Product Description

'A charming, truthful and immensely funny story which leaves you gasping for more' Sunday Times

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #122035 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 176 pages

Synopsis
Barrytown, Dublin, has something to sing about. The Commitments are spreading the gospel of the soul. Ably managed by Jimmy Rabitte, brilliantly coached by Joel 'The Lips' Fagan, their twin assault on Motown and Barrytown takes them by leaps and bounds from paris hall to immortality on vinyl. But can The Commitments live up to their name?

About the Author
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958. He is the author of eight acclaimed novels and Rory & Ita, a memoir about his parents. He won the Booker Prize in 1993 for Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.

Customer Reviews

Roide, Sally, Roide
Roddy Doyle was born in Dublin in 1958 and saw his first novel, "The Commitments" published in 1987. It was later adapted for the big screen, a version that saw Star Trek's Colm Meaney and a very young Andrea Corr among the cast. Doyle went on to win the Booker Prize in 1993 with "Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha".

"The Commitments" is set in north Dublin and follows Jimmy Rabbite's attempts to bring soul "back" to the city. The band that Jimmy puts together - The Commitments pf the book's title - needs a little work. However, despite the fact that most of the band are still young, the raw talent appears to be there. The group's one 'old-timer' is their trumpet player, Joey 'The Lips' Fagan. Joey not only has the talent, he also apparently has the pedigree : he hold jazz in low regard and has performed with - among others - Otis, Marvin Gaye, Wilson Pickett and Booker T and the MGs. Joey, who insists on calling everyone Brother (or Sister, if it's a Commitmentette), plays a big part in holding the band togetherthrough many dark days. (These dark days are largely caused by Deco Cuffe, the band's vocalist - a singer with a big voice, but unfortunately with a bigger ego...).

"The Commitments" is a very enjoyable, short and easy read - even funnier if you've actually spent any time in Dublin. (Bloody Jackeens !). The language is occasionally a little ripe, and while a little familiarity with the Dublin dialect wouldn't be a bad thing, it's definitely recommended.

"Soul is the music people understand...It sticks its neck out and says it straight from the heart."
Set in north Dublin's most blighted area, this 1987 debut novel, the first of Doyle's Barrytown Trilogy, focuses on the Rabbittes, a struggling family of eight, trying to survive in a crowded tenement. Here Doyle depicts the rowdy, two-fisted lives of the family and its neighbors as they deal with high unemployment and few opportunities, their wittiness and humor the only weapons against the bleak repetition of their days. When Jimmy Rabbitte, Jr., an unemployed twenty-something, hears a drunk wedding guest wailing soulfully into a microphone, Jimmy decides to create a band from the local community.

The eventual band includes the wailing wedding singer, a trumpet player and former "friend" of Wilson Pickett, a church organist, a nervous sax player, a drummer, and three "girl singers." Modeling their music on that of Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and Marvin Gaye, they are a "soul band." As Jimmy explains, "The Irish are the blacks of Europe. And Dubliners are the blacks of Ireland. And the Northside Dubliners are the blacks of Dublin." The band's long, night-time practices soon give them a sense of cohesiveness and become a symbol of hope, and as they gradually improve, each band member begins to feel as if s/he matters. Ironically, however, the more they improve and the larger their audiences, the greater the tensions and resentments which threaten the band's survival.

Doyle's lightning-fast dialogue is filled with local dialect, crude profanities, witticisms, and can-you-top-this insults. Subtlety is not part of the characters' lives, where survival is based on toughness and the ability to think quickly on one's feet. As the characters' relationships become more complex--and more physical--their personal dreams become more obvious, and the importance of the band in their lives becomes clearer. Doyle understands his characters and identifies with them, presenting them sympathetically, while revealing the ironies in their lives.

Jimmy Rabbitte, as manager, remains somewhat apart from the band, serving as a counterpoint to the band's intense interactions and putting their rivalries into perspective. About ten characters are involved in this short novel, and when one combines that number with the fact that Doyle includes the lyrics for most of the group's songs, the narrative becomes sketchy, and the reader does not have the opportunity to identify with the characters. The Rabbitte family, however, is vibrant, with characters who are both individualized and symbolic of their neighborhood, and in them, Doyle has created the perfect vehicle for a trilogy about their lives, and, ultimately for three films which are among Ireland's best. Mary Whipple

It's good but it ain't challenging...
The commitments by Roddy Doyle is an amusing book you can read in a couple of hours. The band's ordeals are amusing as Doyle takes us through the problems and humour of trying to create 'dublin soul'. However, it's not for you if you want something to get your teeth into, the plot and language are simple (although the amount of swearing is very high). If you remember some of the songs, the lyrics are there for you to sing along to! Definitely a good book for sitting on the beach/in the back garden when you have a few hours and don't want something too taxing on the brain.