Home Before Night: Memories of an Irish Time and Place

Rating:
Summary: A must read...
Review: Hugh Leonard writing heals the soul the way a crackling fire warms a body on a winters night. His skill at capturing a life in Dalkey, a place I am so familiar with albeit a more modern one, is unique, setting in place a slice of historical life for generations to come. His settings and story capture a more simple Dublin yet one that we are all familiar with. It breathes life into a lovely town set in a beautiful part of Ireland. This book is my favourite...ever.

Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic and loveable.
Review: This is the tale of a boy growing up in Dalkey in the 1940's and 50's. It is autobiographical and gives an intimate view of Leonard and the influences that effected him in his youth. The book is a collection of cameos of life in a small Irish village just south of Dublin. Dalkey is now part of the greater Dublin Sprawl, but this book captures a time when it was only a village. Leonard regales us with hilarious tales, the dog who attacks priests and policemen, his job interview in a pub where he learns the one great truth in life ( in a pub toilet incoming traffic has right of way). If you know Leonard through his plays (Da and a Life especially) you will have seen some of this material. Even so, the impeccable writing and a real feel for prose makes this book worth a read.

Rating:
Summary: Nostalgic and loveable.
Review: This is the tale of a boy growing up in Dalkey in the 1940's and 50's. It is autobiographical and gives an intimate view of Leonard and the influences that effected him in his youth. The book is a collection of cameos of life in a small Irish village just south of Dublin. Dalkey is now part of the greater Dublin Sprawl, but this book captures a time when it was only a village. Leonard regales us with hilarious tales, the dog who attacks priests and policemen, his job interview in a pub where he learns the one great truth in life ( in a pub toilet incoming traffic has right of way). If you know Leonard through his plays (Da and a Life especially) you will have seen some of this material. Even so, the impeccable writing and a real feel for prose makes this book worth a read.