Product Description
Irish Gangs and Stick-Fighting In The Works of William Carleton, is a collection of stories about Irish stick-fighters, written in the 19th century, by the Irish author William Carleton. Carleton was an Irish stick-fighter himself, and this is the first time that all of his tales about stick-fighting have been collected in a single volume. The stories provide many details about Irish methods of fighting in the 19th century, and great insights into the fighting culture and code - what I call the "Shillelagh Law" - which guided the lives of Irish fighting men, throughout the 18th and 19th centuries. Four hundred endnotes, meticulously researched, explain the 19th century Irish, and Hiberno-English terms, used by Carleton throughout the text.

Carleton himself, was an Irish-speaking stick-fighter, who trained and fought as a stick-fighter for much of his early life. That his neighbors, friends and family members continued to do so long after his move to Dublin is evident in The Party Fight and Funeral. Carleton never wrote from a distance, but always from autobiographical material, especially in his earliest short stories like the ones in this volume, and this is further confirmation of the historical accuracy and authenticity of the Irish stick-fighting traditions documented in his works.

"The Battle Of The Factions" tells the story of two feuding Irish clans, the O´Callaghans and the O´Hallaghans, as told by a member of the O’Callaghan family; it has a Romeo and Juliet sub-plot. Neal Malone, the tailor of the O´Callaghan faction in The Battle Of The Factions, is the main character in the comedic, "Neal Malone", the story of a diminutive and heroic fighting tailor. Neal - who wants nothing more than to fight and prove his mettle - is forced to solve the conundrum of getting himself involved in a fight when he is so well liked, even by his enemies, that he cannot find anyone who will fight him. In "The Party Fight And Funeral", a man returns to the village of his youth, only to find that one of his childhood friends has been killed in one of the huge Party Fights which were common in early 19th century Ireland. This sets the stage for numerous anecdotes - some amusing, most incredibly tragic. "The Dead Boxer" is actually a novella set in the 18th century, which involves an Irish stick-fighter and pugilist with a powerful punch, his girlfriend, (who is a member of an enemy Faction - another Romeo and Juliet sub-plot), and a pugilist with a deadly knock-out punch, who seems to make a living extorting money out of the burghers of various towns in Ireland.

All of the tales contained some footnotes explaining Irish words and Hiberno-Irish expressions. The author has expanded on these wherever possible, creating in his endnotes, a glossary of Irish terms from the 19th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

einwandfrei

Obwohl dieses Buch wirklich nur etwas für Kenner der Materie ist, ist die Lektüre sowohl spannend als auch informativ. Man fühlt sich geradezu in die Hochzeit der irischen Gangs hinein versetzt. Es dürfte auch für den durchschnittlichen Budoka als Quelle interessant sein, wie es in realen Kämpfen wirklich zugeht.
Ich kann dieses Werk nur empfehlen.

really fun read.
Very enjoyable book. great stories, just really fun to read. I noticed though that the folks in the stories almost always carry oak instead of blackthorn,interesting.

The More Things Change...
In the early 19th century, an impoverished Gaelic speaking author named Liam O'Cathalain Anglicised his name to William Carleton, and began publishing short stories in English. A former gang member from the farming villages of what is now Northern Ireland, he wrote about the world he knew, and as a result many of his stories are imbued with the same anti-gang message as your stereotypical movie set in the inner city. His stories tell very much about why young Irish men joined gangs or "factions" as they were called. If a young Irish peasant was a faction member, the landlord and his agents would think twice about evicting him, his family, or his friends. If they insisted, the landlord and his agents would likely end up dead. However, the factions spent more time fighting amoung themselves than taking on the system. In the story "Neal Malone," a doughty, but short, tailor has his desire to make his bones on the gang scene shattered after he marries the nastiest shrew in the parish. In "The Battle of the Factions," the love between an Irish Romeo and Juliet is nowhere near enough to end the pathological hatred that exists between two gangs. Editor John W. Hurley has provided copious notes, which I was very grateful for, as otherwise I would have had a very difficult time the dialogue of the stories, a dialect birthed by the shotgun-marriage between the English and Gaelic tongues. In closing, I have to say that I am very grateful both to Mr. Carleton for writing these tales and to Mr. Hurley for finally reissuing them. For this they both deserve a round of applause.

