West Belfast: A Novel

By Danny Morrison

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1570980438
• ISBN13: 9781570980435
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: UNKNO
• Length: 249 Pages
• Weight: 0.81 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.5" x 0.8" x 5.5"

Customer Reviews

Putting aside all personal views on the troubles...

...as apparently many others are not able to do. I would like to offer my opinion of Danny Morrison's first effort at writing a novel. Mr. Morrison makes a good effort with this, his first novel. It is a very honest portrayal, which stems from his own biased foundation. No attempt is made to hide his personal, political leanings or to disguise his emotional involvement in this book. I found this biased foundation quite refreshing. I appreciated the honest opinion, of a man who lived one side of, "The Troubles." This is a book field that is flooded with outsiders writing what they refer to as their "unbiased view," when actually they are simply well disguised yet still highly biased in their foundation. The writing is not the greatest I've ever seen, but it is far from the worst. You have to take this book at its face value, a personal account - in novel form - of a life in Belfast. I give it 3 stars because it was a compelling read but the writing trips you up on many occasions, breaking up the flow and almost forcing you to re-read sentences with a "what was that??" effect.

Honest Portrayal of Life Under Fire

Danny Morrison's first novel, West Belfast, is significant for its honest portrayal of a conflict which has been written on extensively by outsiders but rarely by the people involved. A Republican of some standing, his writings have been criticized by many who feel that the Irish Republican voice should not be heard. This is perhaps the first time that a modern Irish Republican has attempted to show in novel form what his community has gone through under British oppression. The writing is at times slightly awkward--it is a first novel as I said--but it is refreshing honest and sincere. A good examination of politics and general human concerns.