Rating: Summary: Not Worth The Time Review: I'm a pretty patient reader so I stick with most things I pick up. And it's a shame that I'm so persistent because I should have put this one down and started something else. I've read some bad stuff and this ranks right up there.Patrick McCabe is a talented author. Both The Butcher Boy and Carn were excellent novels. So I was confused when I got through the first few pages of Breakfast on Pluto. Was it me? Was this genius and was I failing to recognize truly brilliant writing? I've figured out that the answer is no. Breakfast on Pluto is just plain bad. Unfortunately, its had the side effect of turning me off Patrick McCabe in general. Maybe one day I'll try something else by him but for now, I'd rather move on.
Rating: Summary: I didn't get to the brilliant part Review: I'm sorry, but i couldn't get past the first hundred pages. I must be crazy but I thought this book was boring, and hard to read given the crazy way Paddy talks.
Rating: Summary: Not for everybody Review: It is no wonder that Patrick Braden's life is a mess. Conceived by a union of a parish priest and a sixteen-year-old girl, Patrick grows up with a foster mother he calls Mrs. Whiskers in a house he refers to as Rat Trap Mansions. Obviously this book isn't for everybody, although it isn't as graphic or steamy as one would expect, very mild in fact compared to most women's romance novels. By far the part of Patrick Pussy Braden's life on the streets in the sordid world of male prostitutes is downplayed, except for occasional misfortunes he experiences, like hooking up with a man who takes him out to strangle him. One is reminded almost of the movie, The Crying Game, where once before we have met a beguiling cross-dresser mixed up with an IRA man. Told in the form of a journal kept by Patrick at the request of his psychiatrist, it is rather a pathetic tale, but one worth reading. The title comes from a song popular in the late 60's, a time when things came to a head in Northern Ireland. Like his mother, whom he never knew, Patrick is obsessed with music, especially the old romantic songs and musicals. An incurable romantic, Patrick doesn't have a happy ending, but it is an interesting journey along the way.
Rating: Summary: The Silly and The Sentimental Review: Music plays a part in this novel and the title itself was taken from a song recorded by Don Partridge in 1969. The lyrics are silly: "Go anywhere without leaving your chair/and let your thoughts run free/Living within all the dreams you can spin/There is so much to see." Silly or not, these lyrics are central to the plot of Breakfast on Pluto. Set in the tumultuous Ireland of the 1960s and 1970s, Breakfast on Pluto is the story of a transvestite named Paddy "Pussy" Braden, a character who uses the silly and the sentimental as a shield against the horrors of the modern world. The book is written as a memoir. Paddy, who has a crush on his psychologist, Terence, pens the memoir, ostensibly for the benefit of Terence and his (Paddy's) own analysis, but he does harbor ulterior motives all his own. The tone of the novel is flirtatious, effusive and, at times, completely unreliable. The details of Paddy's life are predictably sordid, unsavory and truly awful. Paddy has been abandoned by just about everyone and Breakfast on Pluto is thus a novel about loss and love and the loss of love, about violence and loveless sex and even encroaching insanity. McCabe, however, is such a talented writer that he can, and does, relate these depressing details in a prose style so vivid, so utterly original and lively and witty that Paddy Braden becomes almost charming. He is, by turns, caustic, sardonic, colorful, naïve, explosive, poignant and yes, even hilarious. He is simply one of the most audacious characters I have ever met, and this audacity, combined with the glee with which he relates the horrible events in which he take sheer delight, only makes him all the more compelling. The son of a priest and a beautiful woman who looked like Mitzi Gaynor, Paddy grew up in patriarchal, provincial Ireland unloved and unwanted in the home of a wicked foster mother. Paddy is not a character who was able to transcend the bad and turn negatives into positives. The absence of maternal affection in his life affects him deeply and he turns to silly, attention-getting antics. As Paddy matures, his penchant for women's clothing grows. It is a penchant that certainly doesn't endear him to his neighbors. Paddy, though, really doesn't care. Although it might be hard to believe, some of the book's funniest and most poignant moments, as well as some of the best dialogue, come when Paddy's frilly and fussy sensibilities clash with the grim reality of civil war. A recurring theme of McCabe's is his perception of hypocrisy in the Catholic church. In Breakfast on Pluto, McCabe explores this perceived hypocrisy in an eccentric and hilarious manner. Nowhere is it highlighted better than in a scene where Paddy goes into a church to confront his father. We realize that Paddy: sodomite, thief, liar, cheat, is no more of a sinner than is his sanctimonious father or the pious souls who come into the priest's confessional to bare their sins and be purified. As the book gains momentum, so does the cycle of violence and counter-violence and Paddy, for a time, escapes to England where things are different, but not much better. From this point on, the book deals in real trouble: torture, murder and betrayal. While some of the campy plotline has been left behind, Paddy's unique voice can still be heard. As his problems reach grotesque proportions, Paddy seeks his salvation, in, of all things, a bottle of Chanel No. 5. Even when Paddy returns to Ireland (for what Irishman can remain out of Ireland for long?), his indomitable spirit keeps him afloat. The silly and the sentimental are, for Paddy Braden, more than song lyrics. They are, sadly, his only source of hope.