A great book of Irish tales, stories of great shillelagh fights
In my own humble and (admittedly) Irish opinion, this is a great collection of stories by a 19th century Irishman who grew up in the older Irish ways yet was educated in the English ways.Thus, you have a group of stories that the man could have written in Irish but in order to sell the stories at all had to write in English.Carleton is writing during an interesting period, when many of the Irish people still spoke Irish! Yet English was gaining as the dominant language, and when a language passes much culture is lost along with it.Carleton bridges an important gap, and his stories are both important and interesting for that reason.
Hurley published these stories as examples of a dying warrior culture on the brink of passing, for the purpose of revealing real Irish stick-fighting, and it is clearly shown.It does not elaborate on techniques of fighting, but there are passsages that deal with how shillelaghs were treated and hardened for use.Carleton's intention was to write good uniquely Irish tales about great clan fights, and to show the Irish spirit.This book shows all of this.

An excellent introduction to Irish martial arts
Before you see Martin Scorcese's film 'Gangs Of New York', read John W. Hurley's book 'Irish Gangs And Stick-Fighting'. Scorcese's film is based on the first half of the book'The Gangs Of New York' which deals exclusively with Irish gangs. And while it's flashy and exotic, there isn't much substance in the original book; it doesn't explain the traditions of the Irish gangs or the famous Irish shillelagh, it simply describes them in a sensational way. Hurley's book remedies this problem. It provides first hand accounts of Irish gangs and fights, written by a 'reformed' Irish stick-fighter, and vividly describes Ireland's fighting culture which was goverened by a code of honour which Hurley rightly calls 'Shillelagh Law'. If you are Irish or have an interest in Irish gangs, Irish boxing, the shillelagh, or Scorcese's film, you will really enjoy this book - I highly recommend it. ... Read more

Product Description
This collection presents the finest English literature from the Middle Ages through the twentieth century, with introductory matter and authoritative annotation.Almost three hudnred illustrations show the relationship between images in language and in pictures.In addition to the two volume set, it is also available in six paperbound volues covering major periods. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (6)

As expected
I paid a good price for it and I got it in the conditions I expected it to be. It also arrived on time. Lastly, I was able to sell it once I finished my summer course for a good price.

The best of all possible English Literature anthologies.
I have loved my Norton Anthology for over twenty five years, but the great wealth of editorial commentary in this, the Oxford Anthology of English Literature outdoes even the Norton.This book is a treasure.

Excellent anthology
Excellent anthology, outstanding choice. Good value for the money (for once) in classical English literature. I find most Oxford books to be very overpriced. Not this. Very well thought out.

The Oxford Anthology of English Literature: Vol. VI: Modern British Literature
I'm very happy with this book because it is much cheaper than any other places and the condition is still very good.

Stranded On A Desert Island? Take These 2 Volumes Along!
Someone once asked me, if I were stranded on a desert island, and could have one book with me, which would I choose? Easy answer - "The Oxford Anthology of English Literature." Actually, it's a two volume set - but I am designating the two volumes as one book, for desert island convenience.

This extraordinary 4,500 page collection contains Great Britain's finest literature from the Middle Ages through the 20th century. Included are selections from "Beowulf," Chaucer's "The Canterbury Tales," works by Spenser (excerpts from all books of "The Faerie Queene"), Sir Thomas Malory, Shakespeare (including "The Tempest'), Marlowe ("Dr. Faustus," "Hero and Leander"), John Donne, and Milton. There are over 100 pages devoted to William Blake, including "The Book of Thel," and the entire "Night the Ninth" from "The Four Zoas." It also contains poems and prose by Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Byron. And this is just a small sample.

In addition to the general editors Frank Kermode and John Hollander, the anthology has been edited and annotated by Harold Bloom, Martin Price, J.B. Trapp, and Lionel Trilling. The editors contribute brief period introductions, biographical and critical pieces for major authors, and essays preceding the major selections.

