A Star Called Henry: A Novel (The Last Roundup)

The first third of the book contains some of Roddy Doyle's best writing, but as the main character grows up the events portrayed become ever more fantastical. My interest in Roddy Doyle stems from his ability to portray the harsh realities of daily life in modern Ireland with a touch of humour but by creating a 'mythical hero' in this novel I find that I cannot believe the story as representing life in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. As the novel does not work for me as a fantasy (check out the legends of Finn MacCool or Cuchulain if you want some real Irish heroics) it leaves little to recommend other than Doyle's gift for dialogue which is better represented in his earlier works. Also I don't think his historical revisionism of Irish republicanism during 1900-1920 is as ground-breaking as some people think. There were obviously left and right elements to the events of 1916-1922 and all the participants had pretty much the same human foibles as the rest of the human race. Essentially this novel fails to convince me as to its historicality or to entertain me as a fantasy or to involve me with its characters. Doyle has done better before and hopefully will do better again - perhaps Henry Smart will get killed off early in the forthcoming second part of this trilogy.

This book is wonderful. It's realistic, its characters are living people (even the legends like Michael Collins and James Connolly), and the story is compelling. I didn't like the main character at first, because I felt he was a braggart and a jerk, but later on I really started to appreciate him. I'll definitely read the sequels, even though I picked this one up because it dealt with the Easter Rebellion. I gave it four stars instead of five, because I agree with one of the previous reviewers in that it requires quite some knowledge about Irish history. The casual remarks about Pears, Plunkett (and his marriage to Grace Gifford) etc. will make no sense if you have never heard of these fellows. I've heard of them, though, so it didn't really bother me.

The story of Henry Smart, who comes into this wrld without so much as a name to call his own. The poverty and misery of his young life provide fuel for the rebellion, but he keeps a bit of himself aside, and that bit is always trying to figure it all out; and firgure it out he does.
This book will be added to the short ist of classics.

Before I picked up 'A Star Called Henry', Roddy Doyle was one of the few authors of whom I could say, 'I would read anything he wrote'. In the future I will be more careful. I found the main character to be self-centered, vain, unrealistic and awfully stupid for someone who considered himself a genius. This would have been fine except for the fact that Mr. Doyle seemed intent on presenting him as a sympathetic figure. The only thing more annoying than the character of Henry Smart, however, were the reviews of your customers. If one more person stated that they learned so much about the IRA or the Easter Rising from this book, I think I would have started planting my own car bombs. Has it escaped each of you that you found this book in the FICTION section! There are plenty of wonderful books out there if you want the real story of early 20th century Irish history . For instance, if you want to learn about the IRA pick up 'The IRA: A History' by Tim Pat Coogan. And if you're interested in a fact packed story of the Easter 1916 Rising, 'Rebels' by Peter DeRosa is incredibly accurate and beautifully written. In the meantime please don't take history lessons from novels. And as for you Roddy Doyle, the everyday characters from your earlier books were far more heroic than the gun toting, big talking Henry Smart, and far more inspiring.

This book was difficult for me to get into. Unlike the Barrytown Trilogy which sucked you in - this books seems to push you away. It is almost painful to read as you feel for Henry so much (I am not a sentimental person..). However, what sticks with me is the last line in the book. Made me terribly sad. Brilliant.

This book has everything anyone could want from a novel. It is funny, adventurous, thought provoking and extremely well written. Henry Smart is a boy who grows up in the Dublin slums amidst poverty and neglect and takes part in the Irish rebellion against England. We view the rebellion and its mythic heroes through his eyes and learn that the uprising, and new Irish nation that it fostered, was not fought for all Irish but for the few Irish who lusted after power, stature, and wealth. I think this is an amazing novel and I can't wait for the next two installments of this trilogy.

This novel presuposes that the reader has some familiarity with the historical events it describes. I'm not sure to what extent a reader without previous knowledge of the Easter Uprising or the development of the IRA could appreciate this book. I was quite happily surprised by the fact that Doyle strips these events of their romanticized veneer, but disappointed by the disipation of the plot and the characters as the piece drew to a conclusion.I will, however, read the next part of the trilogy.

This is Roddy Doyle's weakest work yet. Roddy Doyle;s inimitable endearing style that shows itself in paddy clark ha ha ha... is not be seen in this latest novel. Even the main character seems to lack the depth that his prior novels had. On the positive side, it is a neat story of the IRA and shows a side of the revolution ( and michael collins) that is not often written about...