Rating: Summary: The Silly and The Sentimental Review: Music plays a part in this novel and the title itself was taken from a song recorded by Don Partridge in 1969. The lyrics are silly: "Go anywhere without leaving your chair/and let your thoughts run free/Living within all the dreams you can spin/There is so much to see." Silly or not, these lyrics are central to the plot of Breakfast on Pluto. Set in the tumultuous Ireland of the 1960s and 1970s, Breakfast on Pluto is the story of a transvestite named Paddy "Pussy" Braden, a character who uses the silly and the sentimental as a shield against the horrors of the modern world. The book is written as a memoir. Paddy, who has a crush on his psychologist, Terence, pens the memoir, ostensibly for the benefit of Terence and his (Paddy's) own analysis, but he does harbor ulterior motives all his own. The tone of the novel is flirtatious, effusive and, at times, completely unreliable. The details of Paddy's life are predictably sordid, unsavory and truly awful. Paddy has been abandoned by just about everyone and Breakfast on Pluto is thus a novel about loss and love and the loss of love, about violence and loveless sex and even encroaching insanity. McCabe, however, is such a talented writer that he can, and does, relate these depressing details in a prose style so vivid, so utterly original and lively and witty that Paddy Braden becomes almost charming. He is, by turns, caustic, sardonic, colorful, naïve, explosive, poignant and yes, even hilarious. He is simply one of the most audacious characters I have ever met, and this audacity, combined with the glee with which he relates the horrible events in which he take sheer delight, only makes him all the more compelling. The son of a priest and a beautiful woman who looked like Mitzi Gaynor, Paddy grew up in patriarchal, provincial Ireland unloved and unwanted in the home of a wicked foster mother. Paddy is not a character who was able to transcend the bad and turn negatives into positives. The absence of maternal affection in his life affects him deeply and he turns to silly, attention-getting antics. As Paddy matures, his penchant for women's clothing grows. It is a penchant that certainly doesn't endear him to his neighbors. Paddy, though, really doesn't care. Although it might be hard to believe, some of the book's funniest and most poignant moments, as well as some of the best dialogue, come when Paddy's frilly and fussy sensibilities clash with the grim reality of civil war. A recurring theme of McCabe's is his perception of hypocrisy in the Catholic church. In Breakfast on Pluto, McCabe explores this perceived hypocrisy in an eccentric and hilarious manner. Nowhere is it highlighted better than in a scene where Paddy goes into a church to confront his father. We realize that Paddy: sodomite, thief, liar, cheat, is no more of a sinner than is his sanctimonious father or the pious souls who come into the priest's confessional to bare their sins and be purified. As the book gains momentum, so does the cycle of violence and counter-violence and Paddy, for a time, escapes to England where things are different, but not much better. From this point on, the book deals in real trouble: torture, murder and betrayal. While some of the campy plotline has been left behind, Paddy's unique voice can still be heard. As his problems reach grotesque proportions, Paddy seeks his salvation, in, of all things, a bottle of Chanel No. 5. Even when Paddy returns to Ireland (for what Irishman can remain out of Ireland for long?), his indomitable spirit keeps him afloat. The silly and the sentimental are, for Paddy Braden, more than song lyrics. They are, sadly, his only source of hope.
Rating: Summary: another masterpiece of the grand guignol humorous macabre Review: Not simply his most audacious but also one of his most necessary books which enlivens our understanding about one of the most significant conflicts of our time, and is written with characteristic bravado.
