Rating: 
Summary: The rare gem that puts you in another's shoes
Review: I can't relate to reviewers who say the book isn't emotional. On the contrary, it packs a wallop, but you have to see it through. The whole book is made up of little pieces, fragments, seeing the world as a boy does, including the often humorous (mis)understandings--old wives tales & presumptions filling in as knowlegde. I'd forgotten what it was like to lose yourself in time, the way you do in childhood, and the kind of thoughts you have in that state. This is what makes the book a valuable work of art (though never in a stuffy or pretentious way). It's a simple story & doesn't much kick in until the end (when it knocks you flat). Read the first several pages and you'll have a feel for the whole book. I had to push through the middle a bit but was well rewarded at the end.The book is filled with psychological understanding that runs very deep--especially the dynamics of boys' cruelty to and friendship with one another (read to the end for the full benefit). The narration jumps back and forth a bit, but it's pretty easy to follow. Some of the slang challenged me at first (I'm not Irish), but I figured it all out by the end. (Here's a head start: eccer is homework, mitching is skipping school.) Some may want more plot, but I'd call this a masterpiece. If you like Virginia Woolf, you must read this. You'll get inside character more accessibly and just as deeply. The prose has just as much graceful style and far more humor.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent Authentic Voice
Review: I found this book very disapointing after reading the barrytown trilogy.
I have read and re read the trilogy seen the movies and totaly enjoyed them but could not seem to get into this one.
I am a fan of Roddy doyle and hope that the next book is beter i am about to read a star called henry and hope that i find myself liking it.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! A modern masterpiece
Review: I had previously read The Commitments and thought I would give this one a go as well. I have to say that it's one of the best novels I've read in a long time, and I tend to be VERY picky. Roddy Doyle masterfully draws the reader in to the 10-year-old child's world. We feel what he feels, see what he sees. As I was reading, I couldn't help thinking that I felt and thought many of the same things that Patrick does when I was that age. The novel is at once heartbreaking and triumphant. A must-read!
Rating: 
Summary: A+ for style, C- minus for subject
Review: One can't but help admiring Roddy Doyle's use of dialog and his tight control over the lengths of his passages to control the pace of the story. Doyle also uses no chapter divisions, jumps from anecdote to anecdote without strict regard to chronology, and stays tightly confined to the Dublin neighborhood of the protagonist. The effect is that beneath the childish and what seem to be trivial accounts of Paddy, there is an incredibly dense story with a colossal amount of detail. However, for a country with as troubled a history and exciting a future as Ireland, I am truly puzzled why so many contemporary Irish writers tend to pick from a set list of, in my mind, soft topics. On the list of safe themes are progress coming to rural towns, the blue collar side of Dublin, changes to the blue collar side of Dublin, coming of age (marital problems are a must for exploiting this subject), or innocence lost. Paddy Clarke has the middle three. Unfortunately, none of these are uniquely Irish themes, and I for one get a little tired of rereading the same stories by different authors set in different places. You can find them even well outside the Anglophone world. But I have to give Roddy Doyle some credit. These topics seem safe and seem to have an insatiable audience. He definitely won't have to worry about financial security. Bottom line: This book is worth a read if you like to study what I like to call the architecture of a story. But I was so tired and bored with the subject matter that I found this easy read quite onerous. It's not a stretch to say that even with all the jumping around, the underlying story is pretty predictable. My rating would have been three stars, but I penalized Doyle one for squandering his stylistic originality.
Rating:
Summary: A+ for style, C- minus for subject
Review: One can't but help admiring Roddy Doyle's use of dialog and his tight control over the lengths of his passages to control the pace of the story. Doyle also uses no chapter divisions, jumps from anecdote to anecdote without strict regard to chronology, and stays tightly confined to the Dublin neighborhood of the protagonist. The effect is that beneath the childish and what seem to be trivial accounts of Paddy, there is an incredibly dense story with a colossal amount of detail. However, for a country with as troubled a history and exciting a future as Ireland, I am truly puzzled why so many contemporary Irish writers tend to pick from a set list of, in my mind, soft topics. On the list of safe themes are progress coming to rural towns, the blue collar side of Dublin, changes to the blue collar side of Dublin, coming of age (marital problems are a must for exploiting this subject), or innocence lost. Paddy Clarke has the middle three. Unfortunately, none of these are uniquely Irish themes, and I for one get a little tired of rereading the same stories by different authors set in different places. You can find them even well outside the Anglophone world. But I have to give Roddy Doyle some credit. These topics seem safe and seem to have an insatiable audience. He definitely won't have to worry about financial security. Bottom line: This book is worth a read if you like to study what I like to call the architecture of a story. But I was so tired and bored with the subject matter that I found this easy read quite onerous. It's not a stretch to say that even with all the jumping around, the underlying story is pretty predictable. My rating would have been three stars, but I penalized Doyle one for squandering his stylistic originality.
