THE WORD FOR YES

TITLE: THE WORD FOR YES
AUTHOR: TOM MAC INTYRE
Pages: 36
Date: 27/10/2010
Grade: 2.5
Details: First five stories in the book read for book club meeting
Library

I should probably start this review by stating that I'm not a short story reader. I like my stories long, full of detail and character development. Short stories, regardless of who has written them or what they are about, always leave me feeling short changed.

These short stories were worse than most though. I'm not sure if that is because there wasn't any rhyme or reason to them, because I'm not Irish or because they just went way over my head. I do know that I've absolutely no idea what the author was trying to tell me in any of these stories.

I only read the first five stories in this book, the stories taken from "Dance the Dance" and I have to say that by the time I had read the 36 pages they covered, I was relieved I didn't have to read on.
I don't think I'll be returning to Tom Mac Intyre's writing any time soon, if ever.  

For what it's worth, here is what I did manage to make of the stories I read:
Stallions: A young boy watches a stallion mounting mares, fascinated and excited, until his mother puts a stop to it.
The Great Sword: A stranger, Syl Jameson, rides into town on his "autocycle" like "Jesus on a motorcycle", angers the priest and mesmerises the boy before he disappears again.
Willy Wynne, Con Moto: A minor uprising in the local cinema where the classes are strictly separated. When a young man, Willy, in the richer seats starts whistling along with the movie music, the "masses" follow.
Gunning's Word: A word, sentence, spoken in anger (or jest?) may well end up sending a sober man to an early grave.
An Aspect of the Rising: A whore shouts abuse at De Valera's presidential residence before the man gets what he thought he was brought to the location for in the first place.