Word: irishness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1980-1989
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
...surprised itself in 1976 with the popularity of the mini-series Rich Man, Poor Man, and astonished itself a year ater with Roots. This Wednesday through Friday, the network tries to braid the formats and themes of those shows in a 19th century drama of Irish rebellion and emigration, The Manions of America. The Irish of the 1840s are presented (with some historical accuracy) as equivalent to the slaves in Roots-penniless, helpless, but more open and loving than their oppressors, more family oriented and especially more sexual. The English are schematically divided. The wicked are defined as those...
...described the short story as "the literature of submerged population groups." It is a regional definition with an old-fashioned thump of authenticity. O'Connor, born Michael O'Donovan in Cork, was no innovator. His stories lowered the reader directly into the weedy, half-lit world of Irish town life...
...Connor, too, was largely self-taught. In 1923 he filled the gaps in his education while imprisoned for republican activities during the Irish civil war. Nationalism brought him in contact with other young Irish writers like Sean O'Faolain and Liam O'Flaherty. In 1931 O'Connor made his name with a book of stories entitled Guests of the Nation...
...most amusing pieces ever written about a small boy's anger over having to share his mother with her husband. Guests of the Nation suppresses anger with a disillusionment that teeters on mawkishness. Belcher and Awkins are two British soldiers who have become rather friendly with their Irish nationalist captors. The order to execute the pair is carried out with misgivings, especially since the condemned men remain amiable to the end. It is not quite believable, and the use of dialect is stagy. Yet the story retains power because O'Connor's honesty as an observer survives...
...author's "submerged population" swims through an eternity of Irish religion, poverty and social riches. Attempts to show a bit of spunk often lead to trouble and comedy. The tumultuous courtship in The Masculine Principle is as psychologically complex as a Henry James relationship, though more lively. Another character, who forgets that his wife is having a baby and buys fish instead of fetching a doctor, is a man to remember...