20th Century Tarry Flynn

by Patrick Kavanagh

Book Overview

He did not ask things to have a meaning or to tell a story. To be was the only story A semi-autobiographical novel from the author of The Green Fool and The Great Hunger A man's mother can be a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140181164
• ISBN13: 9780140181166
• Release Date: May 1990
• Publisher: Penguin Classic
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 0.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.8" x 0.4" x 5.0"

Customer Reviews

That's your uncle all over

Patrick Kavanagh was born in rural County Monaghan in 1904. He's probably better known as a poet than a novelist - "On Raglan Road" being particularly well known, having also been set to music. "Tarry Flynn" was first published in 1948. The book opens in 1935, and Tarry Flynn is 27 years old. He lives and works on a farm, in the townland of Drumnay, County Cavan, with his mother and sisters. He is something of a dreamer, reads when he can and has been known to scribble the occasional poem. He also tends to say rather strange things about religion and his mother thinks he has a strange twist to him Tarry is also something of an amateur lothario : he admires any number if young women from afar...where 'admire' can mean anything from 'lusts after' (such as his near neighbour, Molly Brady) to 'idolises' (like Mary Reilly). Frustratingly, he never seems to get anywhere - for some reason, he always appears to bottle it at the last minute. Tarry doesn't much care for mass, but going to church gives him a great opportunity to ogle the girls. When the book opens, there's a great deal of local gossip about Mary Reilly, Tarry's dream girl, having been 'knocked off' her bicycle at the Drumnay crossroads. Despite his stunning lack of success with the ladies, Tarry himself is being blamed far and wide for it - and his mother is mortified that Tarry may have laid 'heavy hands' on her. (Worse, he is even being denounced from the pulpit - although the contribution of Eusebius Cassidy, a friend of Tarry's, doesn't go unnoticed). Concerned at the state of the Parish, Father Daly then invites the Redemptorists to the parish to organise a Mission - when it comes to dealing with sexual sin, the Redemptorists are renowned as specialists. (The Mission doesn't have quite the effect the priests might have hoped for, even amongst the older folk. Delighted that they 'need' a Redemptorist Mission, there's now a spring in the collective step and a twinkle in the collective eye). "Tarry Flynn" is described as 'an idyllic and beautifully evocative account of life as it was lived in Ireland' in the early part if the 20th century. The account may well be beautifully evocative, but I found little idyllic about life in Drumnay. Most of the work around the farm is carried out by hand - there is no mechanisation, nothing like a tractor to make Tarry's work any easier. (However, he does seem to enjoy the physical side of things - Tarry loves the clay, and he takes nearly a spiritual, religious joy in working the land). The problems, however, were caused largely by Tarry's neighbours. As time goes on, there seems to be no end to the people who will try to thwart and frustrate the Flynn family. That even extends to Eusebius - although initially described as one of Tarry's friends, I found him to be a treacherous, self-centred sneak. Eusebius is far from alone, though - there seem to be plenty of people in Drumnay who'd be happy to see their neighbours fail and would be spiteful eno