Maurice Walsh (1) (1879–1964)

This slim little 50 page book was part of a series printed by Macarthur Press in Parramatta in 1947. It is inscribed a merry Christmas and a happy new (you) year from Sister Janie. So I read it as something a Catholic nun would deem gift-worthy. It's more of a short story than a novel but beautifully written in the sense that it's Irish brogue permeates almost every sentence. The quiet man is Shawn Kelvin and the way his story is told is no profound but entirely satisfying. Quite lovely and unpretentious.… (mehr)

Fra bagsiden:
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En glødende kærlighed til Irland og et flammende had til England var et fællestræk hos de fleste irlændere. "Den tavse mand", der som film blev en kæmpesucces overalt. bygger også på dette nationaltræk. En gruppe mænd kæmper i den irske undergrundsbevægelse mod de forhadte "black-and-tan" soldater, og deres fantatiske vilje til friheden - til ikke at ville undetrykkes - er beskrevet med en fortættet spænding.
Da freden endelig kommer, er der jubel. Og mændene fra partisangruppen falder efterhånden til ro i et borgeligt hverv - fordi de en efter en falder for "de forbandede rødhårede kvinder" ...
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Another wonderful book by Maurice Walsh. Told in first-person by (presumably) the author himself, it's a cycle of short stories centered around the misadventures of his ne'er-do-well man-of-no-work and putative gardener Thomasheen James O'Doran. O'Doran is a master of misadventure, easily led astray by drink, gambling and low companions -- but he always manages to extricate himself from his sometimes-employer's well deserved wrath with logical (if highly suspicious) explanations for his behavior. A wry comedic tour de force that unexpectedly ends up having the story arc of a novel.… (mehr)