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313th out of 3,221 books
—
13,998 voters
Ireland
by
Frank Delaney (Goodreads Author)
In the winter of 1951, a storyteller arrives at the home of nine-year-old Ronan O'Mara in the Irish countryside. The last practitioner of an honored, centuries-old tradition, the Seanchai enthralls his assembled audience for three evenings running with narratives of foolish kings and fabled saints, of enduring accomplishments and selfless acts -- until he is banished from...more
Paperback, 651 pages
Published
February 28th 2006
by Avon
(first published 2005)
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I read this for my book club and did not look forward to it. What a surprise! I was enchanted by the storyteller's tales. The novel has both a plot and a history of the stories told by a traditional storyteller in Ireland. Ireland has had a rich history of itinerant storytellers, and it was as if I were being read to rather than reading it myself. Frank Delaney's goal is to tell the history of Ireland during the course of his life's work. I was enchanted by the storyteller's tales. The novel ha...more
It is as if Frank Delaney wrote his novel, Ireland, to be an audio book. Ireland is a novel about a Storyteller and the stories he tells about Irish history. We are treated to the creation of Newgrange and the Book of Kells. We learn about Brendan the Navigator and Conor, the King of Ulster. Each story stands alone but together they form still another story. I cannot recommend this book more highly…especially as an audio book.
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I just could not get into this book at all. I found the tales to be boring and the storytelling even worse. I have many Irish friends who are able to tell a tale in a most fun and witty way. They are never boring and with that true Irish wit and the glint in their eyes, they weave a story that amazes and thrills you. (or perhaps it is that wonderful accent and laugh they all seem to have naturally!) Frank Delaney, unfortunately, could not seem to muster up any enthusiasm in this reader. He made...more
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When I got off the plane in Ireland, I was greeted by a James Joyce quote. This really pleased me. Then I ran into quotes from Irish authors in pubs, public spaces, the Guinness Brewery, and a variety of tourist locations. I think even an overpass. All together – I loved how storytellers were everywhere. This felt really good to me.
So when I picked up this book and learned that Ireland had wandering storytellers during the twentieth century, I was again pleasantly at peace. However, if a man sh...more
So when I picked up this book and learned that Ireland had wandering storytellers during the twentieth century, I was again pleasantly at peace. However, if a man sh...more
This book was a gift from my dad, it is the story of a Irish boy whose life is changed by the visit of a storyteller at his familys home in the 50's. When the storyteller leaves town due to the frostyness and strait out bitch of a mother,the boy becomes obsessed with finding the Storyteller and learning all he can from him.
So this was moved to the top of the reading pile because the Irish boy's name was Ronan and my sons name is Ronan and he is my most favourite person ever.
This is my Ronan
He i...more
So this was moved to the top of the reading pile because the Irish boy's name was Ronan and my sons name is Ronan and he is my most favourite person ever.
This is my Ronan
He i...more
2 likes · like · see review
I often will read books along a theme. This was one from my 'Ireland' period. It was a fictional story of the last traveling storyteller in the country, and the boy who became obsessed with following what he did. The book intertwines include the storyteller's tales, which are fictional and historical stories of Ireland, with the the stories of the lives of the storyteller, the boy, and the boy's family. And, like any good Irish story (or at least the ones I grew up on), there's an unexpected twi...more
As a folklorist, Frank Delaney is pretty decent. As a novelist ... Frank Delaney is a pretty decent folklorist. His book celebrates the Irish tradition of the itinerant storyteller who earns his room and board by spinning tales and captivating audiences. One such storyteller, perhaps the last of his kind, drops by the home of 9-year-old Ronan O'Mara, and for three nights weaves his spell over the boy. One of his stories gets Ronan's mother riled up, and she tosses the storyteller out on his arse...more
It is a rare occurance where I find myself either laughing out loud when reading a book or being moved to tears when reading a book. This book did both for me. Note though - If you were looking for an "historical" story of Ireland, this probably isn't it!
