Shortlisted for the Irish Book Award 2018 in the Category "Novel of the Year"
Martin does an excellent job telling the story of an Irish family by interweaving the ongoing influence of tradition with the rise of more progressive attitudes and the impact of major political events on the individual. With a panoramic vision and spanning from 1979 to 2011, the novel introduces us to the destinies of the four Doyle children. After the death of their mother, Granny Doyle, a deeply religious and conservative woman, becomes their primary caregiver. The oldest child, Peg, has to leave Ireland when she gets pregnant as a teenager and wants to have an abortion, and the triplets Damien, Rosie, and John Paul, who have potentially been conceived when Pope John Paul II visited Ireland, also don't turn out the way their grandmother had planned.

Damien is gay and has a hard time growing up, Rosie's nonconformist spirit is perceived as provocative by many people around her, and John Paul, well - instead of becoming the first Irish Pope, as imagined by Granny Doyle, he becomes a YouTube star by satirizing the church. All those characters are vividly drawn, full of both flaws and virtues, and the story is not only heartfelt, but frequently very funny. I loved how Martin manages to illustrate family dynamics: What people know, assume, how they feel towards others, and the domino effects that ripple throughout the whole family structure due to minor or major events. With such a comparatively large cast of characters, it takes a lot of narrative control to convincingly write about emotional interdepencies and multi-layered repercussions, and Martin makes it appear to be effortless.

Due to the personal traits of the protagonists and the depiction of events that took place during the narrated time ( the financial crisis), the novel gains political relevance as it discusses abortion, gay rights, environmental protection, the banking system, the housing crisis, the sexual abuse scandal in the Catholic church, Obama, and party politics. By talking about the Doyle family, Martin paints a picture of Ireland in flux, and he manages to show the connection between the personal and the political without lecturing.

My only issue with the book was that some chapters are unnecessarily short which partly produces a level of fragmentation that does not seemed justified by the content - sometimes, there simply is no need to start a new chapter, and the excessive breaks are detrimental to the flow of the story.

But overall, this is a wonderful, smart and fun book, and I hope Martin will make it onto some more prize lists!2018-read ireland30 s Anni549 81

Eire today is a far, far different place from the pre - Celtic Tiger days when the story begins. The narrative spans three decades starting from the visit of Pope John Paul II to the Irish Republic in 1979, when the country was still a patriarchal society, permeated with religious hypocrisy and casual misogyny. Granny Doyle is so much in thrall to the Pontif and filled with religious fervour, that she decides her next grandchild will become the first Irish Pope - an unly outcome at the best of times, and these are not the best of times in the Republic.
Martin's style is reminiscent of Flann O’Brien, with nods to the Father Ted series. However, the comic brio of the Irish vernacular belies the darker underbelly of this family saga, with its counterpoint of tragedy and grim social commentary.
Recommended for fans of black comedy.

With thanks for the ARC from the publisher via Netgalley.13 s anna (½ of readsrainbow)634 1,916 Want to read

i'm polish, it's my god-given right to read any book that use john paul ii as a plot device. 21:37!1-contemporary 1-literary-fiction 3-lgbt ...more10 s Dan470 4

Oh no, not another multi-generational saga of a dysfunctional Irish family! Yes, that’s what Darragh Martin, in his remarkably adept debut novel, provides us with in Future Popes of Ireland. The Doyles demonstrate the full range of family dysfunction: Grandma Doyle, the domineering matriarch; Danny Doyle, the weak father addicted to gambling; and four quarrelsome children. Martin distinguishes each Doyle offspring with a shame in Grandma Doyle’s gimlet eyes: Rosie’s a dreamer who’s a radical environmental activist; Damien’s a stolid policy wonk who’s gay; John Paul’s—the eponymous future pope of Ireland—a charming, handsome schemer who fails at suicide and business; and Peg’s a disgrace by dint of her out-of-wedlock pregnancy and flight to the U.S.

Darragh Martin’s deft characterizations and artful treatment of the recent arc of Irish politics and economy prevent Future Popes of Ireland from descending into cliché. Martin succeeds not only with the five Doyles themselves, but also with a cast of elderly neighbors, caregivers, friends, and lovers, each given their own personalities in a few sentences. Especially admirable about Future Popes of Ireland is the nuance of Darragh Martin’s character portrayals: while this reader may not have found the Doyles especially likable, I did find them fully believable and fully convincing in their fictional identities.

