The News from Ireland and Other Stories [Paperback]

William Trevor (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 24, 1987

A collection of short stories by the author of "The Silence in the Garden", "Nights at the Alexandra", "Juliet's Story", "Fools of Fortune", "Two Lives" and "The Old Boys".

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in London, Venice, Florence and rural Ireland, these 12 tales depict ordinary people in mundane situations. PW observed that "the author's insight into the human condition, coupled with his clean, spare prose, makes these characters and their predicaments vibrant and memorable."
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

These richly detailed dramas of small actions with large consequences will enhance any general fiction collection. These are stories of lost love, hope, and innocence, turning on a misinterpreted phrase or a misplaced handbag. Friendships split as revenge is taken on a Joycean scholar or is exacted by a lexicographer's daughter, in both cases destroying a life's work. The impossible love of two young girls for a dying boy becomes the wedge that leaves them passing strangerstourists, as many here, in their own lives. The stories are set in Ireland, England, and Italy; and the "news" from every quarter seems to be that no one escapes the evocative powers of memory, no one the past. Peter Bricklebank, English Dept., City Coll., CUNY
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition edition (September 24, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140105786
• ISBN-13: 978-0140105780
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)

More About the Author

William Trevor was born in Mitchelstown, County Cork. He has written many novels, and has won many prizes including the Hawthornden Prize, the Yorkshire Post Book of the Year Award, and the Whitbread Book of the Year Award. His most recent novel Love and Summer was longlisted for the Booker Prize. He is also a renowned short-story writer, and his two-volume Collected Stories was published by Viking Penguin in 2009. In 1999 William Trevor received the prestigious David Cohen Literature Prize in recognition of a lifetime's literary achievement, and in 2002 he was knighted for his services to literature. He now lives in Devon.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful Writing About Despair, August 11, 2001

By 

taking a rest - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: The News from Ireland (Hardcover)

This is the second time that I have read the work of Mr. William Trevor. In this collection of twelve short stories, "The News From Ireland", the Author once again demonstrates his skill with the short story format. The volume contains stories that have commonality, however they do not need to be read as a collection, they all can stand-alone.

The stories in this collection are nearly uniform in their bleak outlook on life. Many of the stories are dark, and others bear results that while lacking any physical violence are as destructive to those they target as any physically blow. One of he best is entitled, "Her Mother's Daughter". This is a story that is simultaneously about misplaced loyalty at the expense of desperate need that is very close at hand. The final action that takes place is as cruel an action in any of the stories although it can be argued it was the result of conditioning and not malice. As with the first collection I read the fragility of many relationships, and the ignorance that prevents the forming of contact until a destructive event takes place, is once again explored. The great difference this time is that there is virtually none of the redemptive aspects that were present in the first book. It is not a collection of tales that portrays the best in people, and it reads as oppressively as the storylines require.

"The News From Ireland" that titles the book is as strong as any of the tales, and divides its format between a diary and narrative. This is a wonderful set of stories that are all complete and self-contained, however when read together the Author's message is not so much repeated as it is reinforced as they are read. Marvelous writing, highly recommended.