I didn't enjoy this book. While it was evocative of rural life in 1930s Ireland, I found I couldn't develop any strong feelings for any of the characters. ( )

A work of fiction by the Monaghan poet, but rooted in his own
upbringing. Tarry is stuck in a parish in Cavan, on a small farm
with his mother and three sisters. Its an extremely funny book,
as Tarry gets into endless squabbles with his neighbours and
annoys the parish priest at every opportunity. He's also trying
to impress the daughter of the local schoolteacher but
spends a lot of his time trying to avoid the pleasures available
from some of the other local caílin. At the same time, Tarry
finds beauty in the 'stony soil' and there's some wonderfully
evocative descriptions, as you'd expect from a master poet.
I loved the dialogue in this as well, full of witticisms and
country truths and wisdom. Was sad when I finished this,
could have done with another few hundred pages of the same.
Will be putting Kavanagh's other work, 'The green fool', on
my reading list. ( )