I would to thank my GR friend Meike who so generously gave a copy of the Future Popes of Ireland.13 s SueLucie461 20

An engaging story following the fortunes of an Irish family from 1979 to 2011, neatly spanning the decades of the ‘Celtic Tiger’ and the rise and fall in fortune and aspiration of the main characters. 1979 is a particularly auspicious year, the year Pope John Paul II visits Ireland, instilling notions of change, and the year the Doyle triplets are conceived. Their childhoods are overshadowed by the absence of the gentle mother they never knew, the grief-stricken father they rarely see and the spirited, caring sister who is forced to leave, leaving them with the stifling, unbending presence of Granny Doyle, a matriarch of the old school, deeply traditional and heavily biased towards her favourite of the family.

The characters are the strength of this novel, I was rooting for them all, and especially for Peg of course, hoping that their lives would come good as they grew up and away from home. The structure of the novel, switching back and forth between the 20th and 21st centuries, means that from the beginning we have some idea where they are in 2011 and, as the story unfolds, we come to see how they get there. By the end, when a sense of redemption prevails, they and I could even sympathise with Granny Doyle, an old lady who outlived her comfort time zone, referred to by her Christian name at last. The glittery-eyed frenzy of the boom and bust years was well done, too, and I loved the images of John Paul’s surreal video appearances as the ‘Irish Pope’.

A really satisfying read, tragic yet hopeful in the best tradition of family sagas, I’d recommend it highly.

With thanks to Harper Collins 4th Estate via NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC. netgalley5 s Jessie Pietens267 26

To be honest, if the blurb doesn't draw you in, I don't know what will! But I'll try my best.

This is a story of generational and idealistic gaps. It's a story about how people hurt each other, and how the best people sometimes make the wrong decisions, while those you'd expect to stab you in the back turn out to be your best friend. I really enjoyed the character development. Damien and John Paul were my favourite characters. But Peg and Rosie definitely had their beautiful moments as well. I also really enjoyed how the stories were told around certain objects while jumping back and forth in time and between narrators. This book is incredibly well written and well thought out. I got really engaged and really felt for the characters. The book was quite light, while it still manages to talk about heavy things and really bring some emotion onto the table. This book hit me in ways I wouldn't have imagined it could. I was really touched by this book and the way it talked about things we sometimes take for granted or underestimate.

I think my 4/5 stars mainly comes from the fact that I feel this book could have gone deeper. I wouldn't have minded a couple of extra chapters, just to get an idea of motivations and stories behind some of the characters. By the end, I was so invested in the lives of these four siblings that I really didn't feel the story was done yet, and I really could have kept on reading.

Even though this book was very character-based, it was definitely also plot-heavy, with a lot of showdowns along the way. It's a wonderful book to read on a rainy day if you have the time to get completely absorbed by it. favourites5 s Anne351 2

Thank you to Netgalley for a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This started off well - a story about triplets and their older sister being brought up by their grand mother shortly after Pope John Paul 2nd's visit to Ireland. The different characters were interesting and the dynamics between the siblings and various relatives and neighbours.

Then it got rather confusing with the time line jumping around and various plot lines that didn't really go anywhere such as the new family on the street, the political coalition and the ambiguous ending. I was also confused by Peg's lifestyle in New York and felt her character wasn't explored fully.

I really wanted to this book as I usually love the black comedy genre and also it addresses important issues. Although perhaps in part that was the problem - that the author was trying to fit in as many issues that have faced modern Ireland as possible and it didn't all neatly fit into a fiction book.5 s Robert2,110 221

There’s nothing I more than a good Irish family saga. The drama, the dark funny moments and complicated history of Ireland as a backdrop. Darragh Martin’s first novel for adults does contain all of these elements but he goes about them in a clever way.

A brief summary of the story would be one grandmother’s wish for one of her grandchildren to be the Pope. However dig deeper this seemingly comic plotline is a cover up for some serious aspects of Irish culture.

The grandmother aka Granny Doyle represents the more traditional aspects of Irish culture: she’s religious, can’t stand anything that is different and can be preachy. She also has to bring up her four grandchildren since their parents have died.

on the other end of the spectrum is Granny Doyle’s sister,Aunt Mary who is a liberal fights for abortion, gay rights and use of contraceptives. Needless to say that both sisters do not get along with each other.

This leaves the four Doyle children: Peg, John Paul, Rosie and Damien. All represent contemporary Ireland. Ironically the things that Aunt Mary fights for in the 60’s and 70’s helps the children survive. As an example; Damien is gay, which would have been problematic but due to Aunt Mary, he able to be proud and publicly admit his homosexuality (except to Granny Doyle of course) the same rule applies to Rosie and John Paul. Sadly since Peg is the eldest, she suffers under the more traditional Irish mentality.

