Two Irishmen walked into a pub…

That might sound like the beginning of an unfunny joke, but it is actually the premise of Roddy Doyle’s latest novel - “Love”. Davy and Joe were drinking buddies in their youth. They are now close to sixty, and Davy has lived in England for more than three decades. However, on his visits to Ireland to check on his aging and ailing father, he still occasionally meets Joe for the sake of old times.

The novel unfolds over one such long pub crawling evening. Joe has surprising news for Davy – he has broken up with Trish, his wife of thirty years, and settled down with Jessica, an old flame whom Davy remembers from their old drinking haunts. In a mixture of self-justification, self-pity and barely concealed pride, Joe tries to explain the reasons for leaving a wife whom he still loves and is attracted to. Davy acts as interrogator and interlocutor, by turns fascinated and irritated at Joe stealing the show. Joe’s story nudges memories of Davy’s youth – his difficult relationship with his father, his meeting and falling in love with his firebrand wife Faye. At the end of the story, we also learn of the real reason why Davy has decided to meet Joe on this particular day.

Roddy Doyle’s latest is certainly interesting in both theme and execution. It explores the various facets of “Love” – not just love between the sexes (with its mixture of attraction, lust, desire for companionship), but also between parents and children; between friends; love for one’s roots and homeland. “Love” is also formally adventurous, most of it being in the form of a dialogue. Even Davy’s reminiscences involve long stretches of conversation. Doyle’s mastery is apparent in the way the dialogue degenerates (both in coherence and lewd content) as Davy and Joe become tipsier. There are also the snatches of that dark humour for which the author is well known.

Yet, even while I admired various elements of this work, I had to make an effort to finish the novel. Part of the reason for this lies in my difficulty with following the dialogue. It felt like reading a script, except that I regularly had to re-check who was saying what. I often found myself thinking that a conversation between two drunk men is greater fun when you’re one of them. The arguments going round in circles, the swing from irritation to sentimental camaraderie… it’s all fine if you’re tipsy and in the midst of it but as a mere “fly on the wall” I eventually found it quite tiresome. There’s also the issue that certain of the novel’s questions remain unresolved. For instance, at the end of it all, we still are not sure why Joe left Trish and which parts of his story are true, which ones he has embellished for effect and which ones he’s remembering incorrectly. Indeed, the novel is not just about love, but also about memory and the way we fashion it to our ends.

For me, “Love” is an interesting experiment but one which is not wholly successful. If this novel were a girlfriend, I would have broken up with her, albeit admitting that possibly “it’s not you, it’s me”.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2020/03/love-by-roddy-doyle.html ( )

Now approaching 60, two men who had been friends in their youth meet for dinner and an evening of chat, which turns into a marathon pub crawl. Joe has remained behind in Ireland and wants to explain to Davey, who has lived in England for 40 years, returning for periodic visits with his father, why he has recently left his wife Trish for another woman. The "other woman", in fact, is a woman from their joint distant past, who has just recently reappeared, and about whom they have differing and sometimes contradictory recollections.

I've really liked a lot of Roddy Doyle's books, and my favorites are Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha and The Barrytown Trilogy. This one does what Doyle is a master of, which is to tell the story almost entirely in dialogue, and quite masterful dialogue at that. (The showing of the descent into drunkenness as the night wears on strictly through dialogue that becomes increasingly cantankerous and incoherent is something to behold). However, I can't say I was enthralled with the "old man problems" that Doyle is exploring here, and in the end, there didn't seem to be any point to the story.

2 1/2 stars

First line: "He knew it was her, he told me."
Last line: "Yeah, I said.--I will." ( )

My first Roddy Doyle book and it won't be my last. I really appreciated the conversation style between the two protagonists because it felt so true to life. Looking forward to reading more by Doyle in the near future. ( )

Funny, sad and subtly moving. This is a love story but whose love story is a different question. Beautifully captures late middle age and dreams/fantasies of what might of been - or is it of what was. A tender book about men friendship, aging and love. ( )

Two Irishmen walked into a pub…

That might sound like the beginning of an unfunny joke, but it is actually the premise of Roddy Doyle’s latest novel - “Love”. Davy and Joe were drinking buddies in their youth. They are now close to sixty, and Davy has lived in England for more than three decades. However, on his visits to Ireland to check on his aging and ailing father, he still occasionally meets Joe for the sake of old times.

The novel unfolds over one such long pub crawling evening. Joe has surprising news for Davy – he has broken up with Trish, his wife of thirty years, and settled down with Jessica, an old flame whom Davy remembers from their old drinking haunts. In a mixture of self-justification, self-pity and barely concealed pride, Joe tries to explain the reasons for leaving a wife whom he still loves and is attracted to. Davy acts as interrogator and interlocutor, by turns fascinated and irritated at Joe stealing the show. Joe’s story nudges memories of Davy’s youth – his difficult relationship with his father, his meeting and falling in love with his firebrand wife Faye. At the end of the story, we also learn of the real reason why Davy has decided to meet Joe on this particular day.

Roddy Doyle’s latest is certainly interesting in both theme and execution. It explores the various facets of “Love” – not just love between the sexes (with its mixture of attraction, lust, desire for companionship), but also between parents and children; between friends; love for one’s roots and homeland. “Love” is also formally adventurous, most of it being in the form of a dialogue. Even Davy’s reminiscences involve long stretches of conversation. Doyle’s mastery is apparent in the way the dialogue degenerates (both in coherence and lewd content) as Davy and Joe become tipsier. There are also the snatches of that dark humour for which the author is well known.

Yet, even while I admired various elements of this work, I had to make an effort to finish the novel. Part of the reason for this lies in my difficulty with following the dialogue. It felt like reading a script, except that I regularly had to re-check who was saying what. I often found myself thinking that a conversation between two drunk men is greater fun when you’re one of them. The arguments going round in circles, the swing from irritation to sentimental camaraderie… it’s all fine if you’re tipsy and in the midst of it but as a mere “fly on the wall” I eventually found it quite tiresome. There’s also the issue that certain of the novel’s questions remain unresolved. For instance, at the end of it all, we still are not sure why Joe left Trish and which parts of his story are true, which ones he has embellished for effect and which ones he’s remembering incorrectly. Indeed, the novel is not just about love, but also about memory and the way we fashion it to our ends.

For me, “Love” is an interesting experiment but one which is not wholly successful. If this novel were a girlfriend, I would have broken up with her, albeit admitting that possibly “it’s not you, it’s me”.

https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/2020/03/love-by-roddy-doyle.html ( )