblance to book

The Bodhran Makers, a classic tale of the conflict between villagers and the "clan of the round collar"

The Teapots Are Out and Other Eccentric Tales from Ireland

This collection of Irish stories is a real favorite of mine -- John B. Keane gives us a peek into the rural country lives of his ordinary but colorful townfolk. Circumstances abound and never fail to produce a most humorous or heartwarming story. One particular story can always be relied upon to send me into fits of laughter, no matter how many times I read it!