Besides these episodes, the Doyle children share secrets, fight, retell memories and make up. In lesser hands this would be a soap opera but Martin is smarter and only hints at problems through the use of metaphors and comic timing. Stylistically it is quite similar to Patrick McCabe, which is akin to a person in a bar recounting an anecdote. I’m a big fan of this kind of writing so I found Future Popes.. to be a great read.

Future Popes of Ireland is a deceptively simple novel. Once you think you’ve solved things, Martin throws a curveball and you’re laughing yet wondering how this particular plot arc will be dealt with. Anyone who can pull of tragi-comedy so well demands to be read.4 s Mairead Hearne (swirlandthread.com)1,003 81

‘In 1979 Bridget Doyle has one goal left in life; for her family to produce the very first Irish pope…’

Future Popes of Ireland was published by 4th Estate ( Harper Collins) in 2018 and was written by Darragh Martin. Darragh Martin would have been best known for writing several plays and for his children’s novel, The Keeper, which was shortlisted in 2013 at the Irish Book Awards. For six years Darragh Martin had this idea germinating for a book he wanted to write and with the encouragement of his family, friends and the writing community his idea became a reality.

In the acknowledgements, Darragh Martin expresses his thanks to many people but he also thanks the ‘campaigners advocating for a fairer Ireland’ He states that ‘In the six years since I started this novel, I’ve been heartened to see major shifts in Ireland for some of the movements that the characters in this novel engage with………I wouldn’t be able to write a story about fictional characters getting involved with campaigns for justice without real people doing the work to make change happen.’

Future Popes of Ireland takes the reader on a journey from 1979 to 2011, during years that saw seismic changes take place in Ireland. I am Catholic and I am Irish and I was also born in the (very) early 1970s, so reading this novel brought back so many memories, it was reliving parts of my teenage years all over again. The book is set primarily in Dublin and opens against the backdrop of Pope John Paul II’s visit to Ireland. I remember it well as I went with my family to witness this event in Limerick and can clearly recall the sheer volume of people and the feeling of immense awe as the Popemobile passed us by. Times were very different back then and Ireland was such a different country.

The book is centred around the Doyle family, in particular, the matriarch of the family, Granny ‘Bridget’ Doyle. A woman with a zealous religious passion, she understood the secret message Pope John Paul II wished to pass on.

‘The lad who would rise from the ranks of priests and bishops to assume the ultimate position in the Vatican would have to come from a new generation; the Popemobile had scarcely shut it’s doors before the race was on to conceive the first Irish Pope. First in line was Granny Doyle, armed with a tiny bottle of papal blessed holy water. The distance between Granny Doyle’s upheld bottle and the drops flying from the Pope’s aspergillum was no obstacle; this was not a day for doubt….’

Granny Doyle WILL have her Pope and he WILL be a Doyle. Nine months after the Pope’s visit, triplets are born to her son and his wife – Damien, Rosie and John Paul – but tragedy strikes when their mother dies giving birth. Their father is unable to cope with his grief, leaving the three babies in the care of Granny Doyle, a woman with her eye on the prize, a woman on a mission. There is also a small matter of five year old Peg, but as she is quite the independent young lady, Granny Doyle doesn’t show her much interest. Peg cannot be Pope so therefore Peg is left to fend for herself and also to assist with the babies when required. Granny Doyle was something of a tyrant with extremely strong views and with a very strong sense of what she felt was the right thing to do. John Paul became her favourite. He was the one who would take her to the Vatican, so growing up, he was allowed to take full advantage of this, making him a right scoundrel, a chancer, up for anything.

Future Popes of Ireland tracks the many paths that the siblings journey on. Their relationships with each other become quite dysfunctional over the years, as each follows a very different dream. With Peg moving to New York as soon as she was able, it is very easy to read between the lines and see what damage was caused to Peg’s mental health growing up in the Doyle household. For Rosie, Damien and John Paul life became a challenging adventure, negotiating the hardened beliefs held by their Granny while trying to find their own place in the world.

Darragh Martin writes with great humour about the social history of Ireland, cataloging the multiple changes that took place, both the positives and the negatives. There are way too many to comment on here but I have to mention the reference to Italia 90 – what Irish person over a certain age does not remember that? The excitement, the support of a nation, our heroes, our champions… I was in college at the time and I vividly recall the frenetic reaction these matches received. Ireland needed the boost and boy did we celebrate. It was completely nuts!!

