Irish history through the eyes of a storyteller. Excellent! ( )

I LOVED this book! I was so sorry when it was over. :) ( )

I plucked this book from the "New Fiction" shelf at my library, based purely upon the previous nights' conversation with a friend about her honeymoon in Ireland.

This book has three parts to it: it is the story of Ronan O'Mara, a history-obsessed only child growing up with his doting father, abrasive mother, and fun-loving aunt in a small town in Ireland. One night, he looks out his window to see a man walking up the path, looking like "a scarecrow that abandoned his post". Enter the storyteller.

Back in the Olde Days, Storytellers would wander the roads of Ireland. Households would take them in and house them for a short time in exchange for evenings filled with wonderous tales of the history and people of Ireland. Ronan had always dreamed of a Storyteller happening upon his house, and when he was nine, his dream came true.

The Storyteller stays for a few days and enchants Ronan, but his mother, Allison, doesn't want the man in her house and kicks him out. Thus begins Ronan's search for the Storyteller.

This book alternates between the life of Ronan, his family drama and his obsession with finding the storyteller; and the stories that he hears as time goes on. There is an excellent balance between storyline and tale, it doesn't seem at all like Frank Delaney didn't have enough to fill a book so he put in some lore to add a chapter or two. The tales are written as an Old Storyteller would relate them - making it all the more charming and engaging. ( )

This isn't the book I thought it was. Fortunately, by the time I'd worked that out I was well and truly hooked and read happily right through to the end.

Delaney is telling two ... or three, or four? ... stories in this book. First is the story of Ireland from prehistoric times right up to the 1960s. Then there's the story of the young boy we meet in the opening pages. Ronan is only nine when a Storyteller visits his family home. He is spellbound by the old gentleman and his tales and devotes a great piece of his life to finding him again. To say more about the plot would be to tell secrets so I shall leave it there.

Delaney's writing is engaging and knowledgeable. The characters are painted in broad brushstrokes and there are so many stories within the stories he tells that it might have all become a shade too complicated. Thankfully, Delaney is skillful enough to pull it off and I never had that nasty feeling of being all at sea. Highly recommended. ( )

This was an enjoyable read - what it lacked in characterisation it made up for in the interest of tracing Ireland's history through stories. As an English person I found parts of it quite horrifying, and it made it a lot easier for me to understand how there has been so much hatred generated between Ireland and England. Didn't do anything for my national pride but then I barely had any to begin with. ( )

excellent story about a storyteller, I passed on this book for a long time and loved every minute of it when I did read it. ( )

I loved this book. I wanted to go to Ireland when I was finished reading it and I was very proud of my Irish roots. There was so much history that I didn't know and the storyline was also interesting. What a unique way to intertwine history with current events. I highly recommend this book. ( )

Appreciated the author's technique of every other chapter a tale of Irish folklore from the storyteller, however, the interruption of the linear story of the boy's search for the storyteller became annoying and frustrating halfway through. Nice writing, nice stories but this is more an anthology of Irish tales than a novel. ( )

This book is essentially a collection of short stories tied together by the life of the narrator. It tells the story of Ireland from its first inhabitants, to St. Patrick and the Easter Rising, and paints some truly wonderful pictures which stay with you long after you've finished reading.

Saying that, however, I did lose interest with the connecting tale of the narrator which contained a couple of terribly predictable plot-twists and struggled to progress with the same ease as the short stories it enveloped. ( )

http://shelfandstuff.blogspot.com/200... ( )

Frank Delaney weaves a masterly tale of Ireland with a multi-layered voice. The main narrator, Ronan O'Meara, tells of his encounters, beginning as a young boy, with a Seanchai ("Shana-key"), a traveling storyteller. Ronan pursues the elusive storyteller across the island. The storyteller relates the history of Ireland in a variety of vignettes. Other narrators fill in the story, such as professor T. Bartlett Ryle.

A wonderful mix of history and fables, lore and fact. We meet St. Patrick, Finn MacCool, Brian Boru, Jonathan Swift and Edmund Spenser among others like Brendan the Navigator. Delaney introduces the reader to the Book of Kells, a fantastical artistic creation of medieval monks. Reminiscent of Edward Rutherfurd's recent two-volume Dublin Saga, but the reader feels both more warmth and alienation in Delaney's telling, particularly as Ronan searches to find himself in this world.

Most highly recommended, especially for readers with an interest in historical novels or Irish history. ( )

I finished this as I was flying over the Atlantic Ocean on my way home from this novel's main character, Ireland. Perhaps that's why I found this book so magical, because I was actually there as I read the wonderful stories of this country's history, but I don't think so. I think the way Delaney wove the stories into the plot, the way he characterized the storyteller and the boy who's life he changed, and the way he described the green countryside is what made this book unforgettable. Certainly one that will be re-read, hopefully when I'm back in Ireland. ( )

I purchased this book in an airport gift shop while I was waiting to catch my plane for my first trip to Ireland. I was standing there trying to find something to read on the flight over, and it just seemed like providence, so I picked it up. Needless to say, I was instantly enchanted by this book!