Enticing and exciting enough for the pleasure reader, complex and academic enough for the scholarly reader. I would reccomend this to any fans of war novels, romance novels, historical fiction, psychology or criminal nature, or lovers of high literature

A Star Called Henry is a fine book. However, this book is far from a five star. Henry has too much fortune in all his misfortune. In attempts to create suspense, Doyle outdoes himself having Henry elude disaster time and time again. I am sure one had to be fortunate to survive the Irish Civil War, but Henry just has a little too much Irish luck for my liking.
On a positive note, I very much enjoyed Doyle's use of the intricacies of the IRA.

The problem is: If you are not familiar with 20th Century Irish history, you will be lost reading this book when Part 1 ends. Doyle provides the reader with no historical background and writes the book assuming that the reader is all ready well-versed in Irish history. I also had trouble visualizing Ireland, the places, buildings, streets, and the battle scenes, which I attribute to Doyle's lack of description and to my lack of Irish knowledge.

Admittedly, the final chapters pale in comparision to the stunning opening acts, however this is a book not to be missed by patrons of Irish literature. Doyle has a remarkable ability to carve characters whose flaws are as evident as cancors yet whose vulnerability is utterly engaging.

Unfortunately, even though this book is a work of fiction, the events depicted have happened over and over again in Northern Ireland -- and continue to happen today. Anyone who wants to know why Ireland is divided should read this book for a clearer understanding and better insight into what it really means to be Irish and Catholic.

A good friend of mine recommended this as an amazing book. Then I went to buy it at the book store and couldn't recall the author so I asked and the store clerk nearly lost his pants he was so excited I was buying it. 'One of my favorite books' he told me. So I was pretty excited that this book was going to be pretty good.

I really don't think there's much worth explaining, but I really did not like this book at all. In fact, after page 168 I closed it for good which I try to never do -- especially that far into a 350 page book. But it was boring and dry for me with no real plot. It reminded me of Middlesex a bit where there is no real crisis to the plot, except to examine this cultural idea or whatever. Well, this book feels the same to me. It seems more a look at Ireland's history than anything of actual plot line substance. And I don't mean to offend anybody by saying this book was that bad, but for me it really was awful. The worst part for me was the writing. I'm sure it's helpful to be familiar with Irish dialect but the whole read was chaotic and flowed -- well it didn't flow. At all. I feel left out since so many people enjoy it and I'm sad to say it, but this is probably the worst book I've read 168 pages of in my life. =o(

Completely and comically unbelievable, outlandish pulp. James Patterson, Scott Turow, John Grisham, Danielle Steele, Jackie Collins, whoever, could have written this. Maybe Roddy needed money to fund a divorce or his kids' college education or something.

The first third of the book contains some of Roddy Doyle's best writing, but as the main character grows up the events portrayed become ever more fantastical. My interest in Roddy Doyle stems from his ability to portray the harsh realities of daily life in modern Ireland with a touch of humour but by creating a 'mythical hero' in this novel I find that I cannot believe the story as representing life in Ireland at the beginning of the 20th century. As the novel does not work for me as a fantasy (check out the legends of Finn MacCool or Cuchulain if you want some real Irish heroics) it leaves little to recommend other than Doyle's gift for dialogue which is better represented in his earlier works. Also I don't think his historical revisionism of Irish republicanism during 1900-1920 is as ground-breaking as some people think. There were obviously left and right elements to the events of 1916-1922 and all the participants had pretty much the same human foibles as the rest of the human race. Essentially this novel fails to convince me as to its historicality or to entertain me as a fantasy or to involve me with its characters. Doyle has done better before and hopefully will do better again - perhaps Henry Smart will get killed off early in the forthcoming second part of this trilogy.

This book is a very successful attempt to portray Irish history in the early part of the century via the experiences and perceptions of a fictional character. You come away from it feeling that you have both read a good, well-written novel and learned something about history.

The subject matter is absorbing, both in the early part of the novel, where one sees how abject the poverty was of Dublin's poorest inhabitants, and later on, where the focus moves to the characters who got the British out of most of Ireland, and the way in which they did it.

Doyle also does some interesting things with language and structure in the book, which moves it past the common herd of novels and gives it some interest on the literary level as well.

All in all it's a very satisfying book, and I look forward to reading the rest of the trilogy.