Frank O'Connor Omnibus

Jan 15, 2025 9:45 PM

Author:Frank O'Connor,Julian Barnes

The contents have been intriguingly divided into eight narrative threads that influenced and informed O'Connor's oeuvre. War includes the famous 'Guests of the Nation', set during the Irish War of Independence; Childhood draws on autobiographical writings to present a revealing picture of the author as a boy, the only child of an alcoholic father and doting mother; Writers bears witness to his literary debt to Yeats and Joyce. The stories in Lonely Voices movingly demonstrate O'Connor's theory that in this genre can be achieved 'something we do not often find in the novel - an intense awareness of human loneliness'; yet they are counterparted by his wonderfully polyphonic tales of family, friendship and rivalry in Better Quarrelling. In Ireland come poems, stories and articles inspired by the native land he loved but never sentimentalized, while from Abroad the writer in exile discourses upon universally relevant themes of emigration, hardship, absence and return. Finally, Last Things contains O'Connor's thoughts on religion, the church, the soul and its destiny, but remains above all a celebration of humanity 'who for me represented all I should ever know of God'.

Reviews

A book that can be felt on your pulses. Galloway is a literary endoscopist: she gets beneath the surface of life and exposes the nerves...Writing has rarely been so visceral

—— The Independent

Spiky, bleak stories ... moving and poignant. Sometimes you have to read them twice

—— William Leith , Evening Standard

Her compassion is compassion with bite, her beauty is beauty that stings, and her comfort always comes with a sense of loss. It doesn't make for an easy read, but as with the best medicine, it's good for you

—— Lesley McDowell , Independent on Sunday

Beautifully crafted and true-to-life stories

—— The Times

Galloway's ear for dialogue is astonishing, almost musical

—— Olivia Laing , The Observer

Scottish writer Janie Galloway has a reputation for going where more polite writers fear to tread..this includes some of the author's most distinctive work...this original collection will wake up the most jaded palate.

—— Emma Hagestadt , The Independent

Galloway can evoke a life, a relationship, just about the whole human condition, within ten brilliantly written pages

—— Daily Mail

Affectingly raw and full of surprises

—— Ophelia Field , Sunday Telegraph

Spikey, bleak stories you won't forget ... poignant stories, all of which stand immediate rereading

—— William Leith , Scotsman

Her stories are suggestively musical examples of rich, Glaswegian gothic

—— Alfred Hickling , Guardian

At last, Galloway's stories are back in print in one collection...savagely accurate, engaging and funny, she is one of our great contemporary writers

—— Independent on Sunday

A testament to the sharp eye and shrewd brain of Janice Galloway, one of Scotland's finest writers

—— The Herald

A writer of passion and virtuosity

—— Scotland on Sunday

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