Rating: 
Summary: Too clever by half
Review: O'Connor's novel is extremely well researched and will be informative for those who do not know that the famine in Ireland was a very bad thing. The novel is set on board a ship sailing to the New World at this shameful time in history. Using flashbacks and excerpts from "recovered documents", the lives of the passengers are woven together in a "penny dreadful" murder mystery. After an atmospheric and gripping opening, O'Connor lets the novel drift. Characters are thinly drawn and behave inconsistently. The clever resourceful villain behaves like a whimpering fool to facilitate the surprise ending. The sprinklings of Latin (most of us have forgotten what we learned) and the silliness of having one of his characters sketch the plot of Oliver Twist for Dickens were irritating. It felt as if Mr O'Connor had a screenplay with blockbuster appeal in mind. It could have been a great novel. Perhaps the film will be better.
Rating: 
Summary: Haunting Irish Historial Fiction
Review: Star of the Sea is one of the most elegant, engaging and enchanting fictional accounts of historical fiction I've read. We've all met the Pius Mulveys, Captains, Marys and Grantleys of the world, though too many Mulveys and too few Captains, Marys and Grantleys. O'Connor brings them, together with the ship, seas and port, to life in this novel. Perfect for reading in the summer twilight hours when the fireflies glimmer or cozied up near the fire on a late winter night. Either way, wherever and whenever you read it, you will be transported to the deck of the Star of the Sea moments after you begin to read...
Rating: 
Summary: worth reading
Review: The book is worth reading. At times the book is a little rushed and the prose is confusing. I think there was more of a story here and it could have been expanded.
A good book.
Rating:
Summary: Creaks a bit, but still afloat
Review: The start of the novel was splendid, but his obsession with Lord Kingscourt's sex life definitely detracts from the book. At the center of the story are also love stories, loves which are thwarted, perverted, destroyed by the Kingscourt men. Unfortunately, they all therefore lack depth in a novel of this scope. The famine aspect is covered in blistering detail, then forgotten. Kingscourt's character is by far the most compelling yet we learn little about him apart from the surface material until very near the end, buy which time it is nearly too late. Mary is a cipher for the most part, as is Laura, his wife. Pius Mulvey becomes increasingly monstrous as the book goes on, to the point of him not even being human any more. His willingness to do anything to survive which is commented upon by the author in the context of Kingscourt and the doctor Mangan's conversation in the latter half of the book does not excuse what he's done. He blights the woman he claims to love's whole life and still expects her to come back to him. The book becomes so Dickensian it loses its humanity and appeal.
Still, for its descriptions of Connemara, and the Famine, almost all accurae and very well researched, it is well worth reading. (even if it has been done better elsewhere)
Rating:
Summary: Star of the Sea - Joseph O'Connor
Review: The strength and the force in O'Connor's style sweep the reader along in a riveting tale of a tragic era. Refreshing and exciting, this book deserves all the accolades it can get!
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!
Review: This book is a must-read! The author skillfully creates an atmosphere of trepidation, gloom and a foretelling of disaster on the ship - while maintaining historical accuracy about life on the ship, in Ireland, in England, in prison, in the New York harbor, and in a myriad of other settings, which he must have researched with meticulous care to create such believable scenes. He creates characters that are fascinating and flawed and devious, twisting them in the reader's mind so the reader moves from sympathy to dislike or understanding or liking or revulsion in minutes. Then he throws in one character who is so good and honest it is breathtaking. He shows so many people broken by circumstance, and one character who rises above it. This is a masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: When Death never takes a holiday...
Review: This excellent historical novel vividly portrays the anguish of the Irish people who suffered through the potato blight and ensuing famine that left over two million dead from starvation. O'Connor brings the human suffering to life through a series of chapters, written by a journalist on the ship, in which particular characters are defined, as well as the manner in which their lives intersect. Against a harsh background, the passengers on the Star of the Sea embark on a voyage that will take them far from the horrors they have known, to a new life in America. During the course of this voyage, one passenger will be brutally murdered by another, but whom and why remains a mystery until the end. Yet there is an air of expectancy in that knowledge, as the unfolding plot reveals close associations between some passengers, forged years ago by time and circumstance. The Star of the Sea carries First Class passengers as well as those in steerage. A member of the English aristocracy, Earl David Merridith of Kingscourt, his family and their nanny are ensconced in relatively comfortable quarters, along with other such men of substance. There is a sharp contrast between First Class accommodations and the cheapest berths, below decks, where hundreds are warehoused like cattle and disease is rampant. The poor are forced to endure yet more punishment with unsanitary facilities and insufficient food. Vessels like the Star of the Sea, with its well-meaning Christian captain, are all that is left for such throw-aways. Many succumb daily to a variety of shipboard diseases, sent quickly overboard to their watery graves. A man who wanders the decks at night, when the others are sleeping, is much remarked upon by all. He is a small-boned figure, with a crippled foot, who treads the upper deck incessantly, back and forth, mumbling to himself. Called "the ghost" or "the monster" in his filthy clothes and unkempt appearance, he is, in fact, one Pius Mulvey, a survivor of the unremitting brutality that decimates Ireland's poor. Mulvey has, in fact, become a monster, a creation of his own extreme circumstances. Traveling