Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987 - 2007

Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987–2007 is the authoritative guide to some of the most inventive and challenging fiction to emerge from Ireland in the last 25 years. Meticulously researched, it presents detailed interpretations of novels by some of Ireland’s most eminent writers.

• This is the first text-focused critical survey of the Irish novel from 1987 to 2007, providing detailed readings of 11 seminal Irish novels
• A timely and much needed text in a largely uncharted critical field
• Provides detailed interpretations of individual novels by some of the country’s most critically celebrated writers, including Sebastian Barry, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Patrick McCabe, John McGahern, Edna O’Brien and Colm Tóibín
• Investigates the ways in which Irish novels have sought to deal with and reflect a changing Ireland
• The fruit of many years reading, teaching and research on the subject by a leading and highly respected academic in the field

Liam Harte is Senior Lecturer in Irish and Modern Literature at the University of Manchester. He is the author or editor of seven books, including Modern Irish Autobiography: Self, Nation and Society (2007), Ireland Beyond Boundaries: Mapping Irish Studies in the Twenty-First Century (2007; edited with Yvonne Whelan) and Contemporary Irish Fiction: Themes, Tropes, Theories (2000; edited with Michael Parker). His most recent book is the critically acclaimed The Literature of the Irish in Britain: Autobiography and Memoir, 1725–2001, which was published as a Palgrave Macmillan paperback in 2011.

Introduction: Reading the Contemporary Irish Novel 1987–2007 1

1 In the FamilyWay: Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy (1987–1991) 23

2 House Arrest: John McGahern’s Amongst Women (1990) 51

3 Malignant Shame: Patrick McCabe’s The Butcher Boy (1992) 75

4 Uncertain Terms, Unstable Sands: Colm T´ oib´ýn’s The Heather Blazing (1992) 105

5 Unbearable Proximities:William Trevor’s Felicia’s Journey (1994) 127

6 History’s Hostages: Edna O’Brien’s House of Splendid Isolation (1994) 151

7 Shadows in the Air: Seamus Deane’s Reading in the Dark (1996) 173

8 The Politics of Pity: Sebastian Barry’s A Long Long Way (2005) 197

9 Mourning Remains Unresolved: Anne Enright’s The Gathering (2007) 217

Bibliography 243

Index 259

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