Holly, whom you probably don't know, once felt strongly that every Jansenist, Jesuit, dentist, or destitute should at some point and time ask herself following: What will be found at the crossroads of idealism and benevolence? Will it be The Puritans of the Long Parliament or The Piano Man of Long Island?Mind, Holly's friend Fire, expressly named after the famous element, then paraphrased her initial question; verbally offering it to the group. As such: Is it obvious that man's ethical responsibility varies with his knowledge of consequence(s)?Finding myself currently caught up in this maelstrom of unanswered questions, I conveniently quickly deduced that Holly and Fire were simply wanting my outward opinion on Moral Basis v Scheme of Social Application and perhaps, if time permits, my additional opinion RE: several loosely-associated post-consequential points of guise.After a small internal prayer, I simply clearly stated the following to the both of them: But that is only because evil always takes advantage of ambiguity.With the cadence of pregnant pause still ringing in my ears I felt a moral responsibility to add the following: Akin to an inner peace worth fighting for.Fire wondered aloud if anyone would then consider joining him on a tri-state killing spree. I said that I would. And that you would. Holly would. And we already know Fire would.
J.P. Donleavy is one of my top five favorite authors of all time. And for me, this is my favorite of his novels.The lead character is a floundering, directionless scoundrel but he's also a lost person who side stepped into a maze after immigrating to New York City. There's an honesty to this book, there's an honesty to how one can be so alone and yet surrounded by millions of people in NYC.This particular quote sums up exactly why this book struck home to me so hard, as I read this shortly after relocating to NYC."Man sitting across the table hurriedly lifting his plutocrat plate of mash potato, sliced carrots, sausage and gravy. Retreating away as other customers look. And Cornelius's fist pounds the table. Utensils clatter. Man rushes back to retrieve his grey converted pork pie fedora. Worn by guys who think they're going places. Hold tight because I'm cracking up. With no night to sleep in. Throwing tiny fists as a looming big grey bleak city. Never stops long enough for you to catch up. Every highway droning round the clock. Wait for me. And no one hears. Run down Broadway through the pedestrians panhandling for one hello. Any smile from any face. A howdido. Whoa. Gently now. Else the horse runs wild forever. Once it takes you galloping." When I feel like I need to visit with a friend, I re-read this novel.
Do You like book A Fairy Tale Of New York (1994)?
Not, in my opinion the best ever written by Donleavy but even his second string is a masterpiece by most standards.Once again we follow an emotionally stunted drunk, delusional and philandering cad on his rough and tumble journey through polite, and some cases not so polite, society in search of a little bit of peace and dignity accompanied by just a slight nip of the drink and maybe a little bit of satisfaction for ones frontal tail.The cast of characters is amazing, the protagonist is both deplorable and endearingly tragic all at the same time, and the plot is bizarre riotous full of sex, drink and violence. a bit dense and not always the easiest to read because of Donleavy's style of writing but beautifully phrased and a joy to read.
—Doug Haynes
Outstanding work. My personal favorite of Donleavys novels. From the moment the protagonist unloads his poor dead wife from the ship, things begin to go south for this mislead young man as he makes his way through New York in this hilarious dark comedy of a novel. Nearly every page is full of quotable lines and memorable characters, from an eastern-european boardinghouse manager who keeps an iron bar between her huge breasts for dealing with unruly tenants to his extensive string of hungry female admirers who don't realize he's a complete disaster. I cannot recommend this book enough.
—Frank Cole
This is one of those books where the narrative of the protagonist (and oddly, the protagonist removed from self at times) really takes over. He's disarming, insightful and despairing...much older and more manipulative than a Holden Caufield and more jaded too. The major similarity is the fact that he sees the phoniness in people. He wants them to be better but when they aren't, he's not going to cry over swear words in an elementary school. He's simply going to move on becoming more and more apa
—Kirstie
