Rating: 
Summary: Extraordinary... Couldn't put it down!
Review: I loved it.... Ireland, the description of the places, the sounds, the people... LIFE in a very rough time for the Irish... the fight for independence, one persons struggle to live and raise above.... it is simply marvelous!
Rating:
Summary: The best thing I picked up this summer...
Review: ...and probably one of the most charming and engrossing books I've ever read. (And to think, I only bought it because my bookstore was out of "Roddy Doyle Ha Ha Ha") No, it's not a strict history of the IRA or the Easter Rebellion but more of a social and personal history. It tells the story of the beginning of the Irish Republic in the same was John Dos Passos tells America's coming of age in the U.S.A. trilogy. One has to imagine that Henry could represent the lives of hundreds of Irish youth during that time.The novel's great hook is it's humor. It carries the plot through Henry's childhood, and while the parts about the Rebellion and the IRA are predictably darker, the wit and precociousness are present throughout. Doyle has also done a beautiful job of conveying the experiential aspects of the story. When Henry is in the sewers, you can almost smell his father's coat and hear the tapping of his wooden leg on the cobblestones. You always feel as if you are in the story along with Henry. Maybe the best part of all is that A Star Called Henry is the first volume of a trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: A most lovable scoundrel
Review: In Henry Smart, Roddy Doyle has created a narrator who is both entirely engaging and not the least bit trustworthy. If we are to believe Henry, he was just out of the frame of a famous picture of early IRA members, the uncredited author of a famous poem, the most handsome man in Ireland, the best "ride" in town...the list of Henry's "accomplishments" is nearly endless. Henry's recounting of his adventures during the early days of the IRA is entrancing-the events themselves are full of large-scale drama, tragedy and courage, while the way in which these tales are told is full of braggadocio and humor. I look forward to Henry's next escapades in this planned trilogy.
Rating: 
Summary: ira...
Review: This is Roddy Doyle's weakest work yet. Roddy Doyle;s inimitable endearing style that shows itself in paddy clark ha ha ha... is not be seen in this latest novel. Even the main character seems to lack the depth that his prior novels had. On the positive side, it is a neat story of the IRA and shows a side of the revolution ( and michael collins) that is not often written about...
Rating:
Summary: Henry is indeed a star!
Review: Roddy Doyle proves as adept at creating history as he is in reflecting contemporary Irish society. This is a funny, heartbreakingly beautiful and slightly bawdy novel that portrays the world as neither black nor white but simply a place to live. I simply adored the title character, who is as well realized as any in fiction. Henry has heart and soul and guts, not to mention the most beautiful eyes in the world, and you will care about what happens to him. For those of you who love Doyle's stories but have had trouble understanding the vernacular in the Barrytown books, rest assured that this one is less challenging.
Rating:
Summary: Bold Henry Smart
Review: This is an excellant overall historical novel. The interweaving of history and fiction together works very well here, in a similiar fashion as Morgan Llywelyn's 1916 and 1921, also excellant documented stories of Ireland's most turbulent times. The characters such as Henry Smart, are engrossing, and completly believable. What seperates this book from 1916 and 1921, is Henry's unique witty humor and dialogue. Along with being an excellant telling of history, it is a fine, captivating story, one I would encourage any Irishman to read.
Rating:
Summary: Not as Fictional as You'd Think......
Review: Unfortunately, even though this book is a work of fiction, the events depicted have happened over and over again in Northern Ireland -- and continue to happen today. Anyone who wants to know why Ireland is divided should read this book for a clearer understanding and better insight into what it really means to be Irish and Catholic.
Rating:
Summary: Ran of of steam
Review: Rivals McCourts vision of the hell which was Ireland for children in the turn of the century. Gloomy and dull, the story never really rose above the mirk. Henry, fighting for himself rather than the cause, is followed through the turbulent times in Dublin pre and post 1916 rising. Disappointing.
Rating:
Summary: Looking Out For Number 1
Review: Roddy Doyle's effort here is quite good. The first couple chapters on Henry's life in the streets of Dublin is, quite simply, staggering. It reminds me of Upton Sinclair's description of the slums of Chicago. Henry is named after a baby (which would have been his older brother) that died, and his momma gave him a star. The younger Henry fights against this identity that is stolen by a phantom - a star. But the streets get ahold of Henry, and we quickly find that he is an army of one, and in most cases he cares only for himself. Doyle takes us through Henry's life in the streets and then into the IRA. What I really enjoyed about Doyle's portrayal of Henry is that Henry is not made out to be a moral paragon of virtue simply because he fights for Ireland's freedom. Quite the contrary, Doyle lets Henry be what he, if he were real, would likely have become. Henry is selfish. Henry is not idealistic. Henry simply wants to fill his tummy and bed women. Working to liberate Ireland is simply a side show compared to the survival instincts that color Henry's life. Nonetheless, the book peaks during Henry's childhood and then flattens out through the remainder to become a comfortable well written tale. If you have an interest in what it might have been like to be in Ireland during the rebellion, you should purchase this book. Doyle did his homework here, and I'm glad he did.
Rating:
Summary: Stunning Irish minimalism at its best
Review: Roddy Doyle exhibits his penchant for creating power by using a narrative that is richly minimalist in his story about the Irish struggle beginning with the Easter 1916 Uprising in the General Post Office in Dublin. I had flashbacks to the maximalism of The Tin Drum by Gunter Grass, which also concerns a violent political standoff in a Post Office. Doyle's style is extremely accessible and vivid and powerful in the way that Hemingway created strength by his use of short, punchy syntax like a newspaper writer. Doyle worked hard in his research for this novel and he succeeded in transporting me back to another era. The dialogue was noteworthy: masterfully terse, dense and authentic. The characters, many of whom are historical figures from Easter 1916, despite their often hideous acts against the state and each other were round and fully drawn in only a few brush strokes: they usually evoked sympathy or compassion. It is a tale about the human spirit striving to free itself from the fetters of poverty and oppression despite the worst possible odds. I admire Doyle as a writer and respect his command of his craft. I encourage you to read this incredibly moving novel about a star named Henry, who seemed to me to embody the Ireland of his heyday -- this novel is a very fine and inventive work by one of the master storytellers of our time.
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