Irvine Welsh's 'Trainspotting'

The short stories of Ireland are distinct and many times distinctly Irish. “The Limerick Gloves” by Maria Edgeworth, “The Pedlar’s Revenge” by Liam O’Flaherty, “The Poteen Maker” by Michael McLaverty, and “Loser” Val Mulkerns are each distinct Irish short stories that deal with Irish topics in original ways. These stories are stylistically and thematically Irish. They are moralistic and offer clear themes that pertain to Irish values. This analysis will explore the Irish-ness of the works and explore their meaning when held against Irish literary tenants.

In his latest novel, Jasper Jones (2009), Craig Silvey uses syntax, visual and olfactory imagery, personification and symbolism to describe the inside of Mad Jack Lionel’s dingy house, creating a sinister, gloomy and malicious mood. As this setting is observed through the youthful eyes of the Bildungsroman novel’s narrator, Charlie Bucktin, you receive the eye-opening thoughts and perceptions of a child combined with Silvey’s precisely crafted language, producing an impactful and evocative passage.

This book gets you hooked, with such a thrilling first chapter. With characters like Charlie Bucktin and Jeffery Lu you will be laughing at their friendly banter and relating to the characters as if you were them. As Australia is such a diverse country with many different cultures. The reader will find a character that they can relate to. This book is great for teenagers looking for a murderous adventure, facing difficult situations. Racial prejudice is an issue in this book, with such a radical theme it’s sure to make you think twice about your own life situations and how you would or relate to the issues within the book. As quoted by the AUSTRALIAN WOMENS WEEKLY: “…impossible to put down…There’s tension, injustice, young love, hypocrisy… and, above all, the certainty that Silvey has planted himself in the landscape as one of our finest storytellers.’ What an incredible read “Jasper Jones” is, it encourages teenage readers to start reading more by relating to them with issues happening in their own day to day life like culture, bullying, racial discrimination, teenage suicide and keeping

Steven Herricks ‘By the River’ novel articulates the adversities of a young teenage boy’s life. The protagonist Harry Hobdy. The innovating story is established in 1960’s Queensland when Harry has to become familiar with the hardships he will endure throughout his adolescence. Herrick signifies the effect of people and family, and how it forms Harry’s identity and sense of belonging. Herrick endorses this by using examples of how friendships, family and key events in Harry’s life can result in decisions made, and shaping him into who he is. To convey these themes Herrick uses multiple techniques such as imaginary, repetition, personification and positive and negative influence throughout the text.

Having heard so much hype about the book from its description and early reviews, and taking into consideration my love for the circus, I was convinced I had bagged myself an exciting page-turning read. Wasn’t I in for a shock! Granted, I valiantly kept turning pages, but only in the hope that the anticipated excitement would soon begin! Meanwhile, I had to struggle through prevalent decadence and despondency in the book. This left me with an ambivalent feeling about the book, as most of it was a drunken mayhem. The two main characters consistently ruined opportunity after opportunity, often endangering their own lives and other people’s as well. The book dwelt too much on the decadence, almost to the point of exalting it. In fact, when a change came, its impact left my mind almost immediately, especially with the abrupt ending of the book. The decadence, however, is what lingered

Compare the ways Steven King in The Shining and William Friedkin in The Exorcist use techniques to create suspense.

The book is a marvelous read for young adults all over the world. First of all, the book allows for visualization and imagination for scenes and characters. An example is imagining what it would be like to be jumped like Johnny. Likewise, Hinton’s writing style makes the story enjoyable to read. Hinton uses cliffhangers to get the reader to turn the page. Most importantly, the book goes into detail and is very descriptive. The characters get detailed descriptions in beginning of the book. For young adults The Outsiders is a splendid book to

In Michael Crichton’s The Great Train Robbery, gentleman burglar Edward Pierce organizes a gold heist. He has the opportunity and means to commit the crime, but his motive is never explicitly revealed. Crichton indicates that Pierce’s motive sprouts not from greed nor necessity. Instead, Pierce commits the crime because he is obsessed with manipulating other people.

