Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha - Roddy Doyle

The author of this book is Roddy Doyle who wrote some great and funny books which you may have read or seen as films. You will probably have heard of 'the commitments' which was a great film. I read this book because I knew Roddy Doyle was a good writer and I'd enjoy it. Also I read it because it won the 1993 booker prize. The book is about a ten year old boy called Paddy Clarke who lives in Dublin in Ireland. His family are poor like all families in Dublin seem to be in books. The story tells us of all of his childhood antics which are like the usual things that ten years olds full of mischief get up to but he is also always worried about ...  Read the complete review

I vaguely remembered hearing about this book some years back but I didn't think it would appeal. I'm much more you're fantasy magic sort of gal. The idea of reading something about a ten year old kid brought back far too many memories of having to read "My Pal Spadger" at school which I loathed more than I loathed custard. Back then I wanted to read about horses and nothing else but horses - the occasional book about dogs when pushed. So Paddy Clarke Hahaha is there on the local tat stand, dumped with a box of books on politics, pages suspiciously looking like mould had gotten a hold. I leafed through and figured I should broaden my ...  Read the complete review

One of the wittiest and sharpest books I have read this year has to be "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" by Roddy Doyle. In his Barrytown trilogy (The Commitments, The Snapper and The Van), Roddy Doyle brilliantly explored family life through various members of the Rabbite family. These three novels combined comedy and sadness to such effect that they established the author as a major new talent. In "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" Doyle maintains the Barrytown/Dublin setting but focuses on a different family, and the narrative point of view is changed to a boy of ten - Paddy Clarke - growing up fast and discovering new aspects of childhood as each day passes. ...  Read the complete review