‘The ball sailed through the air, finding it’s way to Niall Quinn’s head. Velocity took over as Quinn lunged his lanky body forwards, the ball whizzing past the outstretched hand of the Dutch goalie and bouncing into the back of the net…..the Irish saved from elimination’

Future Popes of Ireland is littered with moments that swept up the nation over these changing years. The Doyle family provide the backdrop for Darragh Martin, but it is the amount of research that was undertaken that really adds to the authenticity of their story. The chapters are choppy, switching back and forth over the years and the lives of the siblings, but this wasn’t an issue for me, due to the writing style of the author. Many topical issues are raised throughout such as abortion, contraception, gay rights, all documented against a society that carried extremely strong religious beliefs. Unbelievably though, at no point, as a reader, do you feel that Darragh Martin is imposing his own personal views or preaching to the masses. This is a ultimately a fictional story, the characters are not real. The author’s take on our history provides some very entertaining moments and most definitely brought a smile to my face, as old memories resurfaced.

Future Popes of Ireland is a very unique novel, with, as mentioned, incredible detail given of a nation’s social history. Quite a powerful book in many ways with some very poignant moments written with great humour and insight. This is a family saga, an Irish Family Saga, told with the wit and the black humour of one of it’s own.2 s LenA32

Jag gav upp efter 70 sidor, så jag borde kanske inte skriva ngn recension, men jag tror ändå att det här är en läsvärd bok. Jag läser böcker på engelska emellanåt men här var det för mkt jag inte förstod. Irländska uttryck, referenser o ordval som gjorde det svårt för mig att hänga med. Men tillräckligt intressant för att leta efter en svensk översättning o ge den en ny chans.2 s Jenny Cooke (Bookish Shenanigans)392 119

Really loved this!2 s SiobhanAuthor 3 books96

Future Popes of Ireland is a character-driven novel about the messiness of life and the way it unfolds, with a side helping of social relevance. Granny Doyle wants her family to produce the first Irish pope, but things don't go as planned, and she finds herself bringing up four grandchildren: five year old Peg and infant triplets Damian, Rosie, and John Paul. As they all grow up, things don't go as Granny Doyle planned, and soon the siblings are scattered. Peg left home as a teenager and is far away in New York now, Damian's musing political ideals and love whilst trying to tell his grandmother about his sexuality, Rosie is a dreaming activist who hopes of making her big sister confront the past, and John Paul has taken his pope role in a rather different direction than might have been hoped.

The narrative spans from 1979 to 2011, focusing on different siblings and their grandmother as their lives are weaved. Underpinning the story is the backdrop of Ireland and beyond: abortion and the 8th amendment, environmental issues, LGBT rights, war in the Middle East, and hope and despair in politics. This element gives the novel a relevant feel, rather than just being another novel focused on a family's messy personal drama. The characters are frustrating in a good way, flawed and foolish and unly to have a magical happy ending.

This is a novel that from the summary sounds a lot of other books out there, but it has a surprising spark in its relevance and its depiction of messy and not easily described human lives. Levels of ambiguity and unspoken facts give it narrative power, and it can be witty and heart-warming as well as cutting.2 s Orláith162 7

Okay, I have officially found my new favourite read of 2018.

Future Popes of Ireland by Darragh Martin is at once funny, sad, nostalgic and surprisingly politically current.

Each and every one of the Doyles is a character, some more able than others but each with a story that hooks you in.

The book is comprised of multiple short chapters, each covering a different event in one of the Doyle's lives but not always in chronological order. This sounds confusing but it honestly isn't. I found that reading the short snippets kept me wanting to keep reading, wanting to find out more.

Honestly, I know I'm going to find myself re-reading this one again very soon.

Thank you so much to 4th Estate Books for gifting me a free proof copy of Future Popes of Ireland.2 s Sarah368

Really enjoyed the way the story was told, jumping back and forth between characters and years. Thought all the characters were well developed and intriguing, would thoroughly recommend!2 s Jess28 1 follower

A manual on how to disappoint your grandparents. Perfect.2 s Renita D'SilvaAuthor 11 books344

Beautiful and big hearted2 s Claire753 5

I struggled with this book at first, the constant going back and forward in timelines was distracting and the descriptions of the childhood times were painfully familiar to read. After 30% the narrative got more interesting and less traumatic and I was gripped. More humour also began to appear and at times this book is incredibly funny and clever with the way it casts an eye over keys times in modern Irish history from the Pope and then Obama visiting Ireland and the Celtic tiger boom and crash. There is also an important sub plot about saving the environment in the face of rampant capitalism. The characters are well written and the challenges of sexuality both straight and gay as a country moves from being in the grip of the catholic church towards becoming more progressive are also explored with empathy and understanding. The book covers a lot of subjects and is quite ambitious in that respect, it is funny and absorbing but I do feel that we could have had less chopping back and forth in tiny chapters, for me the book worked better when we had more time in whichever era/character/location we were in. Although I did find some of the tiny chapters on various aspects of culture the Spice girls one entertaining. lgbt1 Jill712 20