The basic premise is to retell stories and myths of Ireland and the book does so with varying degrees of success with a plot device of a young man searching for the storyteller he saw as a child. The beginning of the book is perhaps a little slo...more
The basic premise is to retell stories and myths of Ireland and the book does so with varying degrees of success with a plot device of a young man searching for the storyteller he saw as a child. The beginning of the book is perhaps a little slo...more
Near the beginning of this story the narrator of the story says..."a good story lifts the heart." There is nothing like an Irish brogue in the voice of Frank Delaney telling a compelling story of Ireland. I have enough Irish ancestry to celebrate St. Patrick's day but know little of the stories and legends that pepper the Irish heritage and landscape. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and the notion of a story teller who goes from home to home and village to village with not much more than a story...more
May 27, 2011
Cheryl Gatling
added it
This is an ambitious novel. The title sums it up. The author attempts to do nothing less than encapsulate the entire history, flavor, color, and landscape of a country in one book. There is a plot, and characters, but the real subject of “Ireland” is Ireland. The “Author’s Note” at the beginning is telling. “To understand the Irish,” Delaney writes, “mere facts can never be enough; this is a country that reprocesses itself through the mills of its imagination.” This melding together of fact and...more
Delaney's use of voice in this novel is excellent, as is the massive amount of local flavor with which he imbues his writing. That's the best I can say about this book.
As you probably already know, Ireland attempts to tell the story of Ireland (surprise, surprise): about half the novel is a frame story set in the 1950s and 60s, concerning a young boy, Ronan, who meets a traveling storyteller and is captivated by Irish history. The other half consists of the stories themselves, told by various p...more
As you probably already know, Ireland attempts to tell the story of Ireland (surprise, surprise): about half the novel is a frame story set in the 1950s and 60s, concerning a young boy, Ronan, who meets a traveling storyteller and is captivated by Irish history. The other half consists of the stories themselves, told by various p...more
Good to bring on your travels - and each story arc is good for short travel distances, while the whole book's story can be nicely wrapped up during travels.
Its one of the best 'historical fiction' I've ever had. It's a book about the tradition of storytelling in Ireland. Through the storytellers stories, I learnt about facets of Irish history that I'd otherwise have found boring.
I loved each and every character, in both the tales as well as in the book. Delanay's language and style suits the s...more
Neat way to review the history of Ireland from ancient times through 1916; it's all stories of the various historical events, woven together by another story. I enjoyed some of the narrators more than others.
--"The people we call "poets," by which I mean true, real poets--they're merely very keen listeners who've learned to recognize when a poem's dropping by. Then they copy down what the poem's telling them in their heads... No sooner do they listen out than a poem swoops down, whispers somethi...more
--"The people we call "poets," by which I mean true, real poets--they're merely very keen listeners who've learned to recognize when a poem's dropping by. Then they copy down what the poem's telling them in their heads... No sooner do they listen out than a poem swoops down, whispers somethi...more
Ireland is a story about Ronan, a boy who hears a traveling storyteller for three consecutive nights, and is forever changed by the experience. Ronan’s relationship with the storyteller is mysterious, sometimes frustrating (because the reader really identifies with Ronan’s journey), moving and heartwarming. It is lyrical, for the storytelling is rich with moments that make you sit back and collect yourself, because you didn’t realize that there could be something so poignant written. It is epic,...more
Aug 10, 2011
Mae
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Expatriates, Irish Americans
Shelves:
ireland
I was sad to finish this book, I wish the book would just go on... I am not Irish and I am certainly not an expert in Irish History, so I found the book, wonderfully informative and entertaining. This is a book about storytellers, Ireland and the Irish. The narrator, a history professor, develops his love for history after listening to his first storyteller and the story of New Grange. New Grange is one of the oldest constructions in Ireland and may even be thousand years old. Whilst the author...more
Frank Delaney"s Ireland reminds me of a caduceus, like the staff of the Greek god Hermes, with two intertwined serpents. One of the serpents is the story of a young man named Ronan O'Mara, son of a prosperous Irish attorney, who falls under the spell of the last of the traveling storytellers, known in Gaelic as a seanchai. The other thread (or serpent) is the story of Ireland itself, from prehistoric times at Newgrange to the Easter Rebellion of 1916 in Dublin.
