Con McCarthy is the connoisseur of death, an expert, elaborating on it in depth, with a particular relish of the slapstick death as he rearranges his face for each death that he relates. Collecting old folk songs that have yet to be recorded leads to the discovery of a troubling song, of matters of the heart, all its destructive powers, the deranged souls, its ephemeral nature, incorporating erotic wickedness and greed.
Love can be a tricky affair, as it is for 35 year old Seamus Ferry, bedevilled by the fear of committing his heart to his love, the Polish Katherine Zielinski, driven by an inner compulsion to destroy all that he loves. The people, families and communities are deeply connected, an earthy connection that often lives beyond death such as can be found in Old Stock, the death of Uncle Aldo and an old inheritance. His depiction of the ancient Emerald Isle overflows with the psychic, a magic, a spiritualism, the tangible soul and atmosphere of the land, its bogs, its beauty, mountains, and hissing seas, emanating a timelessness, brimming with moodiness and feelings, brooding, singing its beguiling music for those that can hear.
There is dark humour to be found in these stories, with their focus on broken hearts, the sorrow, torments, cruelty and sadness of love, the well worn shapes of desire, erotica, lust, loss, heartbreak which can hold the seeds of madness and insanity. Kevin Barry's collection of short stories bear all the trademarks of his vital, vibrant, poetic and lyrical prose, his beautiful rich textured descriptions are to be savoured, then there is his compassion and humanity in the offbeat, occasionally cunning, criminal, feckless, sexually confident, fastidious, sensitive, addled and flawed characters he creates.
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