Short Stories from the Irish Renaissance: An Anthology. - book reviews

Studies in Short Fiction, Spring, 1994 by Michael L. Storey

From this late twentieth-century vantage point, it is clear that the Irish are second to none in the art of the modern short story. Recent collected editions of the stories of Sean O'Faolain, Frank O'Connor, Elizabeth Bowen, William Trevor and others are proof of the world-class status of the Irish story. And when these writers arc viewed as the heirs of George Moore, James Joyce, and others who began the modern Irish story at the turn of the century, the wonderful accomplishment of Irish storytellers may, be fully appreciated. Unfortunately, many of the works that constitute the beginnings of the modern Irish story are now out of print. Short Stories from the Irish Renaissance attempts to rectify that situation.

The anthology contains 42 stories written during the Irish Renaissance (set arbitrarily by Gonzalez as 1890-1930) by 10 writers: Moore, W. B. Yeats, Joyce, James Stephens, Padraic Colum, Seamus O'Kelly, Daniel Corkery, Liam O'Flaherty, Brinsley MacNamara, and Bowen.

Gonzalez has selected stories according to the dual purpose of "gathering together most of the period's finest stories" and "creat[ing] a context for Joyce's work - to show clearly, that he was not an isolated genius in the realm of the Irish short story - so that any study of the Irish short story's origins will be facilitated."

The selections represent most of the major themes of Irish fiction: the fierce and often destructive love of the land (O'Flaherty's "Spring Sowing"; Corkery's "Carrig-an-Afrinn"); alienation and exile (Yeats's "Red Hanrahan"; Moore's "The Exile" and "Home Sickness"); spiritual and moral paralysis (Bowen's "Her Table Spread" and Joyce's stories); the domineering role of the clergy (O'Flaherty's "The Outcast"; Corkery's "The Priest"); misunderstanding between the sexes (Stephens's "The Blind Man"; MacNamara's "The Smiling Faces"); and poverty and squalor (Moore's "An Eviction"; Stephens's "Hunger"; O'Kelly's "The Derelict"). Only the theme of Irish rebellion seems to be missing.

Despite the variety and richness of the selections, a reader might quibble with some of the editor's decisions. The inclusion of six stories from Dubliners (taking up 78 of the 592 pages) is questionable, given the ready availability of Joyce's collection. Furthermore, anyone interested in examining Joyce's work in the context of the period would, as Gonzalez admits, want to have all of Dubliners at hand. In place of the six Joyce stories, Gonzalez might have included English translations of Irish stories by Gaelic writers, such as Padraig O Conaire and Mairtin O Cadhain.

If, on the other hand, the convenience of having all of the major Irish storytellers of the period together in one volume is of primary importance, then the exclusion of O'Connor and O'Faolain is difficult to justify. Presumably Gonzalez excludes them because their first collections did not appear until just after 1930, Gonzalez's closing date for the period. But, in fact, both were writing and publishing stories (in magazines) in the 1920s, and their first collections, both built on the theme of rebellion, contain some of the period's finest pieces. Inclusion of, say, O'Faolain's "Fugue" and O'Connor's "Guests of the Nation," both written in the late 1920s, not only would have brought two of Ireland's finest writers into the anthology but would also have repaired the omission of the theme of rebellion.

Gonzalez has, as he claims, included some of the period's finest stories: Moore's "Home Sickness," Joyce's "The Dead," O'Kelly's "The Weaver's Grave," Corkery's "Carrig-an-Afrinn," and O'Flaherty's "Spring Sowing." But not all of the stories are of the highest caliber. Gonzalez has wisely chosen to include some mediocre stories, ones that serve to emphasize the superior quality of the others. O'Flaherty's "The Outcast," for example, is a clumsy and over-drawn portrait of the domineering priest, but read together with "The Priest" it points up the wonderful subtlety of Corkery's story. The melodramatic plot of O'Kelly's "The Derelict" serves to highlight the fine irony and humor of "The Weaver's Grave."

This is a fine anthology of stories, and one that is sorely needed, at least until all or most of the work of early twentieth-century Irish writers of short fiction is reprinted.