Ireland - Frank Delaney

⭐ 10.0/10

(Originally written by hoodie_logi)

Every once in awhile a book comes along that is so well written and so powerful that it changes you a little after reading it. This was one of those books.

In essence, this book is the story of Ireland, told through the people who love the land. The plot follows Ronan, who begins as a 9 year old boy and we get to follow his journey into manhood. As a 9 year old, Ronan's life is completely changed when the last story teller of Ireland comes to visit his family's farm. The storyteller stays three days, and tells the town stories in exchange for bed and food. These three days change Ronan's life forever, sending him on a lifelong journey to reconnect with the storyteller and learn the history of Ireland.

The book is told through stories within stories. The narrative of Ronan will push on until he meets someone with a story to tell. As we learn these stories alongside Ronan, we see how it changes his worldview and how he interacts with it, the same time they are crafting the reader's view of Ireland.

This really was just a remarkable achievement of literature. The way Delaney weaves narrative in with myth and both oral and written history is fantastic. There are plot twists and reveals that'll drop your jaw. And since the story acts as a collection of short stories within a larger narrative, it always stays fresh and interesting throughout its 700 pages.

I think the biggest compliment I can pay this book is that at the beginning, I found myself solely interested in the stories of Ireland, and not as much Ronan and his family. However, by the end of the book, thanks to the way Delaney writes his main character, I was almost more interested in the life of Ronan and his journey than the stories themselves!

Seriously, this book will go down in my top 5 of all time probably. It's that good. It's been one of those once in a generation stories for me. Please try and find a copy and read it so we can talk about it.