The Granny
by Brendan O'CarrollContemporary Fiction
Quit on 5/25/07
Rating: DNF
Publisher's Blurb:
Raising a brood of unruly, high-spirited kids on her own didn't slow her down. Twenty years of eking out a living from her produce stall on Moore Street hasn't turned her into a quitter. Not even a French lover who wants her to become a "sexual animal" can take the starch out of Agnes Browne. But now, outside the maternity ward of Dublin's Rotunda Hospital, she has just heard one word that stops her cold:
"Granny!"
Who would have believed it? Only yesterday they were children themselves. Now they're having "chisellers" of their own, and for the first time in her life, Agnes Browne is feeling old. But with a daughter stuck in an unhappy marriage, a homesick son in London, another son headed for prison, and another grandchild on the way, it seems that the Browne clan needs their mammy more than ever. And Agnes is more than up for the challenge -- until she's faced with a crisis of her own. Which will prove once and for all that nothing brings a family together like trouble. And nothing heals a family like love.
Ah ha! I just discovered that this is Book III in the Agnes Browne Trilogy. I thought it was the second. Perhaps that's why I couldn't get interested after 35 pages. I thought the narrative was a bit jumpy and I felt lost and confused. Now it all makes sense why. Knowing this doesn't change my mind about continuing on, though. Not only did I find the constant use of the F-word tiresome, but the humor I so enjoyed in The Mammy
was either lacking or I simply wasn't in the mood for Agnes Browne and her foul-mouthed brood.
The second in the series "The Chisellers" wasn't nearly as good at The Mammy either. You didn't miss anything and I haven't had any desire to get this one since I listened to the second (book on tape version).
ReplyDeleteSuziQ - Looking back on my notes for The Mammy, I realize I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as I thought I had. Parts were funny, but overall it wasn't a great read. I still have one more by O'Carroll, but I may just skip it.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the series, but The Mammy was by far the best, IMHO.
ReplyDeleteBookfool - Good to know I started off with the best. I probably wouldn't have read The Mammy if I'd tried the others first. Have you read The Young Wan? It's another I have in my stacks.
ReplyDeleteI think so. I'm pretty sure I read them all, but it's been about 2 years.
ReplyDeleteI should add that I read them in order. I got The Mammy and liked it so much that I ordered the other two and then . . . still not sure about The Young Wan, but I think I ordered and read it, later on.
ReplyDeleteBookfool - I wonder if I would've enjoyed The Granny better if I'd read The Chisellers first (well, after The Mammy). At this point, I don't think I'll worry about any of them.
ReplyDelete