As much as I liked The Commitments, the first novel in Roddy Doyle’s Barrytown Trilogy, The Snapper – book two – is much more satisfying. It’s just as funny and profane, but it has more emotional depth, an amusing if troubling mystery and characters who feel alive and authentic.It focuses on Sharon Rabbitte, the 20-year-old sister of the Commitments’ manager, Jimmy. I remember meeting her briefly in the first book, when Jimmy’s friend Deco complimented her as she passed him in the Rabbitte’s North Dublin home. I believe she told him: “Go an' shite.” Ouch.The Snapper opens with Sharon announcing to her parents – Jimmy Sr. and Veronica – that she’s pregnant. She works at a grocery store and lives at home with them along with Jimmy Jr. (who’s trying to break into the DJ field), directionless Les, charmed youngest boy Darren and the twins, Linda and Tracy, who take up one hobby then quickly move onto another.The news is greeted with some happiness – it’s the late 80s, and the stigma against pregnancies out of wedlock isn’t what it used to be. Sharon’s clearly Jimmy’s favourite child, and he’s gonna be a grandpa! However, Sharon refuses to say who the father is, and as her situation becomes more evident – she also hides the news from her girlfriends for some reason – her conflicted emotions, and those of her pa, begin to surface. Rumours spread (their neighbourhood is pretty small, after all), and soon Jimmy Sr is upset that he can’t go to his local bar without overhearing gossip. In the lively Rabbitte household, between tea, TV watching and friendly familial shouting, father and daughter soon aren’t talking. Jimmy, normally voluble and jokey (he is the book’s great character), is glum.I loved this book. I loved these people. Doyle is one of the best writers about working class lives. (There’s a fascinating subplot about one of Jimmy Sr.’s out-of-work friends trying to find employment.) I came to love the cluttered, loud house the Rabbittes live in.And I especially loved witnessing the tender, complex relationship between a father and his daughter. When Jimmy starts reading up about pregnancy (in “a buke”) to help out Sharon, at first I thought it was ridiculous. I mean, the man’s sired half a dozen kids himself. But later Jimmy admits that he wasn’t really around for those deliveries (see quote below). He discovers the miracle of birth not through his own children but through his child’s child.And when Sharon finally gives her child its name? Wow. I teared up. I noticed that many Goodreads readers were upset that Sharon continued to drink alcohol while pregnant, and criticized the book for that. Really? Of course, it’s not responsible behaviour, but it’s not an author’s job to judge his characters. The cause of Sharon's pregnancy is also controversial, especially for a contemporary reader. But the way it's depicted feels honest and real. Again: no judgement.A word of advice: It’s a short book, and there’s a lot of dialogue, but don’t read it too quickly. Savour it. Doyle’s writing is so good. Here are some examples: Jimmy Sr., after learning about the pregnancy, is out drinking with Sharon and gives her a fiver to go join her friends across the bar. - Ah, there’s no need, Daddy.- There is o’ course, said Jimmy Sr.He moved in closer to her. - It’s not every day yeh find ou’ you’re goin’ to be a granda. He’d just thought of that now and he had to stop himself from letting his eyes water. He often did things like that, gave away pounds and fivers or said nice things; little things that made him like himself. And here’s Jimmy talking to Sharon about what he was doing when his children were born. (I take it Conways and Hikers are pubs.)- When your mammy was havin’ Jimmy I was in work. An’ when she was havin’ you I was in me mother’s. When she had Leslie I was inside in town, in Conways, yeh know, with the lads. The Hikers wasn’t built then. For Darren, I was - I can’t remember. The twins, I was in the Hikers. - You’ve a great memory.- Nowadays the husbands are there with the women, said Jimmy Sr. - That’s much better, I think. I’dHe scratched his leg.- Because he can hold her hand an’ help her, an’ encourage her, yeh know, an’ see his child bein’ born. There wasn’t even a car going past. The pipes upstairs weren’t making any noise. - Sharon, I’ll – Only if yeh want now – I wouldn’t mind stayin’ with you when – you’re havin’ it.- Ah no. - Okay.That’s lovely writing: heartfelt, honest, the words and pauses capturing the real rhythms and cadences of ordinary life. I can’t wait to finish the trilogy with The Van. And while I’m a little upset that the Rabbitte mother, Veronica, was mostly in the background sewing outfits for the twins’ hobbies, I look forward to reading Doyle’s two Paula Spencer novels to see how he gets inside the head of a mature woman.
