Irish Short Stories. (Penguin. 9d.)
Shorter Notices
THE list of authors is rather more exciting than the stories them- selves. Thus Joyce's Two Gallants exudes the same thick atmosphere as the rest of "The Dubliners," but it has none of the magic of such an exquisite work as The Dead. Again The Cat Jumps is probably one of the most trivial, as it is certainly one of the least Irish stories ever published by Miss Bowen. Perhaps it was felt that her best stories (e.g., The Disinherited) have been published too often already, but besides these, she has often evoked a most haunting picture of Ireland, even setting aside her full-length novel, The Last September and her family reminiscences. Sean O'Faolain's story conveys very well the stifling tedium of the Bombstep, to which his conspirators were confined by the nature of their work. Norah Hoult has a slight but touching sketch of a young priest's indiscretion, but The Friend of her youth, by the Somerville-Ross combine, is merely facetious. None of the other stories remain in the mind even a few days after reading them, but in spite of this the book is a good ninepennyworth.
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