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Dark Lies the Island by Kevin Barry (view source)
Revision as of 12:34, 5 February 2012
, 12:34, 5 February 2012no edit summary
There's nothing particularly deep or meaningful about this collection - and equally it's blissfully free of those short stories that make you go 'huh?' at the end. It's purely about the entertainment of the individual tales. His subject matter veers towards the dark, often involving criminals, drugs and alcohol, and many are set in Ireland or feature Irish people.
Barry is like a slightly more risque version of [[:Category:Roddy Doyle|Roddy Doyle]], and that is no bad thing at all. Like Doyle, he brilliantly captures dialogue, both spoken and internal and has a great eye for the absurdities and often tragedies of modern life. But while with Doyle you have a sense of comfort about where the story is heading, with Barry you know to expect the unexpected and this unpredictability is often thrilling and usually darkly funny.
Our thanks to the kind people at Jonathan Cape for inviting us to review this collection.