This novel, the second in the Barrytown Trilogy, and the follow up to probably Doyle's most famous book, The Commitments, was a real treat for me. Jimmy Rabbitte Junior, the driving force behind the first novel reappears in the book, but he plays a minor role, taking a back seat while we are introduced to his family, mum and dad, Veronica and Jimmy Senior, big sister Sharon, brothers Leslie and Darren, and little sisters, twins Linda and Tracy. The fact that I can rattle of the family's names from memory after just 220 pages says a lot for this book. It tells the story of a working class household with a hilarious and caring patriarch and strong matriarch, who are exactly like those living around them in their habits and social interactions. The story develops around Sharon's pregnancy, and the mystery of the father of the child, the reasons for which become apparent. Sounds quite serious, but the book is so rich in its human interaction, between family members, between Rabbitte Sr and his mates and between Sharon and her pals. It's laugh out loud funny, often sparse in narrative description, yet so easy to visualise through the dialogue. Rarely have I read a book where I could feel myself transported to the kitchen table or the pub while I was reading and be able to see exactly what was occurring in my mind's eye so clearly, but that's exactly how I felt with this book-I can see why Doyle's work lends itself so well to dramatisation.I can understand now, having loved both The Commitments and The Snapper, why The Barrytown Trilogy has been chosen as Dublin's One City One Book for 2015. I'm tempted to get stuck straight into The Van, but might leave it just a little while to allow me to savour this one. Definitely a big thumbs up for this book from me!
What do You think about The Snapper (1997)?
What's funnier than unwanted pregnancy? Not much, if you're Roddy Doyle. Sharon, the oldest daughter of the Rabbitte family, is knocked up by a man she won't identify. In the aftermath of the subsequent minor scandal, her family rallies around to support her, each in their own weird way. Mostly, though, this book is about Jimmy Sr., father of the Rabbitte family - an old-fashioned working-class Dubliner who largely just gets drunk and says funny things. It's your typical story of an emotionally repressed man softening up and becoming a more complete father and husband because his daughter got knocked up. I read this book in about 3 days. It helps that it's short and there's so much dialogue that only about 60% of each page is covered in actual text. It's funny and entertaining and positive without being anything close to sappy. I've been reading straightfaced serious literature for school for so long I almost forgot book could be funny. Recommended.
—Benjamin
My girlfriend suggested that I liked this book 'cause I "love all things Irish." While not entirely true, ever since taking a class in Irish Lit in grad school, I have loved most Irish lit and pretty much everything written by Roddy Doyle. This book is a sequel, of sorts, to The Commitments, and the middle book of Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy focusing on the Rabbitte family. While The Commitments was about Jimmy's attempt to form an R&B/soul band in Dublin, this book is about his sister Sharon's unexpected pregnancy, and how she and the family -- especially her father, Jimmy Sr. -- deal with it. Looking back, nothing much happens in this book, but it's greatly enjoyable through its characters and dialogue. Like much of Doyle's work, this book is primarily written in dialogue, with a pronounced Irish accent. It's easy to "hear" the lines being spoken. Many times during my reading of The Snapper, I found myself chuckling, and once or twice laughing uncontrollably. Very good.
—Daryl
It sure was fun to re-read this, it really is pretty much exactly like the movie--excellently played by Colm Meaney. It reads pretty much like a play--lots of dialogue and written out like how they speak in slang and everything. I love that there is a bit more in the written version...stuff like Jimmy Sr. deciding to go out front and cut the lawn (I imagine its a bit hard to keep up with in green Ireland, if my experience living in Seattle is of any comparison) He decides to cut the lawn because he realizes he hasn't made such a good example of being a father to his children and he want to turn over a new leaf. So he's out there struggling with the shears and so forth, and one of his son's friends comes over to see what he's doing. --Cutting the grass of course Jimmy Sr replies--and he continues to put his back into it...so the son's friend says something like, "I've never seen you DOING anything before, can I watch?"Ha! Bet you find yourself saying things like "Its Grand, really" after reading this one!
—Ruthmgon
