The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0192828452 ISBN 13: 9780192828453

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1991

Synopsis

In Ireland what began as both entertainment and communication through the spoken word grew into a literary form unmatched by any other country. The Oxford Book of Irish Short Stories triumphantly demonstrates that development, from early folk tales of the oral tradition (here translated from the Irish) through Oliver Goldsmith, Maria Edgeworth, Oscar Wilde, James Joyce and Joyce Cary to Elizabeth Bowen, Liam O'Flaherty and such rising stars of today as Edna O'Brian and Desmond Hogan. William Trevor, himself a distinguished short story writer, brings a special sensibility and awareness to his role as editor. This wide-ranging collection of forty-six stories will certainly serve to entertain and enrich our understanding of a unique literary genre.

About this title

About the Author:

About the Editor:
William Trevor, novelist, short story writer, and dramatist, is the author of The Ballroom of Romance, Angels at the Ritz, The News from Ireland, and numerous other works.

From Library Journal:

The short story, unlike the novel, is rooted in an oral tradition. Perhaps this explains its popularity and prominence in Ireland, where people have always delighted in the spoken word. From the magical folk tales and fairy stories, seven of which are given here, to classics like Joyce's "The Dead" and O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation," Trevor admirably suggests the variety as well as the continuity of this tradition. Seumus O'Keely's poignantly comic "The Weaver's Grave," about two elderly men's personal battle to remember the last free space in an ancient burial ground, is a turning point, mixing a modern sensibility with antique form. The modern story, which often portrays the brutality, repression, and disappointment characteristic of Irish life, is keenly represented by Mary Lavin's "Sarah." Trevor has chosen well. Bitter Harvest , which supplements Montague's The Book of Irish Verse (Macmillan, 1974; Peter Smith, 1984. reprint), a collection of verse from earliest times to the Irish Renaissance, is not quite as successful. The contemporary poets represented here write against the backdrop of political turmoil, but the verse, less thematically homogeneous than Montague would make us think, reels more from Yeats's powerful influence than from explosives. Included are so many poets who have just started their careers that one might wait on this collection to see if all the fruits of Ireland's "bitter harvest" are really worth saving.
- Donald P. Kaczvinsky, Pennsylvania State Univ., University Park
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1991
• ISBN 10: 0192828452
• ISBN 13: 9780192828453
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 592
• Editor: Trevor William