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Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
 
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Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Hardcover)

by Roddy Doyle (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (80 customer reviews)

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2 new from CDN$ 95.95 6 used from CDN$ 0.01

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Product Description

From Amazon.com

In Roddy Doyle's Booker Prize-winning novel Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, an Irish lad named Paddy rampages through the streets of Barrytown with a pack of like-minded hooligans, playing cowboys and Indians, etching their names in wet concrete, and setting fires. Roddy Doyle has captured the sensations and speech patterns of preadolescents with consummate skill, and managed to do so without resorting to sentimentality. Paddy Clarke and his friends are not bad boys; they're just a little bit restless. They're always taking sides, bullying each other, and secretly wishing they didn't have to. All they want is for something--anything--to happen.

Throughout the novel, Paddy teeters on the nervous verge of adolescence. In one scene, Paddy tries to make his little brother's hot water bottle explode, but gives up after stomping on it just one time: "I jumped on Sinbad's bottle. Nothing happened. I didn't do it again. Sometimes when nothing happened it was really getting ready to happen." Paddy Clarke senses that his world is about to change forever--and not necessarily for the better. When he realizes that his parents' marriage is falling apart, Paddy stays up all night listening, half-believing that his vigil will ward off further fighting. It doesn't work, but it is sweet and sad that he believes it might. Paddy's logic may be fuzzy, but his heart is in the right place. --Jill Marquis --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Doyle's Booker Prize-winning novel, told from the perspective of Irish, working-class 10-year-old Paddy Clarke, was a seven-week PW bestseller.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

80 Reviews
5 star:
 (36)
4 star:
 (29)
3 star:
 (14)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (80 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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5.0 out of 5 stars There are no messers in Heaven, Aug 12 2008
By Craobh Rua "Craobh Rua" (N. Ireland) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This review is from: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Paperback)
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and saw his first novel, "The Commitments" published in 1987. It was later adapted for the big screen, a version that saw Star Trek's Colm Meaney and a very young Andrea Corr among the cast. Doyle went on to win the Booker Prize in 1993 with "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha".

The book is set in the 1960s Barrytown, and is told by Paddy Clarke- the eldest child of his family. Although he has a few younger sisters, it's only his younger brother Sinbad who features to any degree. He's a Manchester United supporter, and particularly idolises George Best. His chief hobbies involve playing football, and messing around with his friends on neighbouring farm and nearby building sites.

Sinbad doesn't always get a fair deal from his brother. He cries constantly, wets the bed and as a baby, he once got his head stuck in the bars of his cot. He never smiles in photos and doesn't eat his dinner - something that particularly infuriates his Paddy Sr. Despite wearing glasses with one black lens - to deal with an eye problem - he's a great dribbler on the football pitch. (Paddy and his friends used to make Sinbad be Nobby Stiles when playing football - so he stopped supporting United, and started following Liverpool).

Out of Paddy's friends, he's probably closest to Kevin Conway - though, to be honest, Kevin isn't an entirely likeable kid. James O'Keefe, for the most part, is a good deal more - deapite being, quite possibly, the biggest liar in Barrytown. O'Keefe is hated by their teacher Mister Hennessy - he even gets blamed on making noise in class when he's off sick. (Henno does appear to have a slight vindictive streak in him - in fact, he reminded me a little of a teacher I once had at secondary school). The two most likeable of Paddy's friends, however, are a pair of brothers called Liam and Aidan. The boys' mother is dead, and though their father is trying his best, he seems to be a little lost. The neighbours aren't above gossiping about him and - although they are officially part of the gang - Liam and Aidan are also on the receiving end of a fair few nasty comments. As much as Paddy loves going over to their house, even he's not immune to a touch of snobbery.

The story is told more from a child's point of view rather than by an adult looking back on things. There are some things that raised a smile - the childhood theories about Purgatory, for example - and it even inspired a touch of nostalgia sometimes. However, it's set at a time when not only is Barrytown changing, but Paddy's home life is changing dramatically too. Naturally, Paddy doesn't always understand his parents and the things they say - so it's only gradually, as the frights become more and more frequent, that you come to realise there are problems between Paddy's dad and mum. There's a certain sadness about watching Paddy grow up as the story is told, while the difference between Paddy at the book's beginning and on the book's final couple of pages is tragic. A lovely book, though very sad.
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3.0 out of 5 stars The whole adds up to less than the sum of it's parts., Mar 28 2002
By David J. Gannon (San Antonio, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Paperback)
In Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha Roddy Doyle attempts--with some success-to see the way a child views, and understands, the world evolve and mature. The book starts out with Paddy a feisty 10 year old and follows him through adolescence. As Paddy grows up and starts to realize that there are real problems and issues out there that really do affect him and that he's got to come to terms with, the narration does an admirable job of maturing along with the boy.

The problem for me, as it appears to be for many to others who have commented on this book, was that I never engaged with the story on an emotional level. The story never grabs you and sucks you in. Reading this is sort of like having an out-of-body experience-you see it all, understand it all, but never develop any sort of feelings about the enterprise.

The writing style is interesting, the story moves along, there are some interesting insights. Unfortunately, this appears to be one of those books where the whole seems somehow to add up to less than the sum of it's parts. In the end you are left with a book you can appreciate but for which you have no particular fondness.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Very entertaining, Mar 1 2002
This review is from: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha (Paperback)
I'm not very familiar with Irish literature, but I think this was a good book to start with. The book does a really good job of expressing the voice and experiences of a ten-year old. It can get a little confusing in parts, because Paddy tends to get sidetracked in his narratives, but I love the honesty and complexity of it. I read this in my English class, and I'm not sure I would have come upon this book if I hadn't had to read it for school. The writing style is a bit different from what I'm used to, but it made the book more interesting. Overall, I would recommend this book because it does a really good job of portraying childhood and gives some insight into what it was like to grow up in Ireland in the 1960's.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars the memories of childhood
The book Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle reveals the world by the point of Paddy, a 10-year-old boy. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by seungseung

3.0 out of 5 stars Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha
I feel that Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha is an interesting book, but often hard to relate and get into. I think this is because it is written from a 10 year-old's perspective and what... Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Clare

3.0 out of 5 stars Voice
I think this book is pretty decent. In this book the author can brings out the voice of a young kid. The sentence, speech in the book are all really easy, clear sentences. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars review
As a literary work, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha, was a well written novel, but it did not hold my attention and I am not sympathetic with the subject matter. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002

4.0 out of 5 stars Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha
Few writers can capture the mind of a ten year old within the pages of a book. However, Roddy Doyle does it, and he does it well. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Sara Griesbach

4.0 out of 5 stars Ending left me hanging
Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha deserves four stars for its great description of a child who, through experience, grows faster than his age. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Transofrmation from childhood to adulthood...
Paddy Clark Ha Ha Ha, is an excelent book writin from the view point of a ten year old boy in Northern Ireland. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by casey

4.0 out of 5 stars twas intriguing
Roddy Doyle did a fantastic job on the not so easy task of getting inside a young boy's head in the novel Paddy Clarke HaHaHa. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Lauren

4.0 out of 5 stars Touching...
Roddy Doyle does an amazing job of staying in a child's perspective, while evolving the character, the child, into something more than a kid, and more of a person. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Hannah Smith

3.0 out of 5 stars Review
Roddy Doyle tells the story of a young boy named Paddy Clarke who experiences the advantages and disadvantages of childhood. Read more
Published on Mar 1 2002 by Kimberly

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