the roads of Ireland and England, Mulvey has tasted every form of depravity and honed criminal skills along the way. While others suffer tragedy and find a source of strength, Mulvey has fed off his own venal acts, capable of the most heinous crimes. As a creation of his situation, his survival-at-any-cost attitude, Mulvey becomes an "Everyman" of the famine, a stark example of what becomes of a broken human spirit after repeated degradation and suffering. Due to unwise investments, the Merridiths have lost the land their family has held for generations and, by opting to save themselves, they turn away from the destitute souls who seek to stay on the land. The only Irish citizen they take along is Mary Duane Mulvey, the widowed nanny of their two children. During the course of the journey, the Merridiths take pity on the duplicitous Mulvey, believing him victim rather than victimizer. They welcome him into the intimate circle of their family, oblivious to his true nature. Mary Duane recognizes Mulvey at once and is loath to have anything to do with him, yet she has a history with Mulvey as well as with David Merridith, adding another layer of complication to the relationships. O'Connor's writing is impeccable, his illustration of the socio-economic class struggle of the mid-1900's pitch perfect. This horrific tale witnesses the virtual annihilation of a proud race. There is great compassion on these pages and piercing awareness of a dispassionate fate, the legacy of the famine. For some of the characters, their endless trials render them more complex; but for others, the façade of humanity is ripped away, revealing a heart scarred by rage. The claustrophobia on the Star of the Sea is almost unbearable, each day a burden, another glimpse of the past. Many live in hell and it is familiar, as is depravity and the utter loss of hope. Whatever the future for these unhappy passengers, they are forever marked by the passionate love and abject loss of a land that no longer provides for the living, become instead a vast graveyard of dreams. Luan Gaines/2003.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating
Review: This is a fascinating, well-researched an authentic look at a tragic period in history. Let me say that I am well-read in Irish history, language and literature. O'Connor exactly strikes the tenor of the times. The characters are interesting and authentic. I think sme of the negative reviewers confused this with a book you speed through in an afternoon. It has to be read slowly and savored. The people spoke differently then and there is another cadence entirely to Irish-English. On top of that, it is a compelling though complex story. A much better read than most of the trash on the paperback racks at the supermarket. Mo ceol thu, a chara!
Rating:
Summary: Superb Irish historical fiction
Review: This is a superb fictionalized account of 19th century Ireland with the main focus on the terrible famine. O'Connor very skillfully transports the reader to this time and place with an interesting, believable cast of characters representing the diversity within society. While much of the plot and action occurs on a ship filled with emmigrants heading to America, O'Connor frequently shifts attention back to the lives led by the characters prior to their voyage. This shifting of time and place adds even greater depth to the overall story. A subtle murder mystery adds to the drama. Moral issues regarding the cause as well as the response to the famine are also explored. The writing style is highly engaging and readable. Very highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: A ripping good read.
Review: When the "potato famine" of 1847 was over, two million residents of Ireland had died agonizing deaths, most of them from starvation. The events which led to the famine, the people who were directly affected by it, and the steps taken to ameliorate or escape it are the subjects of Joseph O'Connor's intense and heartfelt novel, Star of the Sea, named for the British-owned "famine ship" which is the center of the action here. O'Connor presents four main characters who recall the pivotal experiences of their lives which lead them to make this fateful, 27-day journey. The reader becomes emotionally involved with their stories, acquiring a broad background in Irish social history--and its tragedie--in the process. Thomas David Nelson Merridith, Lord Kingscourt, is the ninth generation of his Protestant family to govern Kingscourt, with hundreds of workers dependent upon him. Now bankrupt, he and his family are going to America, first-class. Their nanny, Mary Duane, has recently joined the family, and her stories of her past loves, her marriage, and her loss of her own children illuminate the bleak prospects available to this warm and intelligent, but desperately poor, woman. G. Grantley Dixon is a caricature of the liberal American do-gooder, whose reports about the plight of the Irish poor are influenced by his own socialism and by the reform-minded traditions of his family. Self-centered in his attitudes and limited in his social graces, he is detested by Merridith. Pius Mulvey is a mysterious ex-convict who comes from the same town as Merridith and Mary Duane, directly connected to both of them. One of over 400 passengers who have paid $8 per person for passage, he is crammed into the fetid and dangerous quarters known as "steerage," expected to stay alive on one quart of water a day and half a pound of hardtack. O'Connor pulls out all the stops here in this big, broad melodrama, but an honesty of emotion and a fidelity to the facts here saves the novel from bathos and gives the reader cause for thought. Moments of both ineffable sadness and high drama arise, and O'Connor's imagery, especially his sense imagery, is arresting. Occasionally, his compression of time, for the sake of story, leads to anachronisms--several mentions of evolution, with parallels between monkeys and Irishmen, ignore the fact that Darwin's Evolution of the Species was not published until twelve years after this famine. Still, O'Connor presents a compelling story with many unforgettable details of Irish history. The ending is preachy, but the author does provide a follow-up on the characters after their arrival in America. The fact that at least one character becomes a politician (later accused of misappropriation of funds) will surprise no one accustomed to politics. Mary Whipple
|
