World Famous Comics: Oh, Play That Thing (Last Roundup)
Oh, Play That Thing (Last Roundup)
By: Roddy Doyle Publisher: Viking Adult Average Rating: Binding: Hardcover Label: Viking Adult Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 384 Publication Date: November 04, 2004 Release Date: November 04, 2004
Book Description: Henry Smart is on the run. Fleeing from his Republican paymasters, the men for whom he committed murder and mayhem, he has left behind his wife, Miss O'Shea, in a Dublin jail, and his infant daughter. When he lands in America, it's 1924, and New York is the center of the universe. Henry, ever resourceful, a pearl gray fedora parked on his head, has a sandwich board and a hidden stash of hooch for the speakeasies of the Lower East Side. When he starts hiring kids to carry boards for him, he catches the attention of the mobsters who run the district. It is time to leave, for another, newer America.
In Chicago there is no past waiting to jump on Henry. Music is everywhere, in the streets, in nightclubs, on phonograph records: furious, wild, happy music played by a man with a trumpet and bleeding lips called Louis Armstrong. But Armstrong is a prisoner of his color, and the mob is in Chicago too: they own every stage—and they own the man up on the stage. Armstrong needs a man, a white man, and the man he chooses is Henry Smart.
In Oh, Play That Thing, Roddy Doyle once again gives us a prodigious, energetic, sexy novel, rich with language and music and, as Henry makes his way across America, teeming with surprises. It is both a saga unto itself—full of epic adventures, breathless escapes, and star- crossed love—and a magnificent follow-up to A Star Called Henry.
Rhythm is Important I purchased this book on the recommendation of another author (in her review of her book she said her writing was influenced by the author). "Oh, Play that Thing" takes place in the 20's and through the dust bowl disaster, The main character is a savvy Irish immigrant who has landed at Ellis Island to start a new life in NYC.
The author's way of writing is like a stream of thoughts and words. Reading the first few pages, I wasn't sure I liked the book, but as I got into the head and life of the Irish man, I got into the rhythm of his thoughts and the way the writing in the book worked so well.
I found the story fascinating and the beat of time and his life very hypnotizing. How Roddy Doyle, the author, manages to insert a famous celebrity into the mix and engage you in the story is entirely successful, and I couldn't put it down.
WHERE WAS DOYLE'S EDITOR??? It's hard to imagine Roddy Doyle followed up a book as wonderfully rich and entertaining as A STAR CALLED HENRY with the flop OH, PLAY THAT THING.
Where was Doyle's editor???
In A STAR CALLED HENRY, Doyle took the reader on an action-packed ride through turn-of-the-century Ireland with Henry Smart - a hero as incorrigibly loveable as any you'll meet. But in this sequel, where Henry escapes to America and finds himself in trouble with the mob, Doyle's writing suffers from three serious problems: confusing writing, boring plot, and shallow hero.
My first criticism: The writing is overly tangential and difficult to follow. I found myself re-reading page after page, wracking my brains trying to understand what the heck was going on and continually wondering whether I'd missed something. I kept at it, hoping to discover a gem hidden in all the confusion. But I'm a die-hard reader; I seriously doubt many others will try as hard to make sense of prose that comes across as lazy rather than worthwhile.
My second criticism: The story goes nowhere. A summary of this book is as simple as this: Henry Smart's on the run again and again because he keeps pissing off the mob. And then there's the almost magical coincidences Doyle tries to pull off - i.,e., out of all the houses in Chicago Henry might rob, he breaks into the one house where his wife (who he thinks is still in Ireland) is working as a maid. And if that's not enough, after Henry is treated to coinsidences so unbelievable the reader is left groaning at the absurdity, the guy squanders each and every one of them.
My third criticism: Henry Smart's character is flat. While the first intallment (A STAR CALLED HENRY) treats the reader to a hero who's as loveable and exciting as any you'll come across, in OH, PLAY THAT THING Doyle squanders each and every ounce of Henry's charisma. Henry's choices and motives don't make sense anymore, and he comes across here as stagnant and shallow. Early in the book, because of Henry's arrogance and greed, he makes enemies with the mob. For the remainder of the book Henry's character goes nowhere. He runs from city to city making the same mistakes over and over again, never seeming to learn a thing about himself. Henry's character never grows.
What makes all these problems so sad is the obvious effort Doyle put into writing OH, PLAY THAT THING. The book is infused with well-researched 1920's American culture. Along the way, Henry meets up with and befriends Louis Armstrong - and Doyle's enthusiasm and passion for music shines through here. Hands down, Louis Armstrong steals the show - Doyle infused his character with all the depth, passion and steam missing from Henry's.
I kept reading this book, hoping if I sifted through the confusing writing and slow story I'd uncover a gem. I never did.
Skilled writer but poor novel After reading both Henry Smart books, I think Doyle possesses great skill to write but fails to deliver an acceptable novel. Oh, Play that Thing has moments that display his eloquence and prose that could lead to a 5-star book. But he fails to put it all together to form a traditional novel with the important features of plot, climax, character development and theme that appeal to readers.
Doyle's characters are morally bankrupt, flaky, and create no connection to readers who will not be able to develop empathy for them. Further, the scenes and timeline are difficult to follow. I think that I am a seasoned reader but at times I did not know what was going on in the story.
Yet, Doyle's skill was enough for me to at least stay with the book and finish it. If you have not read "A Star Called Henry," the previous Henry Smart book, I would advise you to stay away from both it and this one. If you read the prior book and have an interest in Smart, you may be interested in this book. Doyle does provide a glimpse of prohibition America that is interesting though I don't know how accurate it is. He lists numerous books on the age that were helpful to him, so I assume it is. Likewise with the character of Louis Armstrong in the book.
Hated It! The first book was not great, but at least good. This is so dreadful that I couldn't even make it through it. Nonsensical plot, Non-existent plot, Nothing plot. Those terms all describe this one. This isn't worth reading; whether you've read the first one or not. Doyle can be so much better than this!!!
Oh, say it ain't so! I was mesmerized by A Star Called Henry, so I expected the same passionate, magical, heartbreaking storytelling with Oh, Play That Thing. Instead, I found myself disconnected, confused, incredulous, and downright disappointed much of the time.
The writing itself is incredible, and Henry is still the hero who alternately flutters and tears apart your heart, but the plot is just about impossible to follow - or believe. Henry goes from one over-the-top situation to the next, and the coincidences leave you scratching your head. And his incredible, complicated, timeless love for his wife - which drove the plot and the pace of the first novel - takes the backseat much of the time. Yes, Henry is far away and yes, he is a Casanova with an unquenchable thirst, but he conveniently leaves all that passion and pain behind, save for the occasional line or two that Roddy Doyle seems to offer up to forgive Henry's forgetting.
In the end, I felt like I'd missed half the points the novel was trying to make, and Henry Smart became more of a cheap pawn than a complex character. He became a whole new, impossible-to-believe character, with barely a link to the boy we first met. I can't imagine where the next novel will take us, although it looks like Henry will see his name in lights after all. I'd trade in all that flash for one more dirty, gritty story of the real MacCoy.
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