There are almost 300 wonderful illustrations included in the collection, representing important artists and their works for each period, that demonstrate the relationship between literary and visual images.

I have read through this wonderful anthology many times over the years, and never fail to learn something new, something to excite my imagination, with each reading. Highest Kudos!
JANA ... Read more

Product Description
First written down in the eighth century AD, these early Irish stories depict a far older world part myth, part legend and part history. Rich with magic and achingly beautiful, they speak of a land of heroic battles, intense love and warrior ideals, in which the otherworld is explored and men mingle freely with the gods. From the vivid adventures of the great Celtic hero Cu Chulaind, to the stunning Exile of the Sons of Uisliu' a tale of treachery, honour and romance these are masterpieces of passion and vitality, and form the foundation for the Irish literary tradition: a mythic legacy that was a powerful influence on the work of Yeats, Synge and Joyce. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (11)

Informative, in a textbook way.
Not as much flair for the dramatic as I expected, but does line out certain figures in Irish mythology quite nicely.

Short but valuable
This book contains a good selection of stories, focusing on the Ulster Cycle (the cycle centering on the exploits of Cu Chulainn), though the first story is from the Mythological Cycle. Great care was given to the selection of stories, and the translations are very vivid.Very often times, the general devices are captured, as is shown in the tale of the Destruction of Da Derga's Hostal (question, answer beginning with "that is not hard" or occasionally "that is hard").Many renditions do not include this sort of narrative device, and its inclusion here is appreciated.

Commentary is minimal which is appropriate for a work like this.

The book contains a great deal of source material for mythological studies generally.While it certainly should not be the only book on the subject, it should be in every serious student's library.

Highly recommended.

Irish Myths and Sagas
A nice collection of all the old Irish myths and ballads, especially those of Chu Chulainn and his various heroic exploits.Gives an intriguing glimpse into the culture and times of the pre-Roman, pre-Christian Irish Gaelic people.

satified
I needed this book for an adult ed course. Opened a new door in literature

Best of its kind for its size
There are a lot of books out there that contain sections and retellings of early Irish myths. Most of them are more expensive and have far less material in them. This is a very good collection at an excellent price and is a great place to start for folks who are newly interested in the field. Gantz is a well-respected scholar and the pieces and translations chosen are very good for giving you a feel of the variety of material out there. ... Read more

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This book identifies the origin, the development and, ultimately, the success of the Irish literary tradition in English as one of the first literatures that is both national and colonial. It demonstrates the remarkable relationships between works as diverse as Joyce's Dubliners and Bram Stoker's Dracula, and the worlds of the French Revolution and the Irish famine. Deane also shows how almost all the activities of Irish print culture--novels, songs, typefaces, historical analyses, poems--struggle within the limits imposed by its inheritance. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Articulate, knotty, elliptical.
A densely written work, brimming with an almost Jesuit obsession with intellectual precision. It certainly illuminates aspects of the literature it refers to, but it tends to favour its own theoretical matrix (as does so much contemporary theory). Worth the effort to read, but one can't help feeling that Heaney says as much in more accessible terms. ... Read more

Product Description
In 1898, documentary footage of a yacht race was shot by Robert A. Mitchell, making him the first Irishman to shoot a film within Ireland. Despite early exposure to the filmmaking process, Ireland did not develop a regular film industry until the late 1910s when James Mark Sullivan established the Film Company of Ireland. Since that time, Ireland has played host to many famous films about the country_Man of Aran, The Quiet Man, The Crying Game, My Left Foot, and Bloody Sunday_as well as others not about the country_Braveheart and Saving Private Ryan. It has also produced great directors such as Neil Jordan and Jim Sheridan, as well as throngs of exceptional actors and actresses: Colin Farrel, Colm Meaney, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson, Maureen O'Hara, and Peter O'Toole.The Historical Dictionary of Irish Cinema provides essential facts on the history of Irish cinema through a list of acronyms and abbreviation; a chronology; an introduction; a bibliography; and hundreds of cross-referenced dictionary entries on the pioneers and current leaders in the industry, the actors, directors, distributors, exhibitors, schools, arts centers, the government bodies and some of the legislation they passed, and the films. ... Read more

Product Description
A Companion to the British and Irish Short Story provides a comprehensive treatment of short fiction writing and chronicles its development in Britain and Ireland from 1880 to the present.

