Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13112 in Books
• Published on: 1997-03-06
• Binding: Paperback
• 346 pages

Synopsis
Feckless, unwashed, charming, penurious Sebastian Balfe Dangerfield, Trinity College Law student, Irish American with an English Accent, maroon in the ould country and dreaming of dollars and ready women, stumbles from the public house to the pawnbrokers, murmuring delusive enticements in the ear of any girl who'll listen, in delirious search of freedom, wealth, and the recognition he feels is his due. Lyrical and ribald, illuminating, poignant and hugely entertaining, The Ginger Man is a work of authentic comic genius.

Customer Reviews

Brilliant
I became aware of this book after recently reading a Hunter S. Thompson biography, wherein it describes how Hunter discovered the book in New York, and did his best to imitate Dangerfield's lifestyle. After reading the Ginger Man it became apparent that Hunter had at last found a hard act to follow in terms of womanising, alcohol abuse and empty promises.
Apparently the Ginger Man was turned down by something like 40 publishers before finding it's way to the mainly pornographic publishers Olympia Press in Paris. Despite turning out mostly smut, Olympia owner Maurice Girodias also published some early works by the likes of Samuel Beckett, William Burroughs, Henry Miller and Jean Genet amongst other rising literary talents of the time.
I mention the publication as it's interesting to note that Donleavy entered into 20 plus years of litigation with the publishing house. He eventually won the case and subsequently owns Olympia Press.
But anyway, the book. It is, for better or worse, very real. The "hero" Sebastian Dangerfield is a reluctant family man and a reluctant student of law. He just doesn't care about the things which we assume he should care about. He is constantly in a state of scheming his way into the next free drink, or getting into the knickers of an easily led girl. He has no morals, nor does he feel that he should have. He is banking on an inherited wealth which will be his once his sick father dies.
The style of the book is modern for the time of it's writing. Donleavy uses both the first person narrative and the third person narrative to illustrate his main character. This can be confusing at first, but I found that after a few chapters, it adds to the urgency/pace (first person) and the backgrounds (third person) as he switches between the two different types of narration. This could not be achieved by sticking to either one of the disciplines.
The plot is quite simple, as a character novel should be. The backdrop is Dublin and then later London. Both are described well.
The dialogue is at times simply brilliant. One of the few books where you find yourself laughing aloud, and re-reading passages in an attempt to recall lines and slip them into a conversation at some point in the future. It is so easy to see why this book has since been turned into a stage production. I would imagine that the theater would be in fits of giggles.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the development of modern literature. And for that matter anyone with an open mind and a good sense of humour. It is in many ways one of the best novels of the 20th century.

A Great Modernist Novel
J.P Donleavy did a great job in writing a novel in the modernist fashion. He not only captured the ideals of a modernist in rejecting the norms of society, but he also did it using humor. Although the humor could be very vulgar and distasteful, it was used in a way to get across the personality of Sebastian and his rebellion to society and their "way of living". (I did however find myself giggling at the circumstances he found himself in.)

Donleavy followed in the footsteps of James Joyce and attempted to use "stream of consciousness" in his novel "The Gingerman". This new, modernist form of writing showed the real thoughts of a person and how these thoughts bring about other thoughts in succession. I found that he did a VERY good job in using this method, and although Dangerfield was not a character of high moral, he was an interesting character and the type of character that a modernist uses in order to get his point across. Yes, Dangerfield DID spend his time being cruel to women, breaking promises, and acting like a childish alcoholic; however, this character was shocking and had REAL thoughts and was the PERFECT character to portray a modernist view.

This book was also very interesting in the fact that this was how J.P. Donleavy really lived his own life and he was much like the character, making this novel a fictional autobiographical peice.

I guess the point I am trying to get across is that I have a lot of respect for this novel despite the actions of the character. I have studied this novel in a modernism class and the ideals of a modernist are VERY interesting once you get to know them. I think that if "A reader from Dublin, Ireland" were to study the views of a modernist writer, she would have found this book to be a lot more interesting. I enjoyed it, and I would recommend this book.

Sebastian is not your typical family guy, if you know what I mean
In response to the only person who gave this magnificent book a bad review... You seem to have no sense of humor. This book was very well written, and I was interested all the way through it. It was written in a style reminiscent of James Joyce, while still retaining a unique voice. I would consider this novel to be a modernist text, as the story isn't quite linear, and the whole tale is told through the filter of Sebastian Dangerfield's mind. Using this distances the reader away from the unlikable Dangerfield, but that distance causes the reader to identify with him in someway, making him likable. After reading the book, and contemplation about why I liked it so much, I realized that it slightly reminded me of the animated television series "The Family Guy". The non-linear parts that are more like memories, and the crudeness and ridiculousness of the humor are quiet similar. I hope that doesn't stop anyone who dislikes the show from reading this novel. Once you do read you will recognize how I made the comparison to "The Family Guy". Great Read!!!