An Innocent in Ireland : Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters

Rating:
Summary: Curiously rambling and unrewarding encounter
Review: After enjoying Pete McCarthy and Tony Hanks' tales of travelling 'round Ireland, I was very disappointed with McFadden's attempt at the same. He is too self-absorbed and never really sees anything other than cliche. Don't waste your time!

Rating:
Summary: Innocent?
Review: I purchased this book and McFadden's follow-up on Scotland (which I haven't yet read) based on the local newspaper's Travel section recommendation of the Scottish title. If the book on Scotland is much like the one on Ireland I'm not looking forward to reading it. McFadden spends too much of his narrative observing himself and his unexpected travelling companion, the impulsive Spanish chambermaid/photographer/poet Lourdes Brasil, then he does the people and landscapes of Ireland. I grew tired of his self-congratulatory asides that Lourdes was gaining admiring glances from the Irish. I wanted to know more, to SEE more about the land he was travelling through and the people he was encountering. And instead of making countless references to the photographs both he and Lourdes were taking, he should've included some of the photos in the book. Overall, I wanted more descriptions, to gain more of a sense of being there in Ireland. Instead I was left with the feeling that I had eavesdropped on the unexpected frolic of a middle-aged man and a young Spanish chambermaid who just happened to meet in Ireland and drive around the countryside for a bit. For a better sense of place, skip McFadden's book and try any of the series of travelling and life in Ireland by Niall Williams and Christine Breen.

Rating:
Summary: Not Enough Ireland!
Review: I purchased this book and McFadden's follow-up on Scotland (which I haven't yet read) based on the local newspaper's Travel section recommendation of the Scottish title. If the book on Scotland is much like the one on Ireland I'm not looking forward to reading it. McFadden spends too much of his narrative observing himself and his unexpected travelling companion, the impulsive Spanish chambermaid/photographer/poet Lourdes Brasil, then he does the people and landscapes of Ireland. I grew tired of his self-congratulatory asides that Lourdes was gaining admiring glances from the Irish. I wanted to know more, to SEE more about the land he was travelling through and the people he was encountering. And instead of making countless references to the photographs both he and Lourdes were taking, he should've included some of the photos in the book. Overall, I wanted more descriptions, to gain more of a sense of being there in Ireland. Instead I was left with the feeling that I had eavesdropped on the unexpected frolic of a middle-aged man and a young Spanish chambermaid who just happened to meet in Ireland and drive around the countryside for a bit. For a better sense of place, skip McFadden's book and try any of the series of travelling and life in Ireland by Niall Williams and Christine Breen.

Rating:
Summary: Great for arm chair travelers as well as the real thing!
Review: If you are the type of traveler interested in exploring off the well traveled trail this book is a must! If you have ever experienced an unexplainable affinity for the island of Ireland and its people you'll wonder why you haven't read this one yet. Get it, read it, you won't be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Great for arm chair travelers as well as the real thing!
Review: If you are the type of traveler interested in exploring off the well traveled trail this book is a must! If you have ever experienced an unexplainable affinity for the island of Ireland and its people you'll wonder why you haven't read this one yet. Get it, read it, you won't be disappointed!

Rating:
Summary: Innocent?
Review: This should have been called An "Innocent" Slogging Around Ireland. The author explains early on his notion of innocent, but I would hardly call a middle-aged man who picks up a young chambermaid an innocent. (Also, is this guy middle-aged, as the cover photo would indicate, or he is considerably older? He looks about 70 in the flap photo.) Moralizing aside, the author seems only vaguely interested in his plan to follow H.V. Morton's route, and he tends to skip from one subject to another in the space of a single paragraph. Though he makes attempts to explain the look of a thing, person or place, his prose isn't very visual. I also agree with another reviewer that there should have been photographs included. I am very glad I didn't buy the volume on Scotland, which I had been tempted to do. Read Tony Hawks or Pete McCarthy instead.

Rating:
Summary: Innocent?
Review: This should have been called An "Innocent" Slogging Around Ireland. The author explains early on his notion of innocent, but I would hardly call a middle-aged man who picks up a young chambermaid an innocent. (Also, is this guy middle-aged, as the cover photo would indicate, or he is considerably older? He looks about 70 in the flap photo.) Moralizing aside, the author seems only vaguely interested in his plan to follow H.V. Morton's route, and he tends to skip from one subject to another in the space of a single paragraph. Though he makes attempts to explain the look of a thing, person or place, his prose isn't very visual. I also agree with another reviewer that there should have been photographs included. I am very glad I didn't buy the volume on Scotland, which I had been tempted to do. Read Tony Hawks or Pete McCarthy instead.