Transit (Irish Literature) by Bernard Share

Transit (Irish Literature) Reviews

• 
  MJ Nicholls

  Transit is a dire absurd farce from the genius behind
  Inish. Unlike that book (written in 1966), this one (written in 2009 at the insistence of Dalkey Archive editors, methinks) lacks the same alchemical linguistic brilliance, the rhythmic repetitions and Martian hilarity of his first book.
  
  The same tone of utter chaos reigns, but the humour is random and parochial, the time-leap techniques boring and monotonous. It’s like a cross between Vonnegut’s
  Timequake and those scenes in Being John Malkovich where Malk is chasing John Cusack through his subconscious. "Little Johnny Malk-a-pee!" The allusions to Flann O’Brien adds pain to a book that groans with misfiring puns and blink-eyed humour that sits gurning on the page like a dead sausage.
  
  Read
  Inish instead. ‘Tis really rather wonderful.
  
• 
  Nathanimal

  "'Hello,' said a pale, decadent-looking young man, rather drunk, 'isn't this a repulsive party?' And passed on."

  
  
  See, here's where the stars thing gets me into trouble. Was this book as good as
  Inish? No. Inish was a complex pleasure, a more determinedly experimental work. Nouveau O'Roman if you will. (Don't forget you read that here!) Who knows, maybe when I read Inish again it'll sprout another star, but four stars felt appropriate for Inish after my initial read — a great book, but ultimately an homage, and at times a bit needlessly esoteric, however much I like homages and esoterica.
  
  So, while admitting that Transit wasn't as "good" as Inish, did I, according to goodreads' oppressive star system, "really like" it? Yes. Mightily. Transit is just good fun. Comparing the two novels is like comparing wine and soda pop. But I really like soda pop sometimes.
  
  What I adore about Bernard Share, whether we're talking young Bernard Share from the 60s or the Bernard Share of today, are his gleeful, clangorous, nimble, intoxicated sentences. You'll want a dictionary at your side, like a six-shooter at the OK Corral. Not because you have to, but because you'll want to; you'll want to see how Bernard plays with the multiple meanings and etymology of words. You'll learn little gems like "troilism," as in Helen of Troilism. I'm flat out addicted to Share's drunken mixture of high diction and low slang, the kind of mock heroicism of Ulysses and Don Quixote. He's like Dr. Seuss for adults. Slow down and wrap your tongue around this guy.
  
  

  "It came towards them in a gentle glide as they stood waiting to cross the road by Tom Moore, a number 15 tram of the open-ended balcony type, its bell clanging, trolley hissing gently on the wire." (p. 54)

  
  

  "An inbound number 8 swayed towards them, enclosed luxury car, passed with a gentle susurration of the trolley and a lightly oiled eddy of wind." (p. 93)

  
  
  Notice the beautiful language dedicated to trolleys in this novel, while time travel is relegated to the "jacks" (the men's bathroom). Time travel is silent, therefore trivial, a joke. The old Dublin trolleys, however, are loud, rattling things, full of music. That pining for old Dublin music — speech — seems to be the secret heart of Transit.
• 
  Steve

  When it was funny, it was very funny, with sharp banter and a brisk pace - a bit At Swim Two Birds meets Waiting For Godot meets The Gingerman. Some of the exchanges between the two protagonists became funnier with each line, as they took on double- and triple-meanings. And there are scenes that had me laughing out loud and thinking at once, which is when I like comedy best. But so much of the novel felt dependent on specific, insider knowledge not just of Dublin but Dublin of a specific time and background that there were pages at a time that went right over my head, so it was hard to get as fully engrossed in the book as I wanted to.
• 
  Jim

  Review forthcoming...
• 
  Justinia

  I don't really have enough knowledge of the Irish collegiate experience to understand the context of the story, but it was an interesting, if brief, read.