Snapper stands for a baby, child, kid, which is the main matter of the book. The
story evolves around the pregnancy of the main character. But to snap means you
change moods very easily, because of the hormonal changes during a pregnancy.
Biography: Roddy Doyle was born in 1958 in Dublin and has grown up there, in
Kilbarrack, to be precise. Kilbarrack is a suburb in the north of Dublin, close
to the sea. He was a Geography and English teacher there and thus stayed in
touch with all generations of his neighborhood. He loves that part of town and
knows that inside the aggressive, foul mouthed, drunken "eejits" there
is (more often than not) a heart of gold. At one point Doyle felt that the only
way to express his true love and sympathy for the suffering people around them
was to write about them. His first book The Commitments was made into a very
succesful movie by Alan Parker and it helped to establish Roddy Doyle's
reputation as a writer of best- sellers Bibliography: The Commitments (1987).
The Snapper (1990) The Van (1991). Paddy Clake Ha Ha Ha (1993). The Woman Who
Walked into Doors (1996). Genre: lt's a novel about a working-class family which
has to deal with the pregnancy of the daughter. Motto: This book is delicate to
Belinda Characters: Main Characters. -Sharon, a girl being pregnant and giving
birth to a child of a married man from the neighborhood. -George Burgess, the
father of Sharon's child. -Veronica, the mother of Sharon. -Jimmy sr, Sharon’s
father. Minor Characters -Jimmy jr, Sharon’s brother who has decided to be a
famous discjockey. -Tracy, Linda (= twins), Darren and Les, the rest of Sharon's
brothers and sisters. -Yvonne, Jackie and Mary, these are the best friends of
Sharon, with whom she spends quite a lot of their time (and money) in a pub,
getting “pissed” (=drunk) -Paddy, Bertie and Bimbo, the pals of Jimmy sr.
Ordering of time: The story is built up very simple, it is told chronologically.
Setting: The setting, like most of Doyle’s work, is a suburb exactly like the
one he lives in himself. He calls it Barrytown, and it is a working class-suburb
with tiny houses, lots of children in the streets, unemployment and heavy
drinking (barry means happy in Irish). Narration: The story is told by the
omniscient point of view, so the reader gets an insight in what the characters
are thinking and feeling, or when Sharon is feeling pain or sickness during her
pregnancy, or when Jimmy sr. was mad at Sharon because she was pregnant and
wouldn’t tell him who the father was. Language: The English being used by the
characters is mostly Irish dialect, which means that they pronounce “jezus”
like “jayses”, and they use lots of insulting words. You could say they
speak slang. Theme: In Barrytown exists a great sense of togetherness both
within the family and in the local community, but sometimes things happens which
can cause a divide. Sharon getting pregnant of a married man and not telling who
he was, is an example of such an event. The book could also be entitled as:
“Nine months in the life of a family in a Dublin suburb”. Plot/outline: The
Rabibitte family lives in Barrytown, a north-Dublin suburb. One day, after
dinner, Sharon Rabbitte tells her parents that she is pregnant. The father and
Sharon are having a big row, because she refuses to tell who the father of the
child is. Sharon goes to buy a book which describes the details of pregnancy.
When she is in her 1 l th week signs start to show. The time has come to tell
her friends, but she keeps postponing it, because she knew they would ask who
the father is. Her friends are sympathetic and delighted for her. One night
Bimbo, a pal of Jimmy sir, told him that he heard that George Burgess said that
Sharon was a great little ride. Jimmy sr. was furious and wanted to crease him.
When Jimmy sr. got home he warns Sharon for George. The next day Sharon goes to
George and told him to stop or else she would tell his wife (they were both
drunk and made a mistake). A few days later George has disappeared, because he
has told his wife about Sharon. George his wife tells the community that Sharon
has seduced her husband. Sharon decides to deny everything and makes up a story
about a Spanish sailor for her friends. Jimmy sr. is mad and Sharon says she's
sorry and threatens to leave the house. Jimmy sr. begins to know more about the
theoretical side of pregnancy than Sharon does, because he reads “bukes”
(books) about the subject. In the end of the book, Sharon gives birth to a baby
girl. She calls her Georgina. My review: I read this book because I had seen a
movie, called “Bimbo’s burgers”. I liked it very much, and when I saw
another movie was going to be broadcasted, performing the same actor as the
father, and with the same background as the first, I wanted to see it. Well,
this is what happens when you plan on seeing a movie on tv: You miss it. Next
day I reread the article about the movie and then I saw the script was
originally a book. Of course I needed to read some books for my exams, so I
decided to take this one. Later I found out I already had it in my possession,
in the appearance of a blackbird book. I liked the book (and the film Bimbo’s
burgers, it’s quite similar) very much, because of a couple of reasons: First
of all, I like the accent most of the people in the book use. The book becomes a
lot nicer because of it (not really easy to read sometimes), the situation is
much more relaxed than it would be with people with the Oxford accent. The
second reason for me liking the book is the fact that the structure of the story
is very simple, the main idea of the book is not hidden under a complete layer
structured story which often only make a book hard to read, it just shows
clearly that life is hard but potentially nice to live. Overall valuation: 8
Roddy Doyle. Title: The Snapper (Snapper stands for a baby, child, kid, which is
the main matter of the book. The story evolves around the pregnancy of the main
character. But to snap means you change moods very easily, because of the
hormonal changes during a pregnancy. Information about the book: This book was
first printed in 1990. My copy: Blackbird, 183 pages. Publisher: Wolters
Noordhoff. Biography: Roddy Doyle was born in 1958 in Dublin and has grown up
there, in Kilbarrack, to be precise. Kilbarrack is a suburb in the north of
Dublin, close to the sea. He was a Geography and English teacher there and thus
stayed in touch with all generations of his neighborhood. He loves that part of
town and knows that inside the aggressive, foul mouthed, drunken "eejits"
there is (more often than not) a heart of gold. At one point Doyle felt that the
only way to express his true love and sympathy for the suffering people around
them was to write about them. His first book The Commitments was made into a
very successful movie by Alan Parker and it helped to establish Roddy Doyle's
reputation as a writer of best- sellers Bibliography: The Commitments (1987).
