The Commitments - Roddy Doyle

Roddy Doyle is one of my favourite authors. Born in Dublin in the 1950s, he was (maybe still is) an English teacher. As a fellow English teacher, I am sure that much of Doyle's writing is inspired by the class-room, and none more so than 'The Commitments'. Arguably Doyle's masterpiece, 'The Commitments' follows the life of the Rabbite family, a working class Irish family from Barrytown. This story focuses mainly on son Jimmy Jr, and his creation of a band who share their name with the book title. Long before the X Factor, we see Jimmy Jr holding auditions for membership, rehearsing, and finally performing at various venues. As is to be expected, there are a ...  Read the complete review

Get away with you, you mad eeejit, an Irish soul band, no little whistle, no fiddle, no diddly dee music, you must be mad. Give me some diddly dee music and that nice Irish lass, jigging up and down with her arms stapled to her sides. Ohhh, painful, no not the staples, but that soul racket. Yes this is the subject of Irish writer Roddy Doyle’s first novel, called the Commitments, an Irish Soul band and yes of course Alan Parker made it into a classic movie of the same name. Plot The book is centred in Dublin’s working class district, Barrytown (I do not know whether Barrytown is a fictional location or not) and focuses on the ...  Read the complete review