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Title: Ghosts and Lightning

Author: Trevor Byrne

Narrator: John Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-19-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Set in contemporary Dublin and the surrounding countryside, Ghosts and Lightning is a picaresque account of Denny Cullen's life after he is called back home to attend his mother's funeral. Denny - a sweet-natured but disillusioned young man who feels powerless in the face of death, dope, and the dole queue - is the steadiest in a cast of unstable characters. Denny and his lads fill their empty days with hooliganism, raucous parties, violence, and even an exorcism, but their fearlessness and humor make them as irresistible as an expertly pulled pint of Guinness.

Members Reviews:

What a dirty place Ireland must be

First of all this is a terrific read with characters I missed once I'd finished the book. Martin Heidegger says that in a true work of art the "world worlds." Byrne's world truly comes alive here and sucks you in. But it surely is not all roses here. I had to go and pop my copy of ONCE in the DVD player to assure myself Dublin was not at all as ugly as it seems here. And I do not think I have ever read a book with as many four letter words per line as this one.

Still, I would read this author's next book. And having read Joyce in Grad School (Ulysses) I did get that same feeling reading Byrne: here is an immensely talented Irish writer at work.

As a former New Yorker I have to say this paints a picture of Dublin as a sort-of South Bronx. A friend once told me that the Irish are really nasty at heart--not nice at all, and this book does reinforce that belief. In fact, after reading it I feel much less inclined to ever visit Ireland. I remember an episode of Rick Steve's Europe where he is in an Irish village and he says to park in the pay lot so your car will still be there when you get back. Many of the characters in this book are the people you'd want to protect your car from. But the main character, Denny, is likeable enough to lend your car. But to go from a review to a critique I do wish others had made more of his one act of bravery. And I wish the author had described exactly what had been done to the persons or person he needed to be brave with. Enough said. Read the thing you'll enjoy it.

"It all meant this": modern Dublin coming of age, delayed

This "spirited" shaggy-dog tale takes its time. Storytelling's central, even if episodes wander genially. Denny's a nonchalant narrator, conveying drug-dealing, score-setting, and a gradual coming-of-age-- however delayed-- on downscale Dublin's fringes. Denny drifts, estranged from his home where his brother charges the rest of the family rent after the death of their mother.

His home turf of Clondalkin, once a pretty village, gets sucked into Dublin's "giant smoky gob." Heritage dwindles. The Salmon of Knowledge of Irish myth converts into Fishsticks. The Hellfire Club site in the mountains south of the city conjures up a history of those who wondered the same thoughts about what lies beyond, they find.

A Neil Jordan film, pro wrestling videos, "The Simpsons," and PlayStations serve as memory for Denny.