Rating: 
Summary: I think I'll give the fish & chips a miss
Review: "The Van" is the third and final part of Roddy Doyle's "Barrytown Trilogy", following "The Commitments" and "The Snapper", and it's the best of the three.Jimmy Rabbitte Sr and his friend Bimbo live in Dublin and are unemployed. They hit upon the idea of starting up a business selling burgers and fish and chips out of a dilapidated van in order to beat (or rather supplement) their dependence on state benefits. How will their entrepreneurial venture turn out? Doyle's dip into working class life in Barrytown is great if you can cope with the patois, and if you are into the humour: there's much in "The Van" to raise a laugh, but I felt that the dialogue only sparked intermittently. Be warned: the descriptions of food preparation in the van could I suppose turn stomachs, and confirmed my darkest suspicions about mobile fast food joints. I suppose a case could be made that beneath all the ribaldry, Doyle is saying something more profound about the desperate lives of the unemployed and/or their resilience - the fact that Jimmy Sr's son Darren is doing well at school and appears to have something of a future is a near miracle given his background. This can be contrasted with darker parts of the novel in which a violent, disaffected, hopeless youth "culture" is exposed. At least one other reviewer has commented that "The Van" is more of a film script than a novel. It can read that way, but so did its predecessors. But because it's so heavily dependent upon dialogue, that dialogue has to be very strong, witty or compelling throughout: too heavy a burden to carry at times. There were patches of the novel where I felt I was just coasting through the pages, with nothing really happening in the plot, awaiting the next incident which would attract my interest. It's all entertaining enough in an uninvolving sort of way, but it wouldn't make me go out of my way to read more of Doyle's stuff. G Rodgers
Rating:
Summary: I think I'll give the fish & chips a miss
Review: "The Van" is the third and final part of Roddy Doyle's "Barrytown Trilogy", following "The Commitments" and "The Snapper", and it's the best of the three. Jimmy Rabbitte Sr and his friend Bimbo live in Dublin and are unemployed. They hit upon the idea of starting up a business selling burgers and fish and chips out of a dilapidated van in order to beat (or rather supplement) their dependence on state benefits. How will their entrepreneurial venture turn out? Doyle's dip into working class life in Barrytown is great if you can cope with the patois, and if you are into the humour: there's much in "The Van" to raise a laugh, but I felt that the dialogue only sparked intermittently. Be warned: the descriptions of food preparation in the van could I suppose turn stomachs, and confirmed my darkest suspicions about mobile fast food joints. I suppose a case could be made that beneath all the ribaldry, Doyle is saying something more profound about the desperate lives of the unemployed and/or their resilience - the fact that Jimmy Sr's son Darren is doing well at school and appears to have something of a future is a near miracle given his background. This can be contrasted with darker parts of the novel in which a violent, disaffected, hopeless youth "culture" is exposed. At least one other reviewer has commented that "The Van" is more of a film script than a novel. It can read that way, but so did its predecessors. But because it's so heavily dependent upon dialogue, that dialogue has to be very strong, witty or compelling throughout: too heavy a burden to carry at times. There were patches of the novel where I felt I was just coasting through the pages, with nothing really happening in the plot, awaiting the next incident which would attract my interest. It's all entertaining enough in an uninvolving sort of way, but it wouldn't make me go out of my way to read more of Doyle's stuff. G Rodgers
Rating: 
Summary: Could be the funniest book written in English
Review: Doyle is a master of putting you directly into the rhythm of life in Barrytown. The language is extremely coarse -- it's not a book for your grandma -- but the sentiment and the purity of intent and emotion are unmatched by anything else on the shelf. You will laugh hard and often. I had to put the book down a few times to accomodate rib-aching spasms of laughter at the goings-on.
Rating:
Summary: I couldn't stop laughing.........
Review: Doyle obviously has a feel for his characters but, please, I find it very difficult to believe that a grown man with grown children would habitually speak with the grossness usually employed by adolescent boys. Wonder if anyone has counted the number of "fucks" Jimmy Sr. uses in a 311-page book--bet the percentage of the total words would be a shocker. Yep, I'm sombody's grandmother, but I'm also a totally devoted reader of great fiction written in all styles and tones; Doyle's redundant use of the "F" word was tiresome and detracted from his otherwise fine story and characters.
Rating: 
Summary: Loved the characters; language juvenile
Review: Doyle obviously has a feel for his characters but, please, I find it very difficult to believe that a grown man with grown children would habitually speak with the grossness usually employed by adolescent boys. Wonder if anyone has counted the number of "fucks" Jimmy Sr. uses in a 311-page book--bet the percentage of the total words would be a shocker. Yep, I'm sombody's grandmother, but I'm also a totally devoted reader of great fiction written in all styles and tones; Doyle's redundant use of the "F" word was tiresome and detracted from his otherwise fine story and characters.
Rating:
Summary: Funny
Review: Funny is the only word which keeps appealing to me about this novel it is so, witty and of all the books i have ever read i find this one rather amusing i never thought it would happen with a book but the language and irish humor pop up time and time again to make for superbe reading
Rating: 
Summary: Very Good
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book. I have no knowledge of Ireland, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of the culture, but it is a very funny book with a strong emphasis on friendship. I do think the story took too long to get started, but in the end it was well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Very Good
Review: I greatly enjoyed this book. I have no knowledge of Ireland, so I can't vouch for the accuracy of the culture, but it is a very funny book with a strong emphasis on friendship. I do think the story took too long to get started, but in the end it was well worth the read.
Rating:
Summary: Arguably The Most Humorous
Review: I had seen the screen versions of Roddy Doyle's, "The Commitments" and "The Snapper", prior to reading his written work. As I have now experienced his work in both mediums, its as funny on the page as it is on the screen. "The Van" is the last in this trilogy and it definitely focuses on the older of the generations. The movies actually enhanced the book as the actors were spectacular and the memories of their performances kept returning to mind. The book is almost pure dialogue, and the humor will certainly leave you in pain. The issue of colorful language has been mentioned and while there is no denying its prevalence I don't believe there was any increase in this particular book. When his work is read every word is as clear as the reader's vocabulary, when on screen the accents often rendered dialogue difficult to decipher. The cadence of his writing is so well done, that even when spoken the humor works with a word or two missing, the structure implies the emotion. Mr. Doyle also wrote, "The Woman Who Walked Into Doors", and this was the previous work of his that I had read. As a writer he has remarkable range as the previous work was dark and violent, and the humor too was black as pitch. It was not just sad it was unsettling. His ability to portray the Human Condition whether bleak or bright, or even with humor when it is all that keeps a character going, in simply brilliant. If you have not read this man's work or seen the movies I would recommend both formats. His material is great regardless of the medium.
Rating:
Summary: Drowned undercurrents
Review: Just once or twice when reading "The Van" you get the impression that you're about to go beyond the Ireland of Lepricons and Blearney Stones and ritualistic hatred (or perhaps ritualistic dislike - nobody in "The Van" is so committed that they actually hate) of the British and examine the essence of the human condition. In the one or two occasions in which pent-up anger or frustrated sexuality are evident in the book, the author quickly recoils from the horridness of what he's shown us and takes us back to banality of his vision of the Irish as nice, lovable souls. Sorry, but a liberal helping of "fuck" and "shite" doesn't stop me from asking: "is this really all there is to being unemployed and pennyless in a growingly affluent society?" This book isn't without merit, it's just that a character (Jimmy Rabbite) who's described by his best friend as a "bully", and yet is neither capable of being angry with anyone for more than a minute without saying "sorry" or immediately regreting even the most mild conflict becomes, in the end, very unbelievable.
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