Key to the success of TWiB is Hill’s expertise in encouraging the reader to identify with the main character, Arthur Kipps. She achieves this by stimulating feelings of sympathy towards Arthur. Some of the ways in which she does this are by using a variety of different methods such as a range of structural devices, detailed descriptions of the setting, the central theme of fear and the change in Arthur’s character.

Peter Yates’s, Breaking Away, takes place in Bloomington, Indiana which is the home of Indiana University at Bloomington. Throughout the movie, the college students and the residents of Bloomington, who are known as “Cutters”, constantly have a feud between each other. One scene in particular illustrates the differences between the two groups. One night Mike, Cyril, and Moocher went to a restaurant and bowling alley on campus because Mike insisted to get revenge on the college students who hurt Cyril. Coincidentally, Dave was on a date with Katherine at the same time his friends were there.

Authors often use literary techniques to convey a central theme in their writing. In his collection of short stories, Dubliners, James Joyce uses a multitude of literary techniques to communicate the ideas of escape and freedom. Joyce’s use of narrative perspective, selection of detail, and conventional diction in his short story “Eveline” allow him to express Eveline’s oppressive environment as well as her ultimate submissive nature to it.

‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ (Wes Anderson, 2014) combines a perfect mix of nostalgia and history. The film explores the themes of war as it recreates history through mise-en-scene. Anderson also incorporates other themes such as racism and elitism during pre-war Europe. The film widely explores Europe from many viewpoints, one of which is of Mr Moustafa. His nostalgia is seen through flashbacks of when he was a lobby boy that went by the name of Zero. As an audience the depth of his nostalgia is seen through mise-en-scene. With the help of cinematography and props we see can see the time and place that Moustafa acknowledges. Anderson shows how history is reimagined through ones nostalgia. Mr Moustafa recalls events, which he was not present in yet he explains them as if he were there. This also shows how one reimagines history from another due to emotions and personal attachment. Despite the outcome being the same there are many viewpoints it can be seen from.

Dubliners by James Joyce is a collection of stories centered around Joyce’s intentions to write the moral history of Dublin’s paralysis. Although paralysis seems to be the main theme in Dubliners, another motif comes across in the pages of the stories. As if all of the mental, physical, and emotional problems weren’t enough, many of the characters in Dubliners are alcoholics. Joyce utilizes the character of the drunk in many of the stories in Dubliners; hardly a story skips a mention of a drink. The negative effects of alcohol occur again and again through the collection of stories. For the most part, men are brought down by their addiction to alcohol and their inability to control themselves when they are drunk. In Dubliners, the characters seek their own desires, face obstacles that frustrate them, and ultimately give in to their need to consume alcohol. With Dubliners, James Joyce brings attention to the different issues that consuming alcohol caused in early 20th century Ireland using three particular stories; “Counterparts”, “Grace” and “Ivy Day in the Committee Room”.

The use of the vocabulary in this novel is rather meticulous, every detail finely researched, a piece of fiction that educates the reader and questions. With the use of ‘sleeping, working, entertaining themselves’ he writes humanly relatable actions, as if we were in fact a machine, a routine sequence that sub textually describes the character Henry, and with that in place, describes London. Henry goes about his day in a ‘perfect circle’. Henry’s thoughts describe his accident as a ‘trivial matter’ p82 an inconvenience, which is shown when he disregards

The love story between two different teenagers that come from completely different worlds is the most remarkable. The Notebook is about two young teenagers who fell head over heels with each other. They got separated by Allie’s upper-class parents who insist that Noah isn’t right for her. But that obstacle didn’t stop these two young lovers from being together even if it took years. This beautiful tale has a special meaning to an older gentleman who regularly reads the timeless love story to his aging wife to help her remember what they went through and that the story that he’s reading to her was their love story. The story he reads follows two young