| Star Called Henry (Signed) |  | Author: Roddy Doyle
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Category: Book
Buy New: £27.33
New (4) Used (6) from £3.87
Rating:  51 reviews
Sales Rank: 1686973
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Limited signed e.
Pages: 400
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.6
ISBN: 0224049372
EAN: 9780224049375
ASIN: 0224049372
Publication Date: August 26, 1999
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: NEW. Hard to Find Title! Sent By Airmail from New York. Please allow 7-15 Business days. No VAT or extra charges. Order Confirmation.#
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Amazon.co.uk Review
The habit of murder becomes a hard one to break; the hero of Roddy Doyle's novel of the Irish War of Independence, like his father before him, kills to order and kills in cold blood. Where his father was simply the one-legged bouncer at a brothel, whose employers used him for any killing that needs to be done, Henry has motives. Growing up on the street, taught his letters by James Connolly, he believes in not just Irish freedom, but workers' revolution. He learns the hard way that his pious middle-class masters do not have this in mind. A Star Called Henry--passionate, angry, darkly and wildly comic--has something in it to offend everybody. His stirring, deeply anti-romantic, account of the siege of the Dublin Post Office during the Easter Rising is remarkable, but hardly less so is his account of life on the Dublin docks, or Henry's treks around the countryside as one of Michael Collins' hard men, teaching guerrilla warfare to dairy farmers and clerks. The love affair between Henry and his equally blood-thirsty teacher and wife Miss O'Shea is sweet and touching. The first volume of a trilogy, this is a radical departure for Doyle, and a stunning success. --Roz Kaveney, Amazon.co.uk
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| Customer Reviews: Read 46 more reviews...
 COULDN'T AGREE MORE! August 1, 2008
Scribbler (Ashford, Kent, UK)
All the positive reviews are right. This is a first-class book and Doyle probably is Ireland's greatest living author. I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it as the subject matter didn't appeal, but I was hooked. A tour de force and the trilogy is likely to seal his reputation.
A tall tale of Irish rebellion July 5, 2008
John Holland (Surrey, UK)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
If you believe soldiers fight for their country, or for the vision of their leaders, this is the book to challenge your assumptions. Set in the revolutionary times in early 20th century Ireland, this book charts the rise of Henry Smart from son of a one-legged whore's messenger to a leader in the republican army. The occasional heroism of Henry and his comrades is contrasted with the cynicism and power-grabbing of leaders who are determined the new state will transfer power from the English to them. Henry's pragmatic approach is self-serving and brutal, but he demands sympathy - his life was destined to turn out this way.
This book challenges British and Irish views on the Uprising and the subsequent battles. History is written by the victors - perhaps some history must be invented by the authors.
a star called henry April 26, 2008
C. Wilde (uk)
fantastic, beutiful, funny, gripping and moving. one of my most favourite books. i recommend it to everyone.
brilliant!!!!!!!!!
An All Time Favourite April 24, 2007
Love Books (London)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This is one of the best books I've ever read. The opening few chapters I will never, ever forget. Mr Doyle manages to bring Irish History alive and I felt as though I was there on the Dublin streets suffering with everyone else. That said it's not all about suffering...you must read this book or you're missing out!
So that's why they fight January 5, 2007
James Parker -Rothchilds (New York)
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Henry Smart is a sorrowful figure. A robber, a beggar a doorman and destined to be caught up in the "struggle" as so many working class Irishmen and women are. Where else do they turn? Why do the English provoke them so? Answer these questions and you will answer the age old "Irish Problem" and end the hostilities once and for all.
Roddy Doyle takes us through the slums of early 1900's Dublin and asks the question Why? time and time again. At times the book makes me ashamed to be British and then I pinch myself and remember it's fiction. Or is it? It's the mark of a good fiction writer to make you think.
Roddy Doyle is the best Irish fiction writer alive today. Read him and weep!
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