<p>From Kirkus Reviews      Irish writer MacMath£na makes his US debut with a story collection that tackles--with rueful satire--a place that has the ``climate for revolution, but not the weather.'' MacMath£na's passion is always under control, but the stories pulse with a sense of frustration and anger at the ways in which those Irish who want a more progressive country are continually thwarted by ancient superstitions, rigid religious beliefs, and a pervasive sense that nothing can or will improve. In ``Wedge,'' a character who accidentally kills his alcoholic and abusive father observes that ``Life is like a tragic drama on television. There are two ways to play it, backwards or forwards. I prefer backwards because that way you always finish with a happy beginning.'' Stories like the ``Queen of Killiney'' (a typically corrupt politician suddenly finds himself pregnant and has to go to England for an abortion), ``Prisoner of the Republic'' (the failure to change the divorce laws ends a long love affair), and ``Waiting for Dev'' (a village awaiting the famous leader De Valera realizes that it is no better off than it was under the British) are all concerned with overtly political themes. Two notable and especially poignant evocations of the Irish dilemma are the title story and ``The Banquet of Life.'' In the first, a committed atheist must deal with the grief of his young daughter at the death of her mother as relatives invoke all the old religious beliefs and superstitions. In the second, Brother Fergus--a teacher who believed that ``absolute obedience kept the soul from `getting notions' '' but who also liked figures, discovering how much he would earn in the outside world for the work he is doing--begins to construct an imaginary life in which he is no longer ``outlawed from the Banquet of Life.'' Some pieces here don't travel as well as others, and one or two are marred by obvious sentimentality, but mostly this is an accomplished debut. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.</p>

The Atheist and Other Stories

Mac Mathúna, Seán

Irish Amer Book Co

<p>This Irish language work is set in the early 1920s in County Kerry during the Civil War. The play tells the story of the Dillon family, who give refuge to Republican soldiers. Things get more complicated when a Free State soldier comes to them for refuge and the daughters fall in love with him.</p>

Duilleoga Tae: Dráma Trí Ghníomh (Irish Edition)

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See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mac Mathúna, Seán. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Mac Mathúna, Seán

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Mac Mathúna, Seán. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Atheist and Other Stories

Duilleoga Tae: Dráma Trí Ghníomh (Irish Edition)