Adult fiction. I think I could like this book--it's got zany, Irish characters and colorful dialogue, but I just couldn't get into it. ( )

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

At first I was tempted to dismiss the 2009 character dramedy Ghosts & Lightning, the latest by hip Irish writing professor Trevor Byrne, because of it being almost identical in both theme and tone to so many other youngish Commonwealth authors like Roddy Doyle, Nick Hornby and Irvine Welsh; it is yet another look at charming yet troubled blue-collar underemployed males in a former part of the British Empire (Dublin in this case), the women who love them, and the trouble they are always getting into, told through phonetically sounded-out dialogue from that actual region. But I'll be damned if I didn't end up loving it anyway; because despite the above being true, Byrne at least does an impeccable job at it, turning in a story that is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking, in a style that is both exotic to American ears yet easy to understand and follow. I don't really have much to say about it that hasn't been said a thousand times already about other such books; but if you're looking for yet another one in this vein to enjoy, it'd be hard to go wrong with this leisurely paced deep character study.

Out of 10: 8.9 ( )

http://www.thebookbag.co.uk/reviews/index.php?title=Ghosts_and_Lightning_by_Trev... ( )

Truthfully I could not even finish it. I got about 1/2 way through and gave up -- it just wasn't catching my interest. The dialogue/dialect may make the characters more authentic but for me it just got in the way. It didn't seem to be going anywhere and there didn't seem to be any real plot. It is very rare for me not to finish a book whether I am liking it or not but I have to many books on my list waiting to be read to waste any more time with this one. ( )

I couldn't wait to get this book. I knew I was going to love it - Ireland, ghosts, and lightning are all things that I like. It arrived and I started reading it, and I hated it. I could hardly stand reading it and told my family that I dreaded having to finish it so I could write the review. Then somewhere about page 120 something changed. The dialect and despair that had so bothered me became warm and familiar. Denny, Maggit, Pajo, Paula, and Teresa started feeling like old friends. The humor started showing through the ridiculous lives of these pathetic people who were unable to make a good decision if their lives depended upon it. By the time the book ended, I was so sorry to say goodbye to these characters and I long to know what happened them. I am looking forward to reading Trevor Byrne's next book, especially since I finally figured out what an oulwan is.