27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful Whimsical Book Of Self Discovery!, March 19, 2004
Only from a genuine son of Ireland could such a wonderfully whimsical book about a pilgrim's progress across its emerald expanse emerge. Kevin O'Harahas been alifelong friend of mine, as he grew up in a duplex on Wilson Street, a street or two away from me in quiet Pittsfield Massachusetts, the bright and charismatic son of struggling immigrant parents who had a heady brood of children, an Irish Catholic family so large that Kevin, Dermott and several other of the O'Hara boys caddied for golfers to get extra clothes money when barely into their teens. As a fellow afternoon paperboy along with his older brother for the local paper, the Berkshire Eagle, I gradually got to know the family pretty well, although they all went to the local parochial schools while we went to the public schools. And what a family of memorable characters they are!
Returning from Vietnam on the late 1960s, like many of us, Kevin was restless, and while attending the local community college decided to reward himself after graduation in the registered nursing program with an extended sojourn in the 'olde country', attempting to find his roots and himself, and hoping to end the wanderlust by exorcising it in the flesh. And though his leap of exploration took some explaining to his new young wife, he managed to carry it all off with a bit of blarney and bravado, setting out on an impressively improvised journey of self-discovery even as he discovered the Irish people themselves.
Indeed, what he discovered while shuffling across the land in the company of a donkey was the stuff of first novels; he was soon became as Irish as the rest of the denizens of the land of the little people, passing among them as one their own. After lolling about a bit and attempting rather humorously and disastrously to apprentice himself out as a thatcher, he eventually devises an ingenuous idea, to travel across the land with a donkey cart, retracing a old Irish tradition and living off the fabled generosity of the land and its people at the same time. In so doing, O'Hara unlocked a lot of doors, those of the trusting people who thrust open their doors and their hearths to him (and his four-legged friend), to aspects of his own personality that he had learned to bury over the years. On many levels then, this was a journey of discovery and liberation.
His footloose perambulation became a publicized event, both in local Irish papers and intercommunity gossip, so he often found people alerted to his approach and more than willing to exchange some food and shelter for a chance to both learn more about his own journey and the discoveries he was making about their fellow countrymen. Amazingly, many of the common folk he spent time with had never been far over the horizon, and were immensely curious about what lay over it, as to whether the neighboring counties were as clannish as they said, etc. So this psychically healing American-born Vietnam vet came to act as an ambassador among the Irish for the Irish as he wound his way through the valleys and hills of the emerald isle.
I remember being regaled with such tales more than twenty years ago whenever I bumped into Kevin, whether it be at the local pub or just on the street, and he would always tell his tales with a twinkling eye and a storyteller's gift. He has been struggling to reduce it all to print for all these years. The fact is that he has succeeded rather marvelously, capturing the essence of a land which is too quickly evaporating from our midst. Ireland is changing, and many of the aspects Kevin describes so lovingly herein are vanishing. This is, of course, all the more reason to treasure this wonderful set of essays and observations from a fresh, vibrant, and singular voice, a genuinely Irish American writer from whom we all hope we can expect much more. Hope we don't have to wait another twenty five years for the sequel! I highly recommend this book. Enjoy!
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Walking the Coast of Wisdom, March 5, 2004
At a time when changes in the culture of Ireland began making the legends of the Tinkers extinct, Kevin O'Hara took his experiences with alientation from the Viet Nam War and transformed his close observations of beautiful people and landscapes into a remarkable tale of healing and insight. Much like the Canterbury tales, O'hara's stories are enlightening, revealing, and close to the balance of human truth. He has captured the essence of places and experiences that will never pass this way again. These stories read aloud in a way that will make anyone an Irish story teller. It is eaily imagined that this book could make its way into every night time story, livingroom book club, library reading series, and literate pub in America, not to mention Ireland, where it captured the attention of an adoring public. These are the unique stories of a very unique man who has been spinning these tales for decades from well garnered truths and enrapturing his listeners with soul searching, vision, and amazing obsevations that is couched in deep humor. This is a book that cannot be missed and should belong in every book collection in America as well as across the pond beacuse this is werhe we find so much of what we need to recapture the humanity that has fast slipped away in the digital age.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Read this book!, February 13, 2004
This is an amazingly funny, cute, and touching account of a man's journey around the coast of Ireland. I toured the southern part of Ireland a couple of years ago and reading Mr. O'Hara's tale brought back memories of how beautiful the country is and how wonderful the people are. The book is combination of Irish history, geography, and humor. Reading this book makes me want to head to Ireland, find a donkey and cart, and set off on my own adventure!
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