The Last Storyteller

  

The Last Storyteller - Frank Delaney

A rather disappointing effort.  I’ve read a few books by this author, and I’ve enjoyed his works, but this one was substantially subpar.  The author, from what I can tell, writes about Ireland; exclusively Ireland. Although natives of the country probably would enjoy reading anything about their homeland, past or present, the rest of us, well, you really need to make it something special for a dense native tale to really sink in. 

Part of the problem with this book is that it’s a story about a storyteller who tells us stories. And within these stories are other stories.  Now, I confess that I’m one of those readers who prefers reading a straightforward tale. This effort, though, seems to really want to focus on the "storyteller" part and thinks that it is an advantage to have several stories overlapping each other within the main tale.  All this did was confuse and distract me.  Again, part of the issue is that "main" story really wasn't that interesting.  The author seemed to want to emphasize key features indigenous to his homeland rather than tell an engaging narrative.

Now, all of us have a special bond with our upbringing, our surroundings and our struggles as they relate to the world overall.  If we're honest, though, the rest of the world doesn't really care that much.  Think about a very special family vacation that you once journeyed.  If you were to tell someone else about your experience, I would recommend limiting your reflections to about 5 minutes.  If you talk about your holiday for several hours to anyone, you'll probably bore them to tears.  Sadly, this is exactly what this book did to me.  It was the equivalent of a neighbor forcing me to watch several hours of mundane home videos.

As I stated, I've read a few other books by this author (one, unsurprisingly, called "Ireland") and I've enjoyed them.  This one, though, is too personal.  If an author is going to spend so much page space devoted to anything other than an interesting story (such as a geography and its history) the real challenge is making the reader fall in love with such a place.  This is isn't easy, but it is possible. Think of James Michener or Edward Rutherford.   Sadly, this book fails in this effort.  It was a relief to finally finish the thing.  I think this book was one of his earlier efforts.  Perhaps he simply got better over time?  If so, I haven't been turned off by him just yet.  I would recommend this author; just not his particular book.