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Rating: 
Summary: Slagger's Bag
Review: In this inconsequential novella by Flann O'Brien, two orphans of the gormless, Finbarr and Manus, grow up next to their guardian Mr. Collopy's prodigious crock. They chafe under the old man and plot their escape. Manus dreams of cash, Finbarr of auburn hair. As part of their unconventional education, they listen with muffled groans to disputations between Collopy and regular visitor Father Fahrt on subjects theological and heretical. Guy Fawkes a hero for the ages? Aquinas a right chancer? Saints and sinners dangle from their hooks. Though dismissed by critics, this late work never fails to produce a chuckle. Its author certainly lends credence to Fahrt's contention that "a degraded social climate is essential to inspire great men to achievement in the arts," even if that climate is some dark snug a Liffey's width from the Custom House.
Rating:
Summary: Slagger's Bag
Review: In this inconsequential novella by Flann O'Brien, two orphans of the gormless, Finbarr and Manus, grow up next to their guardian Mr. Collopy's prodigious crock. They chafe under the old man and plot their escape. Manus dreams of cash, Finbarr of auburn hair. As part of their unconventional education, they listen with muffled groans to disputations between Collopy and regular visitor Father Fahrt on subjects theological and heretical. Guy Fawkes a hero for the ages? Aquinas a right chancer? Saints and sinners dangle from their hooks. Though dismissed by critics, this late work never fails to produce a chuckle. Its author certainly lends credence to Fahrt's contention that "a degraded social climate is essential to inspire great men to achievement in the arts," even if that climate is some dark snug a Liffey's width from the Custom House.
Rating: 
Summary: Laziness as Virtue
Review: This novel is the anti-bildungsroman. In the typical development/coming-of-age novel, the characters have some great epiphany about life, the universe, God, and everything. O'Brien subverts that, however: the last line reads, "There, everything inside me came forth in a tidal surge of vomit." O'Brien's characters typically don't learn a damn thing about life, continue in their idleness, but somehow come through victorious (or near enough) in the end. For those of you who have tired of Joyce, this is a more visceral and accurate portrayal of the Irishman in the days leading up to their independence. Well worth it.
Rating:
Summary: Laziness as Virtue
Review: This novel is the anti-bildungsroman. In the typical development/coming-of-age novel, the characters have some great epiphany about life, the universe, God, and everything. O'Brien subverts that, however: the last line reads, "There, everything inside me came forth in a tidal surge of vomit." O'Brien's characters typically don't learn a damn thing about life, continue in their idleness, but somehow come through victorious (or near enough) in the end. For those of you who have tired of Joyce, this is a more visceral and accurate portrayal of the Irishman in the days leading up to their independence. Well worth it.
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