Pete McCarthy (1951–2004)

The late Pete McCarthy was a staple of TV and radio comedy throughout the 80's and 90's but it was with this travel book that he finally found real fame. A chronicle of his travels around Ireland in search of.....well he's not really sure himself. A sense of belonging? A search for his Irish roots? Whatever it is, he tells the tale with great good humour and a fine eye for the absurdities of Irish life.

Travelling around in an old blue Volvo with no real plan other than to sample Singapore show more noodles in as many Irish towns as possible, McCarthy encounters a strange mix of the old Ireland and the new Celtic Tiger Ireland (this was published in 2000, before it all went tits up). He paints a picture of an Ireland adjusting itself to a greater influx of tourists from all over the world. A land of stunning landscapes and unpredictable weather. And a people with their own unique attitude to life and how it should be lived (which boils down to "what's the rush?").

His prose is witty, warm and extremely readable. There is a great deal of affection for the country his parents came from, but he's still the Englishman outsider and it's that distance that makes his observations ring true.

This book really does have some laugh out loud moments, so if you're reading it in public, be prepared for some strange looks. I really enjoyed it. show less

I enjoy reading travel books because it allows me to visit places I have never been. This book is a fun way of traveling to some parts of Ireland. I found this book very uneven as it is very funny in some places, but very flat in others. The author does not have Bill Byrson's way of keeping the humor flowing. The author also gets caught up in in his own angst and that makes for some boring reading. His continual put downs of tourists also gets tiresome. Even so, his descriptions of some of show more the more out-of-the-way places in the Irish Republic make for pleasant reading. show less

“The barman-shopkeeper was in his sixties, and a cardigan.” (p.35)

And so it goes on. A laugh out loud account of Pete McCarthy’s physical and spiritual journey through the West of Ireland. I just loved it. I feel my words won’t do him any justice, so I let him speak a bit more:

"‘Specially grown for flavour’, claim the supermarket’s Dutch tomatoes. Well, what other reason is there for growing tomatoes? Speed? Comfort? An ability to glow in the dark?" (p.34)

I love this kind of show more humour. Then, a strange thought occured to me halfway through the book. I felt like I was travelling with him when it suddenly hit me that he was no longer alive. This thought kept coming back. How can I accompany him on his journey when he is not treading this earth anymore? Does it provide any comfort for his loved ones? Do they feel being in his company again when they’re reading his book(s)? Or his absence is even more painful, probably.

Then, I completely forgot he wasn’t alive, just as he started contemplating about his own mortality. (I guess that makes sense though, dead people usually don’t ponder about it much. I think. Or maybe they do. Anyway.)

“[T]he crucial secret of human happiness: that it’s better to do a few things slowly, than a lot of things fast.” (p.272)

The book turned more serious but this didn’t spoil it at all. On the contrary, it made it better, special. A bit more than a funny guide. I guess the true talent lies somewhere there, in entertaining the reader and not taking oneself too seriously, looking at everything with a great sense of humour but acknowledging what is serious. It is even more powerful that way: when the funny guy turns grave, you know it is really important.

A final advice from Pete McCarthy:
“If life is a book, then read it while you can. Don’t save up any pages for later, because there might not be one.” (p.305)

A bit longer review here: https://blueisthenewpink.wordpress.com/2016/03/17/lets-read-the-most-hilarious-g...

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Hangosan felröhögős, nagyon szórakoztató kalauz Írország nyugati részéhez, és az emberekhez (nem csak az írekhez). Közben vele együtt keressük a helyünket a világban. Nagyon jó volt vele utazni. Sajnálom, hogy nem írja már meg azt az észak-írországit soha. show less

This was a wildly entertaining book. A lot of people here have complained that McCarthy is "too English" for this to be a good book about Ireland but I think that's why I enjoyed it so much. I'm not Irish (unless you count ancestry like just about everyone else in America does) so this is a witty, charming look at Ireland from an outsider's point of view. Sure he has immediate family there and had been over the sea many times, but it still felt like this was the first journey and I could use show more this to help map out my own visit to Ireland. Who wants to see the same cities and things every other tourist does when you could take something like this book along and see a more behind-the-scenes Ireland.
I enjoyed the fact that, while McCarthy does take some undue cracks at Ireland and her people, he takes just as many cracks at himself and his own world view. This is an experienced traveler who isn't writing a travel novel, but is just talking to the reader as he goes on his own adventure. I like that he's not talking at you but to you through this, as if you're there with him. It made this book so much more enjoyable than the more academic travel books I've read before.
I would recommend this to anyone with a sense of humour and an interest in Ireland, even if to just expand their world view. show less