Customer Reviews

Walk the Blue Fields: Stories

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

 

 

I suppose the first thing that comes to mind when I think of these short stories is that they have a strange relevance to today's uncertain world where the personal quests for economic, romantic and psychological security are ultimately doomed to failure.

The consistent theme weaving through these stories is that of a past that haunts the characters and is their ball and chain into the present and future. The stories revolve around familiar Irish subjects: shamed priests, writers, quirky women condemned as whores, and bored and destitute farmers.

The "Night of the Quicken Trees" combines most of these subjects and is the most compelling story in the book. It takes place on a wind swept plot of land overlooking the Cliffs of Moher, the last bit of Ireland until the Arran Islands. Steeped in mysticism, this tale involves Margaret's humorous and semi-tragic race against time to have a child to replace the baby she lost from crib death. Her decision to leave her home with her child and seek a safe haven from life's threats in the Arran Islands is the most spiritual and redemptive moment in the collection of stories.

"Irish Gothic" is how I would best describe the short stories. If Flannery O'Connor were still alive and visited modern Ireland, I think her reflections would be similar.

I was captivated by each story in Blue Fields. Claire Keegan has a rare and spare voice that manages to convey the sadness of the soul, the treacherous waters called love, the messy interconnectivity of human life as played out in rural Ireland. She recognizes also that resolution and redemption often escape our desperate attempts to find peace. I loved the book and recommend it highly, but be advised that these are not your Irish barstool yarns.

Claire Keegan's 'Walk The Blue Fields' has changed my mind on short stories. Like a secret threshold I crossed over into an old Irish world. The individual tales in this book reminded me of stories my own heart didn't know until the words came alive with sound on the page written with the Irish dialect that engages one immediately.

Ms. Keegan writes with an extraordinary and enchanting beauty and I felt transported and wishing for a return to Ireland and the feelings of attachment to my great grandparents. I also felt more connected to my own inner world and am grateful to this author for that, also. There was also a dramatic ending to the stories, a halt that has stayed with me and returns to me.

Lines as "But however she changed her behaviour, she could do nothing about her nature" from my favorite story "Night of the Quicken Trees" made me smile at the universality of such a truth; I see it in my counseling profession.

The stories in Walk The Blue Fields are not all light and that is what I liked about them, too. Real life is oftentimes a harsh mixture of light and dark. I also know my many writer friends will enjoy the richness of these short stories and I will give them a copy.

I'm so grateful that my son introduced me to Ms. Keegan and gave me her lovely book this very Christmas teaching me once more that this mother can learn from her grown child.

No Leprechauns here. Ms Keegan writes marvelous short stories that are beautifully written and deal with serious themes

Neat book of short stories and told in a very Irish voice. If you have never been and you want a taste of Ireland it's here. I enjoyed Ms. Keegan and the journeys she took me on and i will enjoy reading them again.

I have been to Ireland many, many times. My parents were born in Belfast. I believe all these stores are true. I just did not care for the book. All the stories had a sadness or inappropriate sexual undertone. Couldn't the author write about GOOD stuff. There's alot of good in Ireland also. The book felt creepy. It did not live up to the great review it had in the Wall Street Journal