Book Club - by Suhaili

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The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

June 5th 2006 08:12

The Commitments

The Commitments is one of my favourite movies. I've watched it nearly twenty times and it never gets old, and so - with this in mind - I was hesistant to read the book that spawned it. I've always been hesitant to read the books to which my favourite movies have been based on... what if the book is really good and makes the film seem weak to me? What if it takes away something I cherish?

Luckily, reading the Commitments didn't affect my enjoyment of the film in any way whatsoever. A sigh of relief!

The Commitments is the first novel by celebrated Irish writer Roddy Doyle. Prior to this he had written a couple of plays, and it shows very much in the style of this book... it's virtually all dialogue. Literally. The parts of it that are descriptive and not spoken by one of the characters probably amount to less than a page. It was a little jarring at first but easy enough to follow (and it was a very popular book so I mustn't have been the only one who found it easy to follow!) Doyle has an admirable way of re-spelling words to make them fit the Irish vernacular and how things are said, which makes for very entertaining and colourful reading.

It's said that Doyle (who was a school teacher) based this story on his students and the way they acted. The story itself concerns Jimmy Rabbitte Jr, a music-lover who decides to form and manage a Dublin Soul band. We follow the band from it's conception through to it's first show and to it's eventual demise. It's laugh-out loud funny stuff and a little moving at the same time, and Doyle even shows the band performing actual songs - using his curious way of writing to show the words being sung and the various instruments playing along. It's a little hard to explain without seeing it, but it's very energetic all the same.

The Commitments DVD cover

It's a rather slight book, clocking in just over 100 pages or so. The much celebrated film-adaptation isn't that far removed from the book - it manages to capture the humour and atmosphere and the book's short length gives it plenty of space to expand on characters and events (indeed - Jimmy's family is only shown in passing in this book. The Rabbitte family, especially Jimmy's Dad [who only has one line in this book] would go on to feature in Doyle's next two books. Despite this, they feature a lot more extensively in the film).

As I mentioned above, Doyle's next two books follow the further trials and tribulations of the Rabbitte family. These are 'The Snapper' (also adapted into a film) and 'The Van' (also adapted into a film, and nominated for the Booker prize). Together these books form what is known as 'The Barrytown trilogy', though 'The Commitments' isn't so connected to the other two. All three can be read on their own without prior knowledge of the other books. All three are immensely enjoyable and easy to read. Doyle's writing style expands and matures throughout.

Book Club - by Suhaili

The Commitments by Roddy Doyle

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