Book of the Week

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha by Roddy Doyle
Recommended by Frank Milligan

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha tells the story of Patrick 'Paddy' Clarke, a ten-year-old boy from Dublin in the 1960s, told entirely from his perspective. Roddy Doyle takes us on a journey into Paddy’s mind as he recounts the events of an important year in his life.

Essentially a coming-of age story, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha depicts a year in which Paddy matures quite substantially, as his parent’s relationship slowly deteriorates. What makes the novel particularly interesting is how Doyle accurately manages to replicate the thoughts of a ten-year-old, repeatedly showing Paddy’s youthful innocence as he fails to understand exactly what is happening around him as he experiences his rite of passage.

However, the book does not really have a 'plot' in the traditional sense of the word. Though it does have a story, Doyle writes the novel as a series of vignettes, some of which might not have any or much relevance to the story, not following any real form of chronological order, precisely capturing and replicating the stream of consciousness of a ten-year old boy, darting from scene to scene, place to place, whilst Doyle still manages to maintain a coherent story.

Overall, Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is a very entertaining and cleverly written bildungsroman, one that manages to perfectly capture the innocent ignorance and confusion of a young boy, whilst telling an interesting and engaging story.