Rating: 
Summary: Poor young Paddy Clarke
Review: Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is used as part of the GCSE curriculum in my school. I felt that, although this book is well written, it is over-appreciated, if you will.
The book lacks storyline, and, although it is written exactly for that, it does get tedious towards the hundred and fiftieth page where there is still no plot.
On the other hand, the book is incredibly nostalgic. It really is fantastic to read and then suddenly remeber similar childhood antics.
Also, the book is driven by the emotions felt by Paddy as his world changes, which is marvellous to find as this is the only factor that kept me reading all the way through.
Rating:
Summary: Touching...
Review: Roddy Doyle does an amazing job of staying in a child's perspective, while evolving the character, the child, into something more than a kid, and more of a person. The reader feels connected with Paddy, the main character, but at the same time feels sorry for him because the reader understands more of what Paddy is seeing. There are moments throughout the book that are poignant representations of childhood, that hold no nostalgia for Paddy, but the older reader can see traces of their childhood in them. All in all, a good, light read with strong emotions, though the first hundered pages or so are kind of uneventful. Stick with it - the middle, what Paddy goes through and how he changes, redeems it all.
Rating:
Summary: Lovely
Review: Roddy Doyle has created a beautifully lyrical account of a young Irish boy's maturation into adolescence. He manages to capture the inner life of a ten-year-old boy without reverting to sentimentality or allowing his narrative to descend into cuteness. The accuracy with which Doyle conveys Paddy's voice is perhaps the greatest achievement of the novel. Despite the lovely prose, this is not a book that is easy to get into. It lacks a traditional plot or narrative structure, instead being composed of brief vignettes of Paddy's life at home and out with his friends. These episodes seem random and unconnected at first, but as they accumulate they gain emotional significance. Although I found the first third of the book to be distinctly un-touching, by the time I got to the end it was heartbreaking. Doyle does a wonderfully subtle job of describing the gradual changes happening around Paddy, both in his home and in the town where he lives, and of describing the effect that these changes have on Paddy himself. He really manages to convey the feelings of confusion and powerlessness that Paddy experiences as he tries to make sense of his changing world and struggles futilely to hold on to the way things used to be. This book is worth the work that it takes to get into it. I found it a very moving experience, and recommend it highly.
Rating:
Summary: "childhood lived, not just recalled..."
Review: Roddy Doyle, whose novel, "The Commitments" was made into the famous hit movie in 1991, is one of those writers whose dialogue and observations put you in the protagonist's mind. In Paddy Clarke, that mind is one of a ten year old working class Irish boy. The winner of the Booker Prize, this little novel is sometimes wildly funny, poignant, and sometimes hard and frustrating at the same time. The author puts us into Paddy's head and we are given a better understanding of the thrill of the harmless pranks, the concern of the need to "fit in" with the bigger boys, the frustrations of trying to understand why your parents no longer get along, and the gradual awareness of both self and others. Many of the reviews of this book repeat the theme of a "childhood lived, not just recalled", and this is very accurate. This is not a book about an adult remembering the days, but an adult who has captured the voice of the child as he is experiencing his life every day.Â
Rating:
Summary: exxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxccccellent!!
Review: This book is an easy read. No complicated words, no scientific/historical facts that will make you go looking for an encyclopedia to check up on just to get it. Why? Because it was written from the view of a child. It is not childish in anyway, yet the ideas are presented are simple, yet not easy; i.e. themes of handling crises in the home. How a boy handles his life. It was superbly written, and I got so lost in it I forgot it was not written by a child but by Doyle. Take a peak into the book and you will see what I mean. The book is perfect for a nice weekend read, as a short vacation from home.
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