Rory and Ita
by Roddy Doyle
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Ita Doyle- 'In all my life I have lived in tvvo houses, had tvvo jobs, and one husband. I'm a very interesting person.'RORY AND ITA, Roddy Doyle's first non-fiction book, tells -largely in their own words -the story of his parents' lives from their first memories to the present. Born in 1923 and 1925 respectively, they met at a New Year's Eve dance in 1947 and married in 1951. They remember every detail of their Dublin childhoods -the people (aunts, cousins, shopkeepers, friends, teachers), show more the politics (both came from Republican families), idyllic times in the Wexford countryside for Ita, Rory's apprenticeship as a printer. Ita's mother died when she was three ('the only memory I have is of her hands, doing things'); Rory was the oldest of nine children, five of them girls.By the time they put down a deposit of two hundred pounds for a house in Kilbarrack, Rory was working as a compositor at the Irish Independent. By the time the first of their four children was born he'd become a teacher, at the School of Printing in Dublin. Kilbarrack began to change ('it wasn't a rural place any more') and Ireland too. Through their eyes we see the intensely Catholic society of their youth being transformed into the vibrant, modern Ireland of today.Both Rory and Ita Doyle are marvellous talkers, with excellent memories, so combined with Roddy Doyle's legendary skill in illuminating ordinary experience, it makes for a book of tremendous warmth and humanity. show lessTags
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I love Roddy Doyle's work, so I was quick to pick up this very personal narrative of the lives of his parents. Probably the most challenging thing for the success of this book is that it is very different from his fiction in style and tone. But what Doyle fans will find is a vivid storytelling, insight into the nobility of everyday lives, and a sweet Irish sensibility -- not the Ireland of myth but of regular people living regular lives in an enigmatic culture. give it a try. It won't leave you laughing like The Van, or cheering for unlikely heroes like Paula Spencer or Henry Smart. But you will enjoy this real world tale.
Roddy Doyle mette il suo talento narrativo al servizio dei ricordi, trascrivendo parole e memorie dei suoi genitori. Si dipana così il racconto della loro vita matrimoniale lunga e felice, di un'esistenza trascorsa nella semplicità , fra casa, lavoro e figli. Rory e Ita ci parlano della fatica di ogni giorno, delle piccole gioie assaporate. E dagli episodi narrati, dai ritratti di persone e amici con cui hanno condiviso una parte del cammino, viene delineandosi un affresco dell'Irlanda lungo i decenni: un paese un tempo essenzialmente contadino, insidiato dalla povertà , isolato dall'Europa, che oggi ha conquistato la ricchezza e il benessere.
Feb 10, 2020Italian
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72+ Works 21,359 Members
Roddy Doyle is the author of five previous novels, including a Booker Prize nominee, The Van, and a Booker Prize winning international bestseller Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha. He has also written several screenplays, most recently When Brendan Met Trudy. His first children's book, The Giggler Treatment, will be published in September by Scholastic. He show more lives in Dublin. (Publisher Provided) Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin on May 8, 1958, and grew up in Kilbarrack, Ireland. Doyle graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree from University College Dublin. He spent several years as an English and geography teacher before becoming a full-time writer in 1993. His personal notes and work books reside at the National Library of Ireland. Doyle's first three novels, The Commitments (1987), The Snapper (1990) and The Van (1991) comprise The Barrytown Trilogy, a trilogy centred around the Rabbitte family. All three novels were made into successful films. In 1993, Doyle published Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, winner of the 1993 Man Booker Prize. Doyle is the author of ten novels for adults, seven books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. His work is set primarily in Ireland, especially working-class Dublin, and is notable for its heavy use of dialogue written in slang and Irish English dialect. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Rory and Ita
- Original publication date
- 2002
- Epigraph
- Life without memory is no life at all, just as an intelligence without the possibility of expression is not really an intelligence. Our memory is our coherence, our reason, our feeling, even our action. Without it, we are n... (show all)othing. - Luis Bunuel, "My Last Breath"
The house is dark and silent. The door has just closed behind me or soon will open. What darkness! What silence! - Dermot Healy, "The Hallway"
In all of my life I have lived in two houses, had two jobs, and one husband. I'm a very interesting person. - Ita Doyle - Dedication
- For my grandparents. - Roddy Doyle
For the next generation, Elizabeth, Rory, Jack and Kate - Ita Doyle and Rory Doyle - First words
- The first thing I remember is the gramophone arriving.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)C'est la vie.
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