Told alternatively between what is happening "now" and stories from Ireland's vast and rich history, Ireland is a journey of discovery for a boy both about his national heritage as well as his ancestral heritage. Each story is more mesmerizing than the last and will draw you in farther and farther into the history and lore of Ireland. The continuing story of Ronan, the young protagonist of the story and his continuing interaction with the Storyteller keeps the story of what is happening "now" moving forward as well, all the way to an ending that you don't see coming.

What was amazing to me is while I was in Ireland, I would read a chapter or 2 each morning, which usually included one of the Storyteller's stories. On two occasions, the story he told in the book related directly to something that I was doing that day (I read about the creation Book of Kells the day we went to Trinity College to view it, and I read about the Easter Uprising the morning that I stopped into the very same Post Office that it occurred in to mail my postcards back home). It was entrancing to me to read something of the history of these items or places and actually be able to look at the same article or walk the same street as the characters in the story.

Part history lesson, part mystery, part drama, Ireland is an amazing book that has captured the imaginations of both myself and everyone I have lent my copy too (which is a very well-traveled book now). ( )

This is an interesting book, part novel, part history text. It centres around an old fashioned itinerant storyteller and a young boy's lifelong quest to find him again (after he visited once when the boy was young). The characters are fairly well drawn, particularly towards the end as we learn more about them, and the history is interesting. Weaved into the text is probably a couple of dozen real stories from Ireland's history starting in the distant past and progressing towards the modern day. I learned a lot and was well enterained along the way. My favourite story incidentally, was about Brendan the Navigator. ( )

An enjoyable read---be prepared to learn a little about Irish History.

Fabulous mixing of history & Irish myth/folklore. A book to keep and read again. ( )

Book Discussion Group selection, June 2006 ( )

I have just finished one of the most amazing books. Ireland: A Novel by Frank Delaney intricately weaves together several tales with Ireland itself fulfilling the role of setting and supporting character. I thoroughly enjoyed not only the plot and originality of the story, but the writing was spectacular in its lush descriptions of ancient and modern day Ireland, as well as the very soil and green (as you've never seen before) grass of the island.

The story begins one evening with the visit of an Irish storyteller to the O'Mara household. Ronan, the only child of the house, becomes immediately enthralled with the old man whose station in life is to travel the country telling and retelling the rich history of Ireland. On this first night where we meet the Storyteller we hear the tale of an ancient and awe-inspiring burial site at Newgrange. Ronan hangs on the Storyteller's every word and puts every image and syllable to memory. But Ronan is not the only one who is listening, several townspeople have filled the O'Mara's sitting room to hear the magical tales and so it goes for three evenings.

The morning following the Storyteller's tale about St. Patrick, Ronan's mother has a falling out with the visitor over accused blasphemy. She asks him to leave her household at once - without saying goodbye to Ronan. His departure sets into motion a journey by the then 9-year-old boy that lasts well into his adulthood. Ronan's journey brings him to many corners of the Emerald Isle during his life, coast to coast, in search of the Storyteller. Along the way he learns the history of his beloved country, even more about the love the Irish people have for a good tale and the people who tell them and most of all, Ronan learns about his own family heritage and where he comes from.

While the story of Ronan's journey drives the story forward, the tales that we hear told by the Storyteller and his friends are like a separate storyline altogether. We learn of kings and queens, Viking battles, English occupation, the Great Hunger that drove so many millions to emigrate and several more millions to the grave, and of course, the Easter Uprising of 1916 that led to England retreating from Dublin and giving up all but the very Northern most part of the island. The history is rich, the language like music and I can still hear the voice of the Storyteller echoing in my head as he told of the bullets breaking windows and the images of death permanently burned into his eyes on that bloody, Easter holiday weekend.

I have completely fallen in love with this book. Not only is the story compelling, but the way in which Delaney connects each character with history and illustrates how each person is somehow connected to his neighbor is amazing. But most amazing of all is that by the time you get to the end of the book (and it is a lengthy one) the resolution leads you to recall all that you have read from page one. Each event depends upon all of the events that precede it, both in history and in the novel, and Delaney seamlessly constructs this intricate web without one misstep.

Delaney writes not only a wonderful "oral" history of his land, but provides the reader with one of the most human stories I've read in quite some time. Ireland: A Novel has been added, with great pleasure, to my personal Top Five Best Novels list and I believe, if you give it the time it deserves, you will be greatly impressed as well. ( )

Reading this book made me realize just how much I don't know about the history of Ireland. It is NOT a history book though. It's emphasis is on folk tales. Overall, a good read, but the big secrets that are revealed in the book are ones the reader will have figured out on their own. Still, a very interesting read. ( )