Midsummer Night Madness

by Seán Ó Faoláin

Midsummer Night Madness : Collected Short Stories Vol. 1 (volume one)

Genres: Short Stories, Fiction, Irish Literature, Ireland, 20th Century

445 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Victor Pacheco]

Séan O'Faolain's short stories about the Irish Revolutionary period 1916-1923 are the best piece of critical literary work about this theme. The desillusioned vision about the War of Independence, the love appears even in the darkests times and the fear of not having an affective memory permeate all the seven short stories.

[ThePageGobbler]

Not reinventing the wheel by any stretch but three very solid collections, of which the first is definitely the most interesting to me, with the titular story setting the tone of asking some tough questions about revolutionary values. Thought ‘The Bombshop’ and ‘The Small Lady’ (rubbish ending aside) were an impressive part of the first collection too, and while the third collection has largely dispensed with the more weighty concerns of the first two it also displays SOF’s strength for identifying moments of beauty and loneliness. Perhaps a bit unambitious and repetitive at times in its choice of subject matter

[Differengenera]

interlinked sequence of stories taking place against the background of the War of Independence - late Civil War period. some true believers, some free-thinkers whose allegiances with the revolution are temporary, armchair generals, opportunists, romantics, peasants, the snobby students from the cities who look down on them, Tans... hits that peak of what a certain kind of early 20th c. impressionism can do.

[Leslie]

A powerful collection of stories, the most memorable of them set during the Troubles as his characters struggle with what it means to be Irish, what they're fighting for, and what the struggle is doing to them personally and as a people.

[Charles Puskas]

Very descriptive of life and surroundings of Ireland in the midst of much conflict between the British supported Royal Irish Constabulary (the Black and Tans) and the Irish Republican Army lead by Michael Collins (supporters of Republican party of Sinn Fein), 1919-21.