Trinity

An historical novel, Trinity is about the Irish uprising and battle for independence. The author chose to show the plight of the Irish Catholics through fictional characters and fictionalized actual events. It covers the history of the conflict from about the mid-1800s to just before the Easter Rising, jumping back and forth between Catholic, Protestant and English characters.I appreciated the scope and depth of the information, I really knew very little about this moment in history. The author knows how to build a story and grip your emotions and sympathies for the characters and events, as well as set out clearly the motivations of the parties involved.At the end though, I felt as if I had been emotionally tweaked. I will not believe show more that every person committed to their faith is an evil, bigoted, hateful human being and that the only compassionate, sensible and decent human beings are the atheists and revolutionaries. Nor can I believe that every English man and woman is a beast who cares nothing for others. That is the impression the book leaves you with. It is not even-handed in any way. I don't like to be tweaked by ministers, politicians or writers, however, I am glad to have read this book, as it did give me insight to the bitterness and sorrows of a part of humanity, and what they did to overcome it. It also made me dig deeper into a part of history I had only glossed over until now. show less

Let's begin by stipulating that Uris is a pulp fiction writer and should be read and reviewed on those terms. There's absolutely nothing wrong with pulp fiction - it's a great and wonderful genre full of entertainment value.

With Uris' books the formula is pretty simple: Our hero is noble, well-read, and self-sacrificing. He's closed himself off, but is waiting for the right woman. The right woman is also noble and self-sacrificing, but strong-willed and beautiful. He sets these folks down in the middle of some big historical conflict and then uses them to give readers a bit of a history lesson. He's typically got a bias, but most history does. These are good solid historical epics.

I really like Mila 18, his book about the Warsaw Ghetto show more Uprising. It inspired me to read a lot of actual history of the event including a number of diaries that were recovered from there. Likewise with Trinity, which I read once before, I will most likely go read more Irish history.

Trinity is a decent vehicle for imparting quite a bit of history from the Irish perspective. It's a good read for making you think about the impact of imperialism and industrialization. There's an excellent set of chapters on early twentieth century factories and a factory fire that will remind you why unions came about in a really visceral way.

This is a dense read, but it's entertaining and interesting in parts and is probably a good gateway to other more substantive reads on the subject matter. show less

This book offers up an interesting time in history in a country not given much thought aside from silly-jolly St. Patrick's Day. Some of the characters are drawn better than others, and there are large portions of the story that were very entertaining. Uris goes from telling his tale from first to third person, then back again as it seems to suit - whenever the protagonist's best buddy is around to pick up the narrative, we hear it all through him for a certain number of pages. Then, he's out of the story line and we're back to the tale recounted in third person. This type of approach may not bother many readers, but I found it disconcerting, like the author couldn't make up his mind how best to present it all. I'm glad I read it, if show more only to get a glimpse into the effects of the British Industrial revolution on their Irish subjects, and the ongoing political oppression that leads to the beginning of the Irish Republican Brotherhood.

Still, the style is rather simplistic (Irish Catholics: good! Irish Protestants and the British: bad!) and the book drags on from one injustice to another, leading up to what can only be a bad ending for our hero - and it's almost a relief when it's over. I'm glad I read the book, but not certain I could read the sequel without some seriously uplifting music playing in the background. show less

Sprawling but increasingly engaging, Trinity gathers steam in proportion to its length. It's a lucky thing, too, since it's nearly 800 pages. Although I would have preferred at times more history and less novel, it deftly invoked powerful emotional responses (particularly feelings of futility leading to anger). Also, I kind of hate the British now.

An historical novel with fictional characters and events set against the history of Ireland from the1880s to 1914. It is pulp fiction and so the heroes are very heroic and the female lead characters act nobly in all situations., everything is black and white, with very little shades of grey, however the background to the story is well handled. The struggle for existence of the Irish catholic farmers and the industrialisation of Belfast are brought vividly to life. Everything is ratcheted up a notch too high but the underlying problems and issues are laid out in such a way as to stir the emotions. The book is wide ranging touching on: Gaelic family life, factory working conditions, rugby league, Irish unionism, terrorism, religious show more fervour.and colonialism. Uris manages to keep all these balls in the air and at the same time tell a good yarn if at times it becomes a bit episodic. I sort of enjoyed this novel, but it became a bit of an epic at 750 pages. show less

When I read this book it opened my eyes to the English oppression of the Irish for centuries. The cruel and inhumane greed for a "colony" was mind blowing. I'm second generation Irish and it hurt my heart to know how my countrymen were treated. I've felt differently about the English ever since. I have great respect for them, but I don't completely trust them.

I reluctantly picked this book up after receiving it as a Christmas present. Boy was I wrong about my initial impressions. I devoured the entire book in less than a week. I found the story fascinating. The dichotomy between the haves and have-nots in Ireland and the constant struggle was intriguing. The author created well rounded characters, who seemed to suffer unimaginably. The book read like nonfiction. Overall, highly recommended.