The story of a grandma and her four grandchildren and how her vision for each child creates a pressure in the family that cannot help but explode. The blurb on the back makes an attempt at humor, but do not be deceived: This is Irish fiction with all its expected sadness and guilt and grudges.1 Dianne Landry1,031

Very disjointed and scattered. Couldn't get into it. DNF.1 Rachel (not currently receiving notifications) Hall1,047 85

Bittersweet family saga & social/political history of the last thirty years in Ireland. Very hit & miss.

Future Popes of Ireland is a bittersweet saga of a dysfunctional Irish family wrapped up with a political and social history of the last thirty years in Ireland. Opening with triumphant promise and the visit of Pope John Paul II to Phoenix Park in 1979 the story follows the four Doyle siblings throughout their chaotic Catholic upbringing with a devout grandmother and through individual and very different paths in life. Chronicling the changes in Ireland’s economic and political climate along with providing an engaging social commentary, the effort to reunite and reconcile a family that has fractured over the decades throughout the course of the novel chimes with the move to a more progressive shift in Irish attitudes that the more recent years reflect.

The story begins with indomitable matriarch and mother of Danny Doyle dragging her four-year-old granddaughter, Peg, to see Pope John Paul II’s arrival in Ireland and returning home with an instruction to her daughter-in-law to sprinkle some Papal-blessed holy water on the marital bed. For Bridget Doyle has a grand plan in mind and is determined that she will be the grandparent of the very first Irish Pope above any of her gossipy neighbours on Dunluce Crescent. But nine months later when Catherine dies in childbirth and Danny gives up on life, Granny Doyle is left bringing up newly arrived triplets (Damien, Rosie and favourite, John Paul) along with a neglected Peg who might as well be invisible for all the attention she gets. The story follows the broods turbulent relationship with Granny Doyle and the irrevocable split from not only their abrasive and stubborn Granny, but each other. Three decades later with Granny Doyle estranged from Peg now resident in New York, and an awkward memory for the triplets; gay Damien, dreamy eco-warrior Rosie and feckless lovable John Paul, their time to move beyond the unspoken Doyle history and confront the present is fast running out.

From Peg being thrown out on Dunluce Crescent as a pregnant teen and fleeing to London befoe New York, blue-haired radical Rosie turning her back on their home, Declan living in the closet and campaigning for the Green Party and John Paul doing his own line in Pope themed YouTube videos, none of the Doyle offspring are quite living up to their Granny’s exacting standards or about to enter the Vatican... But can one final push bring the Doyle clan back together and move past the years of hurt?

After getting off to a punchy and wryly amusing start and seeming a big-hearted and absorbing story of family dynamics I was disappointed with how the story tailed off and lost its momentum making for a uneven read and a far more politically and religiously detailed one than I had expected. Interestingly the part of the novel I enjoyed the most was the social history which reprises Ireland’s 1990 World Cup run, the craze of Riverdance, the advent of the Walkman, Furby mania and Nokia 3310 mobile phone revolution! Many of these moments are equally applicable whether of Irish or not, and the liberal sprinkling of humour (even if many of the jokes are about the outdated Catholic rites and traditions) I enjoyed the walk down memory lane aspect.

Whilst the characters were larger than life I felt there was little depth to them and Darragh Martin never really explored or scratched the surface of what made them tick. Together with a narrative that zig-zags back and forth between timelines, jumps between characters and assumes the reader has an familiarity and awareness of Catholicism and Irish politics I found the story became rather confusing and difficult to follow. Although further into the story the novel does give an extended focus on each character and settled down these sections were heavy going, especially in the case of Damien and the political focus. The character of John Paul seems to pinball from suicidal to ecstatic in the blink of an eye and veer from one extreme to another and I was disappointed that Martin also failed to broach his mental health turmoils yet explored gay fights and abortion in such depth.

The book will undoubtedly resonate more for those who have Irish and Catholic sympathies and as I am neither, I found the novel somewhat difficult to engage with. I came away from this novel feeling that perhaps author, Darragh Martin, aimed to do far too much and would perhaps have been more successful if he had focused on his characters and less on simply fitting them into their required roles within Ireland’s chronology.