In between Ronan's quest to meet u...more
In between Ronan's quest to meet u...more
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This book is outstanding. At first I was dubious, because the description was that it was the history of Ireland. But the introduction dispels concerns over a dry, dusty retelling of Irish history. The author wrote that many a good history has been ruined by historians. The basic plot is that a storyteller comes to a village and stays with a family and tells them three stories. The boy is enthralled, and follows the story teller for years, collecting his stories. For a long time the boy is alway...more
I grabbed this book off the shelf at the library when I saw the title, Ireland. Oh, I thought, a book on the history of Ireland, probably an epic story in the fashion of James Michener. But it was more than that. It was a double story--the stories of Ireland entwined with an Irish story. The book is well written, with good stories (legends to modern history), a complex plot and enjoyable language. My advice is to pay close attention to the stories. I anticipated the plot, but not every twist, bu...more
Narrated by Frank Delaney
19 hrs and 31 mins
Publisher's Summary
One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller arrives unannounced at a house in the Irish countryside. In exchange for a bed and a warm meal, he invites his hosts and their neighbors to join him by the wintry fireside, and begins to tell formative stories of Ireland's history. Ronan, a 9-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling that, when the old man leaves abruptly under mysterious circumstances, the boy devotes himself t...more
19 hrs and 31 mins
Publisher's Summary
One evening in 1951, an itinerant storyteller arrives unannounced at a house in the Irish countryside. In exchange for a bed and a warm meal, he invites his hosts and their neighbors to join him by the wintry fireside, and begins to tell formative stories of Ireland's history. Ronan, a 9-year-old boy, grows so entranced by the storytelling that, when the old man leaves abruptly under mysterious circumstances, the boy devotes himself t...more
A deeply touching, beautifully poetic, tale of tales. Through the main character's personal story the reader is made privy to a score of stories from many different eras and events in Ireland's history spanning from Newgrange to the Easter Uprising. These stories are told with humble artistry and are all incredibly special in their own way. They shed light on times and historical figures that you may know little to nothing about but, thanks to their memorable details and interesting tidbits, wil...more
Frank Delaney’s Ireland is my kind of novel. Rich with character, history, and lyrical language, it is at once the chronicle of a nation and the coming of age tale of a young man. The story opens with the arrival of a man who may be Ireland’s last itinerant storyteller, and from the moment he lights his pipe by the fireside, and begins describing the evolution of prehistoric New Grange, his audience is enthralled. As is Ronan, who from that evening on finds his career and his very life shaped by...more
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I listened to the author, Frank Delaney read this audiobook, which made all the difference. IRELAND is a rambling collection of folk tales, mythology and history about Ireland, as told by a traveling storyteller. The secondary storyline involves Ronan OMara from age 9 to 25, from his first meeting with the storyteller through his facination to reconnect with the storyteller throughout his growing up. Some of the stories were more interesting than others, but listening to Frank Delaney's melifluo...more
This is a frame story. The outside frame is about a boy (eventually a man) searching for a traveling Storyteller who stayed with his family for a few days when he was 9. The meat of the book is a series of tales told in a few different formats about the history and myth of Ireland.
An interesting thing about this method, compared to other Irish books I've read (and I've read a LOT) is the style. The foreword says something about how in Ireland, history and fiction can't really be separated, and t...more
An interesting thing about this method, compared to other Irish books I've read (and I've read a LOT) is the style. The foreword says something about how in Ireland, history and fiction can't really be separated, and t...more
Wonderful good read. Highly recommend it. In fact, the tales told by the wandering storyteller would, IMO, make for great bedtime stories to children seven or 8 to 12 years. They are heroic, action stories, usually (if I recall correctly) with a moral that is not too obvious and therefore makes for useful discussion material.