• Provides a comprehensive treatment of the short story in Britain and Ireland as it developed over the period 1880 to the present
• Includes essays on topics and genres, as well as on individual texts and authors
• Comprises chapters on women’s writing, Irish fiction, gay and lesbian writing, and short fiction by immigrants to Britain

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Offering readers key women's writings from the eighth century to the present, this global and multicultural anthology includes selections written in English by women from Great Britain and the U.S. as well as Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, Croatia, Ghana, India, New Zealand, Nigeria, South Africa.Organized thematically, the anthology emphasizes five important topics for women writers finding a voice, writing the body, rethinking the maternal, identity and difference, and resistance and transformation. Pivotal works of feminist theory by Woolf, Cixous, Showalter, hooks, Trinh, and others are also included.For those interested in women's literature. ... Read more

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The traditional folklore tales of Ireland involving the supernatural and the fantastic have had a profound influence on the shaping of the country and on Irish literature. No other country has produced so many famous authors whose work has reflected those influences. These themes were the subject of a symposium held in May 1998 at the Princess Grace Irish Library. The papers from this symposium are published in these two volumes. ... Read more

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This index is intended primarily for the use of students of folklore and custom and of comparative literature. To this end, the references to early Irish or Hiberno-Latin sources are frequently supplemented by references to modern scholarly works in which motifs found in Celtic are cited for purposes of comparative study in various fields of literary or cultural history, such as mediaeval romance. A few references to early Welsh documents have also been added, and, though no effort has been made to cover modern Irish folklore, scattered references to that field have also been inserted. To insure as wide usefulness as possible, preference is given to translations contained in books of relatively easy accessibility, and more than one reference is frequently given to different translations of a single motif.-- from the Preface

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Though best known as the author of a series of brilliant novels, here Higgins turns his writerly gifts to work for the radio. This collection includes ten plays broadcast in England and Ireland between 1973 and 1990, which have had a significant influence both on Higgins's later fiction and on the medium itself. Higgins himself refers to Darkling Plain: Texts for the Air as his last great unpublished work, making it a landmark in the career of one of the finest writers working in the English language today. ... Read more

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Irish literature after Yeats and Joyce, from the 1920s onwards, includes texts that have been the subject of much contention. For a start, how should Irish literature be defined: as works which have been written in Irish or as works written in English by the Irish? It is a period in which ideas of Ireland--of people, community, and nation--have been both created and reflected, and in which conceptions of a distinct Irish identity have been articulated, defended, and challenged; a period which has its origins in a time of intense political turmoil. Corcoran focuses his chapters on various themes such as "the Big House," and the rural and the provincial and offers discussions of authors ranging from Kinsella and Beckett to William Trevor, Seamus Heaney, and Mary Lavin, to provide a lucid and far-reaching introduction to modern Irish writing. ... Read more

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" In a 1984 lecture on poetry and political violence, Seamus Heaney remarked that ""the idea of poetry was itself that higher ideal to which the poets had unconsciously turned in order to survive the demeaning conditions."" Jonathan Hufstader examines the work of Heaney and his contemporaries to discover how poems, combining conscious technique with unconscious impulse, work as aesthetic forms and as strategies for emotional survival. In his powerful study Hufstader shows how a number of contemporary Northern Irish poets, including Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Michael Longley, Paul Muldoon, Tom Paulin, Ciarán Carson and Medbh McGuckian, explore the resources of language and poetic form in their various responses to cultural conflict and political violence. Focusing on both style and social contexts, Hufstader explores the tension between solidarity and art, between the poet's need to belong and to rebel. He believes that an understanding of the power of lyric points towards an understanding of the source of social violence, and of its cessation.