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Summary: McCarthy does Ireland justice with touches of Humor
Review: McCarthy's bar is a wonderful book that looks past the stereotypes of Ireland and into a land of past hardship and developing potential. Every character is unforgettable and unique. They come alive with McCarthy's witty descriptions and the places he visits become unique and tangible just by reading about them. This is no ordinary guidebook. Anyone with Irish ancestory on any continent can appreciate this book and McCarthy's own search for his roots.
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Summary: It's Funny Because It's True...
Review: Originally posted at Rhodeirish.net. Rhode Island's Irish Connection
...I'm going to use this space today to pass along a little recommended reading. I recently took my first trip to Ireland and absolutely loved every minute I can barely remember... Well, a few weeks ago I was at the house of a good friend and talented Irish fiddler, Tony "I dare you to ask me why I play Irish music" Gutierrez. Tony and I were chatting about Ireland over some excellent scallops, and he asked me if I had ever read "McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in the West of Ireland" by Peter McCarthy. I said I had not and Tony promptly loaned the book to me. "McCarthy's Bar" recounts British travel writer Peter McCarthy's trip from Dingle to Donegal. It's not your typical travelogue with flowing prose about Ireland's green fields and rich cultural background. This is possibly one of the funniest and most blunt travel books I've ever read. If Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) had written a travelogue of Ireland, I imagine it would have been almost as funny as McCarthy's take. You will hate this book if the Ireland you hold dear is a country of turf fires, Danny Boy Irish tenors, meticulously manicured ruins, Irish cabaret bands, and new Irish pubs that have had antique floorboards replaced with new floorboards that have been sanded down and chemically treated to look antique.
McCarthy deals directly with issues like the Irish B&B industry's quirky and often predatory nature; the Celtic Lion economy and how progress has changed rural Ireland; how the tourism industry has reduced some spots into parodies of Irish culture; and the almost crushing volume of expletives used by many of the Irish you encounter away from the tourist spots. At the same time, he gives equal ink to the places where the beauty is nothing less than heart-stopping. He also talks a great deal about the Irish people's continued commitment to fun, hospitality, living life at a relaxed pace...and fun. Also, he assures the reader that Ireland continues to have a wealth of culture and history despite massive redevelopment. There's also an interesting subplot of personal exploration. Born in England to an Irish father and English mother, McCarthy is also on a mission to put his finger on his own place in Irish culture. Does he belong here because his Dad was Irish? Does he belong here because he spent part of his childhood in Ireland? Or is all that cancelled out because at the end of the day he's a foreigner and English at that. It's not heavy stuff. McCarthy deals with his own identity crisis using the same deft humor found throughout the book. In any case, I highly recommend "McCarthy's Bar: A Journey of Discovery in the West of Ireland." It's better than most travelogues because it's accurate.
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Summary: Hilarious description of a tour of Ireland
Review: Pete McCarthy is an English travel writer who describes in an absolutely hilarious way a visit to Ireland. Buy it for yourself and anyone you know named McCarthy.
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Summary: McCarthy's Bar
Review: Thank You Pete McCarthy for giving me the gift of enjoying reading, I up until I bought your book would only read technical or factual books,(not that the bar is one of fiction). But I hope you know what I mean, I bought it by pure chance at Heathrow airport while waiting for my grilfriend who was arriving from South Africa, I was strolling through the book shop when the cover couaght my eye, I picked it up and read the back cover, and purchased it. You know those special moments in your life when you can actually pin-point a change in your habbits, well that was one for me, I couldn't put it down, normally I might read ten or fifteen pages and that was it for the book. My friend thaught I was cracking up, but they couldn't see the caracters that could and some that I could relate too as people I knew in Ireland! I would laugh out loud on the tube, I loved it, My brother on his way back from Crotica read it while stopping over for a couple of night, he loved it, even my South African Girlfriend loved it! I am reading 'The Road To McCarthy at the moment, Another one please Pete.
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Summary: OK, but not as good as it's cracked up to be
Review: The blurbs on the cover way oversell this book- at it's best it comes up to Bill Bryson's average, imho. There are endless passages about planning to drink, drinking, being drunk and recovering from being drunk. Fair enough, you may say- this is a book about an Englishman looking for his Irish roots. Fine, then don't bill the book as avoiding stereotypes. Looking for stupid / loud / ugly American tourists? You'll find plenty. Looking for old-time Irish Catholics? You'll find them. Looking for stereotypical old Ireland with a lick of paint to gussy it up for the millenium? here's your book. It's fine- readable, with some funny bits, but not especially original or insightful. Wait for the library to get it, or at least the paperback version.
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Summary: Entertaining but repetitive
Review: The pub stories are amusing,but it gets boring reading one account after another about the search for ancient stones. More troubling is the author's constant attacks on the Catholic church. I understand the church's profound influence in Ireland but one reference to preists having [relations] would have been enough. By the eighth or ninth time I was very tired of it.We have all read the stories about priests and altar boys and we know about the Bishop who fathered children. I did'nt need to be hit over the head with it. The place descriptions became repetitive.There are only so many ways to describe a green field. Even the pub stories all read the same after about 200 pages. The author has a good sense of humor but I could'nt get past the feeling that he was told to stretch the book a bit. All in all a decent book that could have done with about 80 pages worth of editing
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Summary: Enjoyable Read
Review: This book details one Englishman's trip through Ireland while looking for his roots. Some parts of this book show a bias one one way or another (As is the author's right. It IS his book)That said, this book is quite good. Mr. McCarthy does a good job of providing an outsider's view on Ireland while providing vivid descriptions of his travels in Western Ireland.
Having been there, I can indentify with a lot of what he has to say. (especially fat, loud, American Tourists. There were a whole ton of em' at the bus depot in Galway.)
All in all, this was a good book. If you buy it, I reccomend that you get Tony Hawks "Round Ireland With a Fridge", too.
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Summary: Funny and informative
Review: This book has a lot of laughs. I also learned more about places to see in Ireland and about Irish history. You feel like you're really there traveling with the author when you read it. The only bad things about the book are McCarthy's negative stereotyping of Americans and his apparent belief that people whose ancestors came from Ireland generations ago have no right to 'claim' Ireland, while he does because he's only one generation removed. But, all in all, definitely a good read.
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Summary: Funny and informative
Review: This book has a lot of laughs. I also learned more about places to see in Ireland and about Irish history. You feel like you're really there traveling with the author when you read it. The only bad things about the book are McCarthy's negative stereotyping of Americans and his apparent belief that people whose ancestors came from Ireland generations ago have no right to 'claim' Ireland, while he does because he's only one generation removed. But, all in all, definitely a good read.
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Summary: Wonderfull traveling companion....
Review: This book makes a great traveling companion..I took this book with me to Ireland this summer and followed in Pete's footsteps to many of the places he writes about. I traveled the Berra Peninsula and through Kerry and Cork..I went to places I have never gone to on previous trips and places I would never have found. Everything Pete describes in his book is there, just as he describes it..A throughly enjoyable experience..passed the book on to my sister-in-law who enjoyed it as much as I did....
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