For the mature reader, Ireland, and thank goodness it's not presented in the usual dreary manner, is the hero and the villain, the lover and the scoundrel. The novel begins...more
For the mature reader, Ireland, and thank goodness it's not presented in the usual dreary manner, is the hero and the villain, the lover and the scoundrel. The novel begins...more
I liked this one: equal parts coming of age story of fictional Ronan O'Mara and mythical storytelling of Ireland's history. Several mysteries hang throughout the book about Ronan, and Delaney does a good job of making us care for him. The storytelling sections are also fun, but I wish they had been edited a good deal more (ie each tale about 50% shorter). I found that sometimes the myths and stories dragged on a bit longer than necessary. While interested in the long and colorful history of Irel...more
Brilliant! A truly wonderful read. It's personal. My husband and I come from a city whose tradition is truly Irish. Prior to St. Patrick's Day, there is storytelling, music (the best from Ireland), and the Parade. During the tradtional celebration, we listened to our grandmothers...County Kerry, County Clare and County Westmeath...and their stories. These were all familiar when reading Frank Delaney's book. I listened to it on audio - which was pretty enriching - as it was read by the author...d...more
Prior to reading this book, I saw in a review that it was written to be listened to. I can not agree with this statement more. This story is one about a storyteller. I can't imagine reading this book and getting as much out of it as I did by listening to it.
This book involved many of the qualities that I adore in books. It has a main story line, but its also about the history of Ireland, as told by its myths,tales...its stories. I have always loved myths and tales from all kinds of cultures. So...more
This book involved many of the qualities that I adore in books. It has a main story line, but its also about the history of Ireland, as told by its myths,tales...its stories. I have always loved myths and tales from all kinds of cultures. So...more
This book was wonderful! It was written in a style unlike any I can remember reading. I generally don't like short stories of myths and legends, but every other chapter in this book was just that, and I really enjoyed it. Perhaps it's because of my Irish heritage. The story takes place in Ireland of the 1950s and 1960s. A storyteller comes to stay for a short time at a young boy's house, which was quite the event still in Ireland of that time. He is entranced by the storyteller and the stories o...more
I loved this book. The story revolves around a young man and a story teller that he heard once when he was a child. The story about the young man and his struggles is very good, but the true value of the book lies within the tales of Ireland that the story teller brings to life. While the reader should never mistake these stories for factual or historical accounts of Ireland, it give an amazing overview of the sagas and legends that surround the it. The stories range from the creation of Newgran...more
Dec 19, 2008
Mary JL
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
readers who like a long story; fans of Irish folklore
Shelves:
fiction-classics
The different tales told by the storyteller are very interesting. I had not read much on Ireland before and the tale were well told and interesting.
A gentle, rich book--not fast paced but slow like a warm afternoon with nothing to do but listen to a good tale.
A gentle, rich book--not fast paced but slow like a warm afternoon with nothing to do but listen to a good tale.
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| Please enlighten me! | 9 | 48 | Jun 15, 2013 09:26pm |
'The Most Eloquent Man in the World', says NPR, about the writer, broadcaster, BBC host and Booker Prize Judge, Frank Delaney. Over a career that has lasted more than three decades, Delaney, an international-best-selling author himself, has interviewed more than 3,500 of the world's most important writers.
Frank Delaney has earned top prizes and best-seller status in a wide variety of formats, from...more
More about Frank Delaney...
Frank Delaney has earned top prizes and best-seller status in a wide variety of formats, from...more
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“I believe the world of the spirit is in general greatly neglected and not at all served by the practice of faith as we know it, because religion isn't individual enough.”
—
8 people liked it
“When I come out on the road of a morning, when I have had a night's sleep and perhaps a breakfast, and the sun lights a hill on the distance, a hill I know I shall walk across an hour or two thence, and it is green and silken to my eye, and the clouds have begun their slow, fat rolling journey across the sky, no land in the world can inspire such love in a common man.”
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