Wondrous, Magical, Irish

That Old Country Music by Kevin Barry (2020) – A brilliant collection of stories focused on life in small parts of Ireland. Stories of anger and love and betrayal and death and illusion. Barry takes you into the quiet parts of the lives of everyday people. They live everyday lives that are tinged with the profane, banal, and extraordinary. A brilliant collection of classic Irish storytellings.

Why I Like It – Stunning characters in settings that feel real.

My love of short stories is well known here. Add in the Irish genius for storytelling and you’ve sent this reader into a higher plane of existence. Kevin Barry is new to me, and a welcome addition. His award-winning writing spans short stories, novels, movies, and plays. In “That Old Country Music”, Barry shows off his mastery of the art of storytelling. You don’t have to live, or even have visited, the west of Ireland to feel villages and hills come to life. Into that scenery he places stunning characters, each trying to find some happiness, some direction in their lives.

Among the ones that stuck out for me were Kizzy, the runaway Roma child, who eventually finds an old man who offers her safety. Common human empathy gets them past a lack of common language. Then there’s Con McCarthy, a man who finds death “impressive”. He begins his conversations with “Did you not hear? Did you not hear who’s dead?” Every death noted, commented upon, and filed away. Or perhaps I’ll remember the Canavan, and the “Ox Mountain Death Song” longest. The latest scion of wild, rascally family that leaves chaos and illegitimate children in their wake. The local police sergeant takes to the trail of the latest Canavan, knowing his secret and the inevitable end. Irish women are not ignored either (if the stories are to be believed, you should never ignore an Irish woman). The unnamed eighteen-year-old who loves a strange older man who appears, then disappears. Or pregnant Hannah Cryan, who waits for her fiancée and the father of her coming child. He slips away to rob a store armed only with a hammer. The rest you’ll have to read for yourself.

As I scanned back over the stories, I was reminded again and again of great stories beyond the ones noted above. A stream-of-consciousness tale of a rambler who meets a dog in a village as the sun sets. They go on and on in their wondrous, almost magical style. Each story different, each story a jewel. They add up to a brilliant book, and characters that will stick with you.

Rating – **** Recommended