Rating: Summary: I almost knew my own name Review: Once in a long while of hoping, wishing, weeping and praying does a book like this come along. Pardon me while I gush, but this book is quite simply one of the best first person narratives I have ever read, for one simple reason. I could actually hear our Puss' voice ringing inside my head, bouncing off my own cochlea. This in not only a nifty party trick my friends, but also an indication of some of the bravest, fiercest compassion and empathy put to good use I have ever had the pleasure to witness. It constitutes as redefinition of narrative "voice" and the extraordinary use to which it can be put. Inversions, run on sentences, horrifyingly extended metaphors, a grammarians nightmare. To hell with the sanctity of the English language in case there ever was any. To spare you all a worthless plot and to give any encouragement (or as the French say...encouragement) to those of you desperately searching for plot events let me say, release yourself from your struggle. The point of this book is to experience, yea bathe, in someone elses psyche for a while. And not the kind of repetitive, dull, mortifying psyche of say "Strange Interlude" but the psyche of a lively, severly troubled, struggling, unloved young person who none the less has learned somehow to live in a world that quite specifically denies his right to exist. This book goes beyond wordsmithing (ach, hateful word, get thee behind me wordsmiths) and moves into the exalted place of those who have created entire universes that draw in distract trouble traumatize and inspire. Thanks to the author for making my bookreading life worthwhile. Again. A Political Sidenote: I recommend picking up the Butcher Boy in case this book hasn't taught you enough about what happens to the unloved. A responsible sidenote: The ending is a little weak. I doesn't ruin everything, it just kind of makes you shrug and say "Hmnh" or some such unidentifiable syllable.
Rating: Summary: Brilliant Review: Pat McCabe does it again. With his unique wit and black humour, we are invited into the life of a transvestite IRA bomber. It makes you really realize how funny life is. McCabe might not be for everyone, but I am always prepared to read what he's publishing!
Rating: Summary: "Pussy"....the perfect metaphor for a troubled Ireland Review: Patrick McCabe may have hit pay dirt with "The Butcher Boy", but he has produced a masterpiece with "Breakfast On Pluto". In the character of Patrick "Pussy" Braden, McCabe has found the perfect metaphor for a troubled Ireland. Just as the Irish struggle to define their identity in a climate of political strife and conflict, Pussy yearns to be reunited with his mother (a dead ringer for Mitzi Gaynor) but seethes with hatred and plots revenge on his father (no pun intended) whose identity remains a secret to all but the reader. Like his country, Pussy is sexually and emotionally in no man's land. His life as a transvestite, who does smashing impersonations of 60s English divas Dusty Springfield and Lulu, mirrors the pain and confusion of the times. McCabe's novel is a collage of incidents and minor sequences which flash back and forth in time to produce a criss cross matisse of images which somehow hang together. Short bursts of shocking violence alternate with dreamy ruminations of the past (mostly about Pussy's origins). As a satirist, McCabe's command of the genre shines through the use of a rapid fire tongue-in-cheek style to great effect. "Breakfast On Pluto" is truly deserving of its Booker Prize nomination. It is a massive literary achievement and will be enjoyed by all who read to be entertained and more !
Rating: Summary: another grim and tragic masterpiece Review: Patrick McCabe sure knows how to depress you. Every book he has ever written is filled with characters who either are no longer in control of their own lives, or never had much of a chance to begin with. This book is about a psychologically crippled transvestite prostitute who somehow gets involved in late 70s IRA political conspiracies, and is so unable to understand what is going on that his own life becomes a graphic farce, something that were he in his right mind he would cackle and puke about in some bar he was out picking around for the next Sugar Daddy to take care of him for a while. It is a story that takes a little while to get in to, the language weird and seemingly disconnected from the actual events of the plot. But bear with it, as the overall quality of the prose, the story, the idea, will soon come to overwhelm you. And while this book isn't quite up to the magnificence of The Butcher Boy (possibly the finest book I have ever read),there is nothing wrong with anything within. It is a masterpiece, a wonderful, sorrowful novel from an author who can write nothing but. I urge you to give this book a chance to move you, to return you to the more innocent times when the sheer tragedy of some made up story could make you break down and weep over the sheer hopelessness of the human condition.
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