Joseph Caldwell
Delphinium Books
October 19, 2010 / ASIN: B00486UFB6
Literature / Fiction / eBook - Kindle Edition
Amazon
Reviewed
by Beth E. McKenzie
In the farcical
final installment of the Irish Pig Trilogy the story lines, both
historical and modern, converge in unique aspects of resolution.
We finally learn what caused Declan Tovey to disappear and what
ties him to Castle Kissane and to the ghosts: Taddy and Brid. We
also learn how the thatcher ended up in a grave beneath Kitty's
cabbages from where the pig uprooted him in the first book. The
subplot hatched by the Lord Shaftoe to scare the simple superstitious
folk (Kitty and Kieran) from "his" castle with the vision
of an apparition is a source of hilarity for its arrogance, irony
and total lack-of-clue. Lolly, who laughs in the presence of difficulty,
finds happiness, and of poor and foolish Aaron, not much can be
said.
Something I can really enjoy in a book is when the end twists and
puts everything I've previously read in a new light. This one waited
until the final sentence to set me straight about the message in
this trilogy. Just because the text entertains doesn't mean the
work isn't serious or doesn't have something meaningful to say.
I sat and stared at the page while a flood of phrases ran though
my mind; the metaphorical life of the story passing before my eyes:
meatloaf, daughter of Kerry, wealthy young Irish, no more pig farms,
revisionist literature, the work of God, insult to current Irish
sophistication, only an American
"
The history of Ireland is rife with invasion and conquest. The few
medieval manuscripts of the Irish mythological cycles include Lebor
Gabála Érenn which tells of a series of invasions
of Ireland. In modern times the most popular of these tales is that
of the fifth invasion, being the conquest of the Tuatha Dé
Danann (the Fey) by the Milesians (Humans). Mr. Caldwell's story
tells us about the systemic rejection of mystical Old Ireland in
favor of practical adaptation for the future. The sixth invasion
of Ireland comes from within.
Other Reviews in Trilogy:
#1-
The Pig Did It [review]
#2 - The Pig Comes to Dinner [review]
#3 - The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven [review]
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