The Snapper (1990) The Van (1991). Paddy Clake Ha Ha Ha (1993). The Woman Who
Walked into Doors (1996). Genre: lt's a novel about a working-class family which
has to deal with the pregnancy of the daughter. Motto: This book is delicated to
Belinda Characters: Main Characters. -Sharon, a girl being pregnant and giving
birth to a child of a married man from the neighbourhood. -George Burgess, the
father of Sharon's child. -Veronica, the mother of Sharon. -Jimmy sr, Sharon’s
father. Minor Characters -Jimmy jr, Sharon’s brother who has decided to be a
famous discjockey. -Tracy, Linda (= twins), Darren and Les, the rest of Sharon's
brothers and sisters. -Yvonne, Jackie and Mary, these are the best friends of
Sharon, with whom she spends quite a lot of their time (and money) in a pub,
getting “pissed” (=drunk) -Paddy, Bertie and Bimbo, the pals of Jimmy sr.
Ordering of time: The story is built up very simple, it is told chronologically.
Setting: The setting, like most of Doyle’s work, is a suburb exactly like the
one he lives in himself. He calls it Barrytown, and it is a working class-suburb
with tiny houses, lots of children in the streets, unemployment and heavy
drinking (barry means happy in Irish). Narration: The story is told by the
omniscient point of view, so the reader gets an insight in what the characters
are thinking and feeling, or when Sharon is feeling pain or sickness during her
pregnancy, or when Jimmy sr. was mad at Sharon because she was pregnant and
wouldn’t tell him who the father was. Language: The English being used by the
characters is mostly Irish dialect, which means that they pronounce “jezus”
like “jayses”, and they use lots of insulting words. You could say they
speak slang. Theme: In Barrytown exists a great sense of togetherness both
within the family and in the local community, but sometimes things happens which
can cause a divide. Sharon getting pregnant of a married man and not telling who
he was, is an example of such an event. The book could also be entitled as:
“Nine months in the life of a family in a Dublin suburb”. Plot/outline: The
Rabibitte family lives in Barrytown, a north-Dublin suburb. One day, after
dinner, Sharon Rabbitte tells her parents that she is pregnant. The father and
Sharon are having a big row, because she refuses to tell who the father of the
child is. Sharon goes to buy a book which describes the details of pregnancy.
When she is in her 1 l th week signs start to show. The time has come to tell
her friends, but she keeps postponing it, because she knew they would ask who
the father is. Her friends are sympathetic and delighted for her. One night
Bimbo, a pal of Jimmy sr, told him that he heard that George Burgess said that
Sharon was a great little ride. Jimmy sr. was furious and wanted to crease him.
When Jimmy sr. got home he warns Sharon for George. The next day Sharon goes to
George and told him to stop or else she would tell his wife (they were both
drunk and made a mistake). A few days later George has disappeared, because he
has told his wife about Sharon. George his wife tells the community that Sharon
has seduced her husband. Sharon decides to deny everything and makes up a story
about a Spanish sailor for her friends. Jimmy sr. is mad and Sharon says she's
sorry and threatens to leave the house. Jimmy sr. begins to know more about the
theoretical side of pregnancy than Sharon does, because he reads “bukes”
(books) about the subject. In the end of the book, Sharon gives birth to a baby
girl. She calls her Georgina. My review: I read this book because I had seen a
movie, called “Bimbo’s burgers”. I liked it very much, and when I saw
another movie was going to be broadcasted, performing the same actor as the
father, and with the same background as the first, I wanted to see it. Well,
this is what happens when you plan on seeing a movie on tv: You miss it. Next
day I reread the article about the movie and then I saw the script was
originally a book. Of course I needed to read some books for my exams, so I
decided to take this one. Later I found out I already had it in my possession,
in the appearance of a blackbird book. I liked the book (and the film Bimbo’s
burgers, it’s quite similar) very much, because of a couple of reasons: First
of all, I like the accent most of the people in the book use. The book becomes a
lot nicer because of it (not really easy to read sometimes), the situation is
much more relaxed than it would be with people with the Oxford accent. The
second reason for me liking the book is the fact that the structure of the story
is very simple, the main idea of the book is not hidden under a complete layer
structured story which often only make a book hard to read, it just shows
clearly that life is hard but potentially nice to live.