Tuesday, March 27, 2018

THE COMMITMENTS by RODDY DOYLE (1989)

This short novel by the Irish writer Roddy Doyle reminds me very much of the mock-documentary movie This Is Spinal Tap. I know a movie has also been adapted from this book, but I have not seen it. This is the story of a group of Dublin working-class youths who style themselves as a soul band. It chronicles their small triumphs and petty tribulations, as greed, egotism, and women tarnish their dream. It is hilarious.

Warning: All of this is written in the vernacular of a specific time and place, and thus many terms and phrases are unfamiliar to the American reader of the here and now. However, this does not distract from enjoyment.

This novel provided me with a day's pleasant distraction and enjoyment. It is highly entertaining.

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Doyle's 1993 novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won England's Booker Prize.

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