With many thanks to TripFiction for supplying my copy of this novel as part of the #TFBookClub.1 Laura King186 28

I've already heard rave for this, personally I wasn't grabbed by it but the story is told in a cool way and it's definitely very relevant right now.1 Nathan357 2

Future Popes of Ireland is the story of three triplets and their older sister, which follows their stories as they grow in to adulthood during a time when Ireland and its people have become gradually more and more detached from the traditions of the Catholic church. I thought this was a fantastic book and ironically for a book with triplets, there were 3 things that I particularly enjoyed.
What I loved most about this book was how each of the siblings interacted with Granny Doyle (their grandmother and primary guardian for most of their childhoods). Granny Doyle represents the past - she’s a devout catholic who has dedicated her life to the church, and a very traditional thinker. Each of the children grow into people that live lifestyles that would not be considered in keeping with traditional catholic values. Damien is gay, Rosie is a political and ecological campaigner who doesn’t believe in marriage and has an abortion at a young age, John Paul is a petty criminal and ends up becoming a minor celebrity who satirises the Pope, and Peg has sex out of wedlock as a teenager, has an abortion and leaves the family for the US, never to return. While Granny Doyle clearly loves each of the children, it’s also clear that her religion, due to its rigidity and lack of compromise, often gets in the way of her love and relationships with each of the grandchildren, leading in fact to the dispersion of the family and the build up of resentment between pretty much all of them. While some people (particularly those with religious sensibilities) may dis the way in which Martin often paints religion as the stick in the mud, it’s also clear that there are also very subtle nods to the goodness of the church, or at least elements of it - the values of charity and community that are particularly displayed between the older ladies in the street. In this way it doesn’t become too preachy and one-sided.
The second aspect that I really loved was how the author developed very real characters with a believable family dynamic. If you’re going to write a novel about how the church needs to adapt to suit people, then the fictional people you write about need to seem as realistic as possible in order for that message to hit home, and Martin definitely triumphs in that regard.
Finally, I loved how well this book paints a picture of Ireland. I was lucky enough to spend a year living in Ireland recently and the subtle observations weaved in to this book are just fantastic. It really made me miss the place - observation at its very best!This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewown-read1 Jane Willis179 11

Triplets John Paul, Damien and Rosie and their older sister Peg are orphaned and brought up by their strict Irish Catholic Grandmother, who is convinced that John Paul is going to become the first Irish Pope.

All the children are, in their own way, disappointments to her and the different paths they take leaves relationships between them fractured, possibly irretrievably.

I thought this book was.... strange. Left me with very mixed feelings. I felt that all the characters were good, but the storyline was rather thin and the way it was told was very confusing. There were too many viewpoint characters for me, and the way the timeline veered backwards and forwards left me dizzy. Some of the very short chapters seemed unnecessary too, there wasn't enough in them to move the story forwards. The chapter titles, too, were puzzling, they seemed to be random words grabbed from the text.

Despite the rather disjointed feel of the book and the mind-boggling amount of alcohol consumed by the characters, there are some moments of absolutely brilliant writing in it. The part that really stood out for me was towards the end, when Granny Doyle is slipping away in hospital, and Damian visits her, when his ex-partner Mark arrives to show support at the difficult time. The conversation is uncomfortable and stilted, and yet throughout there is a commentary of the things that are left unspoken. It is a very moving moment in a book with is sometimes moving, sometimes witty and sometimes pretty much incomprehensible!1 Vera VB1,494 6

Bridget Granny Doyle wenst in 1979 bij het bezoek van Johannes Paulus II aan Ierland meer kleinkinderen. Haar zoon en schoondochter hebben op dat moment een dochter Peg. Haar wens komt in vervullen want negen maanden later wordt een drieling geboren. De geboorte is meteen ook de dood van de schoondochter die tijdens de bevalling overlijdt.
Wie Ierland zegt, denkt meteen aan een heel katholiek land waar abortus, voorbehoedsmiddelen, homoseksualiteit en seks voor het huwelijk taboe zijn en in veel gevallen niet alleen door de kerk, maar ook door de wet.
Het steng katholieke meandert heel de tijd door dit boek en is de oorzaak van veel van de dingen die gebeuren in het boek, oorzaak en miserie.
De drieling is erg verschillend, de karakters konden niet verder uit elkaar liggen. Damien is begaan met milieu, Rosie voert eigenlijk tegen zowat alles actie en Jean Paul is een etter, kan het niet anders zeggen. Als kind al moet hij alles saboteren, tegenwerken en er altijd zijn eigen voordeel uit proberen te halen. Toch is net hij de lieveling van Granny Doyle en kan hij in haar ogen niets verkeerd doen. Peg, de oudere dochter heeft het lastig met de drieling. Nadat ook nog de vader overlijdt, worden ze opgevoed door Granny Doyle die streng katholiek is.
Het boek neemt je mee doorheen de geschiedenis van Ierland naar de 21ste eeuw. De belangrijkste politieke en ecologische beslissingen worden via de familie Doyle verteld. Om het boek niet loodzwaar te maken bevat het humor en sarcasme, de enige manier om dat streng katholieke te overleven lijkt me.
De familie valt uit elkaar omdat er eigenlijk niet met elkaar gesproken wordt. Zo probeert Damien verschillende keren te vertellen dat hij homo is, maar hij krijgt de woorden niet gezegd tegen zijn Granny. Het is schrijnend, maar tegelijkertijd ook treffend voor de tijdsgeest in Ierland.

