What do you think?
Rate this book
Farewell Companions
James Plunkett's long-awaited second novel is, like his widely acclaimed Strumpet City, a rich and intricate tapestry of Irish life, this time of the period from the 1914 war to the ending of World : War II. Like many other great novels it Is basically about growing up. We watch Tim McDonagh : and his two close friends moving through childhood and adolescence to early manhood, adapting each in his own-way to the varied and complex strands of the Irish heritage.
A powerful influence, of course, is the Church, But there is. also the strong blood-myth of race and an equally pervasive nostalgia for a lost, golden age of the Gael, that mysterious groping back to a crowded, mythological world of gods, warriors and hero-poets. There are, too, , the passionate antagonisms of the Civil War .which had so. recently marked the setting-up of the new State and turned the triumph of the uprising to dust and ashes.
Rich and highly articulate characters personify these influences - O'Sheehan, the eccentric old librarian and Celtic scholar who believes he is Oisin, - son of Finn, MacCumhaill and hero-poet of Gaelic mythology and so about 2,000 years old Cornelius Moloney publican-politician, who hopes to make his fortune by training, greyhounds; and petty politicians and feuding Treatyites and Anti-Treatyites who were at one time brothers-in-arms.
A powerful influence, of course, is the Church, But there is. also the strong blood-myth of race and an equally pervasive nostalgia for a lost, golden age of the Gael, that mysterious groping back to a crowded, mythological world of gods, warriors and hero-poets. There are, too, , the passionate antagonisms of the Civil War .which had so. recently marked the setting-up of the new State and turned the triumph of the uprising to dust and ashes.
Rich and highly articulate characters personify these influences - O'Sheehan, the eccentric old librarian and Celtic scholar who believes he is Oisin, - son of Finn, MacCumhaill and hero-poet of Gaelic mythology and so about 2,000 years old Cornelius Moloney publican-politician, who hopes to make his fortune by training, greyhounds; and petty politicians and feuding Treatyites and Anti-Treatyites who were at one time brothers-in-arms.
479 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
About the author
James Plunkett
25 books19 followersJames Plunkett Kelly, or James Plunkett (21 May 1920 – 28 May 2003), was an Irish writer. He was educated at Synge Street CBS.
Plunkett grew up among the Dublin working class and they, along with the petty bourgeoisie and lower intelligentsia, make up the bulk of the dramatis personae of his oeuvre. His best-known works are the novel Strumpet City, set in Dublin in the years leading up to the lockout of 1913 and during the course of the strike, and the short stories in the collection The Trusting and the Maimed. His other works include a radio play on James Larkin, who figures prominently in his work.
During the 1960s, Plunkett worked as a producer at Telefís Éireann. He won two Jacob's Awards, in 1965 and 1969, for his TV productions. In 1971 he wrote and presented "Inis Fail - Isle of Destiny", his very personal appreciation of Ireland. It was the final episode of the BBC series "Bird's-Eye View", shot entirely from a helicopter, and the first co-production between the BBC and RTE.
James Plunkett is one of the forgotten men of Irish literature. Most of our writers seem to loom larger than their work (Behan, whom I wrote about last week, is the classic example). But Plunkett's name is less remembered than either his landmark play, The Risen People, or his novel and television series, Strumpet City.
Plunkett grew up among the Dublin working class and they, along with the petty bourgeoisie and lower intelligentsia, make up the bulk of the dramatis personae of his oeuvre. His best-known works are the novel Strumpet City, set in Dublin in the years leading up to the lockout of 1913 and during the course of the strike, and the short stories in the collection The Trusting and the Maimed. His other works include a radio play on James Larkin, who figures prominently in his work.
During the 1960s, Plunkett worked as a producer at Telefís Éireann. He won two Jacob's Awards, in 1965 and 1969, for his TV productions. In 1971 he wrote and presented "Inis Fail - Isle of Destiny", his very personal appreciation of Ireland. It was the final episode of the BBC series "Bird's-Eye View", shot entirely from a helicopter, and the first co-production between the BBC and RTE.
James Plunkett is one of the forgotten men of Irish literature. Most of our writers seem to loom larger than their work (Behan, whom I wrote about last week, is the classic example). But Plunkett's name is less remembered than either his landmark play, The Risen People, or his novel and television series, Strumpet City.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!