Tumbling In The Hay

by Oliver Saint John Gogarty, A. Norman Jeffares (Contributor)

The young Gogarty, medical student, amateur cyclist, philosopher and lover of good conversation, enjoyed a rowdy, exuberant lifestyle in Dublin in the early 1900s. In this lightly disguised autobiography he gives an intriguing account of the regular round of pubs, pawnshops and bawdy houses of the city, interrupted briefly by the serious business of anatomy exams.

His enthusiasm, ready wit and keen observation capture the characters and manners of the city and of the period in an entertaining and highly readable story.

352 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1939

About the author

Irish poet, author, and politician.

Reviews

[Greg · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read works by many physician-writers, but hadn't come across Gogarty until this past year. Gogarty was an Irish otolaryngologist and well-known literary figure, who was a Sinn Féiner during the Irish War for Independence. He also later served as a Free State Senator, and eventually relocated to the US. He was also the inspiration for the character Buck Mulligan in James Joyce's Ulysses. I was hoping this novel would provide an interesting glimpse of medical training in early 1900s Dublin, but alas, I found Gogarty's Wikipedia entry more entertaining than this collection of vignettes and bawdy jokes (apparently he was kidnapped by the IRA and escaped by telling them he had diarrhea). Probably only of interest to the historical reader.

[Witty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book and not for any vain intellectual reason but for the sheer fact that not a person on earth has captured Irish conversation in the way of Mr. Gogarty (or Mr. Mulligan!). His story is one of drinking, studying, sports, and all the other activities a college fellow might find himself in and one hundred and twenty years after the fact I could still relate to him and his friends as if they were my contemporaries. This is the book of the conversationalist, the wit, the rogue. Irish conversation turned to novel!