Het boek is geen vlotte lezing, maar wel interessant indien je ervoor open staat. Enige voorkennis van Ierland, de politiek en de economie is handig meegenomen.

literature Yv681 26

Darragh Martin zet met zijn debuut in de wereld van de boeken voor volwassenen een gedurfd boek neer. Hij haalt onderwerpen aan waar in het verleden flinke taboes op rustten. Homoseksualiteit, ongewenste zwangerschap, abortus, religie en drugs zijn enkele van deze onderwerpen.

Granny Doyle wil dat haar bloedlijn de eerste paus van Ierland ter wereld brengt. Wanneer haar schoondochter tijdens de geboorte van haar drieling overlijdt, wordt het Granny's taak om de zorg van deze kinderen te op zich te nemen. We volgen de drieling in een tijdsbestek van tientallen jaren en leren hierin hun problemen kennen.

Doordat het boek zich in een aantal decennia afspeelt, groei je als het ware mee in de opvattingen over de onderwerpen. Zo is abortus ondertussen een normaal iets, maar dat was het vroeger zeer zeker niet. Ook komt duidelijk naar voren hoe belangrijk kleine beslissingen kunnen zijn in het verdere verloop van een leven. In Future Popes maakt Granny Doyle vooral beslissingen die te maken hebben met religie, maar het zet je als lezer wel aan het denken. Want natuurlijk is religie niet de enige reden om bepaalde opvattingen te hebben.

De personages zijn sterk ontwikkeld en hebben elk hun eigen sores. Ze zijn levensecht: hebben goede en slechte kanten. De aangehaalde onderwerpen zijn gedurfd en worden op een fijne manier besproken. De auteur gebruikt humor en 'slang' in het boek, wat de zware onderwerpen wat luchtiger maakt.

Maar toch was niet genoeg. Ik werd teveel afgeleid door dingen waar ik totaal geen weet van heb en door deze afleiding kreeg ik nergens connectie met de personages. Ook kreeg ik de indruk dat Darragh er met regelmaat van uitging dat zijn lezers veel afweten van de geschiedenis van Ierland. Dat heb ik niet en hierdoor voelde het alsof ik achter de feiten aan liep. Dat leest gewoon niet ontspannend.

Future Popes of Ireland is zeer zeker geen slecht boek, maar wellicht een gevalletje 'te-ver-van-mijn-bed-show'. 2,5*. in-de-kast-gelezen Jola (czytanienaplatanie)726 20

Jak bardzo mog? ukszta?towa? nas oczekiwania naszych rodziców, czy najbli?szych? Czy marzenia babci Doyle, by jej wnuk zosta? pierwszym irlandzkim papie?em si? ziszcz?? Czy wystarczy pokropi? ?ó?ko wod? ?wi?con?, dziecku da? na imi? Jan Pawe?, a pó?niej ju? tylko wypatrywa? cudów?

W rodzinie Doyle’ów pojawiamy si? w 1979 roku w momencie gdy papie? Jan Pawe? II odwiedza Irlandi? inspiruj?c babci? Doyle. Jednak nie wszystko idzie zgodnie z za?o?eniami. Matka pi?cioletniej Peg umiera podczas porodu trojaczków, a ojciec popada w depresj? pozostawiaj?c dzieci pod opiek? babki.

Przeskakujemy do roku 2007. Co wydarzy?o si? w rodzinie Doyle’ów przez te wszystkie lata? Czy które? z wnucz?t spe?ni?o pok?adane w nim nadzieje? Stopniowo dowiadujemy si? jak potoczy?o si? ?ycie ka?dego z rodze?stwa. Zagl?damy we wspomnienia, z których uk?adamy obraz ich ?ycia. W przeb?yski z przesz?o?ci historii irlandzkiej rodziny, która do?wiadczy?a ich i ukszta?towa?a.

