The Snapper

Rating:
Summary: Hysterical
Review: Doyle is fabulous. Writes in dialect, though, so not for everyone. If you like Irish humor, get the Barrytown Trilogy instead (which includes The Commitments and The Van, in addition).

Rating:
Summary: A compassionate look at human nature
Review: I recently read "The Snapper" as a part of the Barrytown trilogy, and found Doyle's prose as I always have -- fast paced and incredibly honest. For me, and Im sure other readers, its Doyle's honesty that evokes so much emotion and reflects the depth of the culture he writes about. I couldn't help but feel a part of the family as I witnessed the Rabbitte family's difficulty in accepting Sharon's pregnancy. Doyle's characters aren't shallow - they're so honest you wouldn't be surprised if they walked in your front door and asked you down to the local pub for a pint. If harsh language is a problem for you, perhaps you should stick with more sheltered literature that refuses to tell the truth about real life. Another success for Doyle.

Rating:
Summary: It gets better with every page
Review: When I started reading the book, the beginning seemed a little boring to me and I asked myself if I would be able to finish the novel. But I kept reading and it got better with every page. If you have once involved yourself in the story, it is interesting to see how things will develop.
The book is about 20year old Sharon who is pregnant after she was raped by the father of one of her best friends. This sounds very serious but author Roddy Doyle manages to keep a certain humour in the novel. It isn't dark and sad. It is funny and interesting. The reader can follow the development of Sharon's pregnancy and the following changes. You can easily identify with her and her situation and that also makes the development so interesting. There are of course also serious moments when Sharon is afraid and doesn't know how to go on. But then there are also the funny moments for example when her father, who normally is a hard man, starts to read a book about pregnancies and is finally interested in this after having become a father six times.
The story is sometimes predictable but it also has it's surprising changes. The end appears a little abrupt. It ends at the point where Sharon finally has her baby and that leaves some open questions.
But all in all it was really worth reading it, because it is an interesting story and you also learn something about the lives of working class people in Dublin.