Rating: 
Summary: Fantastic
Review: Buy it. Read it. This was the first time I'd read one of Mr. Doyle's novels. I'll be reading the others. While A Star Called Henry isn't an easy read, it does require that you pay attention, it is more than worth your time. Someone tell me when the next book is due.
Rating: 
Summary: I'm not sure what Paddy's up to.....
Review: I am a fan of Paddy Doyle. His books have humor and reality and great style, and his characters are believable, except for Henry Smart the cental character in this novel. The book starts with a rambling almost Joyceian description of the terrible turn of the century poverty in Dublin, then the reality breaks down with the larger than life and thoroughly amoral Henry Smart. He quickly evolves into a sort of Irish Rambo and soon follows up as a bicycle Bonny and Clyde with his lady love as they scourge the country side with a tommy gun on the handle bars. Contrasted with the stark reality of the beginning of this work, and the grainy believability of his earlier books; I have to wonder what the author has in mind. Still Paddy Doyle writes a good yarn and I have a better understanding of the history of the Irish rebellion than any of the history books can convey. Maybe that's his plan, but I'm not sure I'm ready for more instalments, which I'm sure are coming as we leave Henry at age twenty.
Rating:
Summary: Brilliant, passionate tale of flawed love
Review: Admittedly, the final chapters pale in comparision to the stunning opening acts, however this is a book not to be missed by patrons of Irish literature. Doyle has a remarkable ability to carve characters whose flaws are as evident as cancors yet whose vulnerability is utterly engaging.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning beginning, ho-hum middle and end.
Review: Maybe because I have recently read Morgan Llywelyn's novel,"1916", I feel like I have already read parts this book (except for the beginning which takes Frank McCourt's "Angela's Ashes" several shades darker). The first-third of the story is unforgetable as Doyle takes the reader through the dirty alleys and waterways of Henry's lonely, desolate and violent childhood. But then Henry starts fighting for a country he doesn't care about, against a country he doesn't know about, for reasons Doyle won't tell us about. If you are a Doyle fan from his previous works, read the synopsis of the story and then decide if it is the type of reading you are looking for. If you are already familiar with fictional renderings of the Irish rebillion of 1916, you may want to skip this one.
Rating: 
Summary: Forest Gump?
Review: I had to write to the reviewer from Ireland who compared Henry Smart to Forest Gump. Forest Gump on crack maybe. Henry Smart is not the Gump. I tried to imagine him pumping bullets into spies and thought...Life Is Like a Box of Ammo"
Rating:
Summary: Dead Brilliant
Review: I have read everything the man has written and have seen his writing grow in confidence and style. He is a risk taker where other writers a la Maeve Binchy stick to formula to maintain their ratings and their bank accounts. He is moving and I am pleased to go on the ride with him. I almost waited before I bought the book because I am a little sick of the Dublin slums being trotted out as the back drop for yet another veiled autobiography. Doyle has broken that pattern by introducing us to Henry Smart, a thoroughly unlikable and realistic character. Henry is as dead as his feet are cold. He is damaged goods and there is no apology or epiphany...but he is real. The one thing Doyle does is explain so skillfully that the young zealots and idealists who fight their wars are most often not fueled by conscience or values.They are just Henrys and that is what should scare us most. Brilliant read.
Rating: 
Summary: I can wait for Vol 2 and 3
Review: What a waste. Mr Doyle started off magically with his book only to succumbs to a tedious cut and paste history job. This book could have been great if it wasn't so bogged down in history most intelligent adults know about. Why didn't he talk about the characters life outside of history? That would have been to unglamorous and unreadable or maybe to honest and harder for a writer to write. Skip it!
Rating:
Summary: Doyle masterfully blends history and fiction
Review: As a great American Roddy Doyle fan, I long awaited this book, and the promise of a trilogy (or at least one more to follow up "Henry"). I was not disappointed. I was hooked from the start, and loved Doyle's interpretation of "Mick" Collins, Connolly and other big names of the Revolution. As usual, Doyle brings his characters alive, but here, he skillfully interweaves them with equally vivid real-life figures. This is certainly a departure from any of his previous works, and I agree wholeheartedly with the previous reviewer who aptly summed up which Doyle books to read depending on what you're looking to get out of them. However, the one caveat I offer is that I find that this will be a hard book to wholeheartedly recommend to even my most diehard literature-reading friends, as I believe it requires more than a fundamental knowledge of Irish history to fully appreciate the story. I think that a lot of meaning and irony (like waiting for the IRA to put down its arms before sitting down to talk peace) might be lost on readers not following the twists and turns of Irish history. The novel finished with quite a crescendo, and I look forward to following Henry onward!
Rating:
Summary: Great.. Just great...
Review: Man.. it's all good !!! I was happy. made me cry.. made me smile... full range of emotions filled my soul all at one time. Gave me peace to live this life and to go on with courage. I don't know how he did it.. but he's da man.!!
Rating:
Summary: A rivetting page turner written as only Roddy Doyle can.
Review: I have just finished reading " A Star Called Henry" by Roddy Doyle. The story charts the first 20 years of Henry Smarts life from his birth in the slums of Dublin to his involvement with the Irish Republican Movement.Once I was used to the style in which the book was written, which,in my opinion,is Roddy Doyle's finest work to date, I could not put the book down. The characterisation is mesmerising and I found myself almost part of the story, as if I was there as an observer of history. The use of non- fictional characters adds to the realism and I soon found myself believing in the main characters existence.The author has clearly researched the facts thoroughly and whilst the story has a strong political leaning I was not left feeling as if there was any hidden agenda as it clearly portrayed the best and worst of the struggle for freedom.The story has many threads running through it, including a touching romantic theme, and I finished the book both satisfied and craving for the next volume. I urge any fan of Roddy Doyle to read this book as I would anyone with an interest in Irish history.
| 
