The Dead Republic(The Last Roundup #3)
by Roddy Doyle
Many years passed between my reading of the first two books of this trilogy, A Star Called Henry and Oh, Play
That Thing, and my digging this out of our bargain bins at work. Here's what I remember about Henry Smart: he
grew up in extreme poverty in Dublin, joined the IRA at an early age, took part in the Easter Rising in 1916,
married his former schoolteacher, the ravishing Miss O'Shea, fought at her side during the Civil War, became a
political liability to the new government, fled with Miss O'Shea to America, where he befriends Louis Armstrong,
fathers two children with Miss O'Shea, rides the rails with his newly reunited family, looses them and his leg,
wanders off into the desert, and is saved from death by John Ford. This book takes up the tale from there.
John Ford recruits Henry to inform his story, The Quiet Man- Ford is enraptured with the story of his true Irish
Rebel, and pledges to make Henry's story into the movie. Once arrived in Ireland, Henry is infuriated to find that,
due ostensibly to Hollywood conventions, the story will go back to the original, sentimental story. Henry abandons
the project and returns to Dublin, where he becomes a caretaker for a state-run school, and is drawn into the
sectarian politics of the '60's. The deadly battle will be fought to determine who represents Irishness.
Essentially, what this trilogy examines is the question "What is the meaning of Ireland?", tying in nicely to Rebecca
Solnit's Book of Migrations, which I read a couple of weeks ago. Who says that there isn't a divinity that shapes my
reading, rough-hew it as I will?
"It wasn't just the message- it wasn't really the message - very few actually cared. It was the voice, the reminder of
who and what we were, Nothing. No blacks, no dogs, no Irish. We were nothing and Thatcher told us that every
time she spoke. She was in her hotel bed in Brighton when the hotel blew up all around her. She lived and climbed
out, a bigger, sharper version of herself. There would be no solution. The murder was there, like the rain, sad but
Irish. It was part of what we were, a big, sore lump on the tragedy. With the Guinness and the crack - we sold
it."|The third in a trilogy -- and the only one in the series I've read -- picks up the later life of Henry Smart, an IRA
hero, first in cahoots with Hollywood director John Ford, later as the mascot/totem/source-of-legitimacy for
1980s-1990s provisionals (though he is not exactly who they think he is). I was not really clear how the two halves
of the book related to one another until right at the end (the IRA had been image-making via Smart even during
hero, first in cahoots with Hollywood director John Ford, later as the mascot/totem/source-of-legitimacy for
1980s-1990s provisionals (though he is not exactly who they think he is). I was not really clear how the two halves
of the book related to one another until right at the end (the IRA had been image-making via Smart even during
the Ford section, though we don't find out about it until later). The dialogue is really good, and there's one really
lovely scene where Smart and another IRA veteran, both in their 80s, both not quite as legit as their handlers seem
to think, meet riding piggyback on the backs of footsoldiers, quietly agree not to rat each other out and part. Still,
kind of confusing and a bit too laden with symbolism for my taste. (OK, Henry Smart IS Ireland, but he's also a
character in a story, so let him breathe a little.)
|Pros and cons:
I can only see one minus in the story, which to me is the first part of the book. I found that part (if you don't mind
me saying) cold and hard to get in sink with the hero of the story. I do anderstand that that's the part when Henry
is not himself and is trying to remember and find himself. After reading little more then 100 pages I started
warming up to our hero, and from that point on I could not put the book down. I would like to see little warm
parts of the hero before page 100.
Wonderful story and it is so true. When you are a true hero you don't always walk around and tell people about it,
you keep it to yourself, and sometimes you do get credit for alot more then you did. Such is life.|Di Roddy Doyle
ho letto quasi tutti i libri, anche quelli per l'infanzia.
Adoro il suo spirito, la sua capacità di narrare storie divertenti e drammatiche, mescolando un sapore agrodolce a
personaggi realmente vivi e tridimensionali. Mi ha deluso solo poche volte. Anzi, l'unico libro che non ho
apprezzato moltissimo è stato Una stella di nome Henry. Al punto che non ho mai comprato il seguito (che, vado
a memoria, si intitola Un volto già visto o qualcosa di simile). Complice un po' di trascuratezza da parte della
Guanda, che non ha specificato in copertina che si trattava del terzo capitolo di una trilogia, ho comprato questo
libro davvero carico di aspettative.
Mi sono bastate poche pagine per riconoscere il protagonista, sempre ben tratteggiato, e riallacciare i fili della
storia, però, anche in questo caso, la lettura non mi ha soddisfatto appieno. Privo del solito umorismo con cui
smorza anche le situazioni più drammatiche, e con una storia che impiega troppe pagine a decollare il libro alla
fine è "solo" una bella ricostruzione della storia dell'indipendenza irlandese e del'IRA, delle battaglie con la Tatcher
e della trasformazione dello Sinn Fein in partito politico. Un tentativo molto ambizioso di tratteggiare la storia
dell'Irlanda, che non coglie completamente nel segno anche per colpa di un personaggio non troppo
comunicativo e di una scelta della linea temporale di narrazione decisamente eccessiva (al punto che Henry Smart
sembra un parente lontano di Highlander)|I highly recommend this trilogy to anyone who likes Ireland. Overall the
books are fun and maintain a light hearted air even though they are dealing with assassins, revolution, losing ones
family, and all sorts of heavy things.
In this book Henry Smart makes his return to Ireland where danger lurks at every turn. There is lots of reminiscing
about his involvement in the 1916 revolution, but as time goes on he gets more and more involved in the 1980s
IRA action (as a very old man). His relationship with his long lost wife is funny and heartwarming, and overall he is
still his old (i.e. young) self. There is a great deal of Irish history in this book in particular. Having been to Ireland a
few times, and Belfast most recently, I recognize a lot of names as real people involved in the violent political
conflicts.
It would not surprise me if part of the inspiration for this series was Forrest Gump. Henry Smart manages to get
himself involved in so many things and with so many people. Two good examples are while in America (2nd book
and beginning of this one) he hangs out with Louis Armstrong and Henry Fonda.
This is a great trilogy that I would say on the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. The first book is full of
action, the second pop culture and excitement, and the final nostalgia and history. Roddy Doyle does a great job.