Critical Mick

Have Ye No Homes To Go To? is one of the signed books that Critical Mick hopes to auction in aid of The Alzheimer Society of Ireland. Click for details!

An ambitious book, HYNHTGT? gives us the lives of eight central characters who live within spitting distance of a pub. (Thus one slant on the barman’s closing-up cry of the title). Again, we see where they are and what factors have brought them here. There’s love, violence, music (one hilarious scene involving a punk band- dude!) The interaction is more complex, the trails just as honest. Also complex is the book’s structure- divided up into sections that focus on the view of one of the eight. There’s plenty enough crossover, people and events recurring, to keep a plot humming along. It’s interesting. It’s an experiment that works.

On the downside? A few elements of the conclusion are transparent (though the end still holds twists and surprises) and I found one of the characters a real moan. "Pick yerself up and do something about it, woman!" I felt like yelling, anytime one of her sections came up. But, she was just a character in a novel and not a real bird so I’d skim ahead ‘til the next interesting bit.

Critical Mick says: A solid four stars out of five.

Mick proudly presents a profile of Neville Thompson on the DFA Guide to Dublin.

Neville Thompson, the man with the truth. Critical Mick says: Why not read Have Ye No Homes To Go To?