Peg odcina si? od rodziny wyje?d?aj?c do Nowego Jorku. Damien obawia si? wyzna? babce, ?e jest homoseksualist?. Rosie jest jednym wielkim protestem, anga?uj?c si? spo?ecznie. A parodii cudów odgrywanych przez Jana Paw?a przygl?da si? ca?y Youtube.

Gumka, która od pocz?tku mocno trzyma ich razem, z czasem rozci?ga si? tak bardzo, ?e latami nie maj? ze sob? kontaktu. Podj?te decyzje, wybory których dokonali, których za nich dokonano, to wszystko oddala ich od siebie. Czy uda im si? ponownie zbli?y?, czy b?d? umieli si? razem ?mia??

T?em rodzinnych perypetii s? zmiany spo?eczne w Irlandii, kszta?towanie pogl?dów spo?ecze?stwa na tematy kontrowersyjne zwi?zane z ko?cio?em, antykoncepcj?, aborcj?. Humor i ironia czyni? ?atwiejsz? konsumpcj? tematów ci??kich gatunkowo, daj?cych pole do rozmy?la? i refleksji nad kierunkiem zmian spo?ecznych nie tylko w Irlandii. Bardzo warto?ciowa i oryginalnie napisana ksi??ka, powinno by? o niej g?o?no.
Sam232 1 follower

Future Popes of Ireland is a social history of Ireland through the eyes of the Doyle Family. From Popemania in 1979, through liberalising of attitudes around abortion and contraception, to the Celtic Tiger property boom. To the outside observer, Ireland has very conservative and closeted values. It is no place to be gay, or pregnant outside of marriage. It is no place to be anti-corporate, or environmentally aware. All of that is a challenge to the Doyle Family. Granny Doyle may have 16th Century standards, but her feminist, gay, sister Mary is way ahead of her time.
The novel is also a dark fairy tale. Granny Doyle (let's face it, a tyrannical hag), is the wicked witch. She believes her useless son Danny and his wife Catherine can produce the first Irish Pope. To help them along, she curses their bed with holy water. Catastrophe strikes. Catherine dies in childbirth having triplets and Danny takes to his bed. So begins a generation of aggressive neglect. This is a cautionary tale for parents who have a favourite child.
There are four, unfortunate, children, but Granny only has time to enable John Paul, a fiend in human form. Nothing is ever his fault, despite his thieving, violence and extreme bigotry. He thinks he is a lovable chancer, but you long for him to be struck down with a thunderbolt. He has no redeeming features. Rosie is a dreamer who wants to save the world from big oil. Damien cannot cope with his desire for men. Poor Peg never gets the time of day, until she gets banished for getting pregnant in the most humiliating circumstances.
Eventually, Ireland becomes an easier place to live in, but is it enough for the Doyle family, who have lived without love for so long?
Marie (UK)3,263 50

This book begins with the Papal visit of John Paul II to ireland and Bridget Doyle's decision that she must be the grandmother of the "future pope of Ireland". Thanks to Some Papal holy water her wish is about to become true as her daughter-in-law gives birth to triplets but does not live to raise them. Damien, Rosie and John Paul along with their elder sister Peg are all raise by grandma. Incidents in their childhood set child against child and John-Pauls "miracles" into family history. Dysfunctional but indicative of an Ireland trying to drag itself into the 20th century the narrative is by turns, humorous, heart-rending and Endearing. Nobody emerges unscathed yet there are plenty of moments to laugh and enjoy the "craic" along the way. The biggest problem with this book is its meandering narrative moving backwards and forwards in time so that the reader's head swims trying to keep it all in order. However the characters are larger than life and fully identifiable with and the storyline well worth the read.2018-reading-challenge Rohase PiercyAuthor 8 books53

This is a great book, documenting the turbulent times Ireland's been through from the visit of Pope John Paul II in 1979 to more or less the present day through the eyes of the Doyle children and the grandmother who brought them up. The children are quiet, studious Peg and her younger siblings, the triplets Damien, Rosie and John Paul (apple of his grandmother's eye and possible future Pope). The subjects of religion (of course!), Irish legend, Green politics, boom and bust, and the especially thorny issues of contraception, abortion, historical sexual abuse within the Church and gay marriage are all encountered by the characters in various different ways, and the style is by turns witty, satirical, beautiful and full of pathos. So why have I only given three stars? Because at times the narrative does tend to drag, and I found the constant switching between timelines-within-character-stories, and character-stories-within-timelines a leetle confusing. However it's a moving and relevant story cleverly told and will be enjoyed by anyone with Irish or Catholic sympathies! Lisa Bentley1,339 21

Autor del comentario:
=================================