“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Wednesday, September 5, 2007

Blood Is Never Simple

Ever since the news started filtering back from Cannes that the Coen Brothers were not only back on form, but with an adaptation of a Cormac McCarthy novel, the elves have been fairly salivating at the prospect of No Country For Old Men. Due early next year, it’s a classic Coen set-up: guy finds a heap of money in desert, psychotic killer turns up to claim it, chaos ensues. The cast includes Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin and Woody Harrelson, but don’t expect the skewed black comedy of Fargo or The Big Lebowski: taking its cue from the pessimistic WB Yeats title, this baby’s dark, dark, dark, and very much a return to Blood Simple territory. McCarthy, the Coens, and a neo-noir classic-in-the-making? Truly our cup runneth over.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I thought it was rather an odd book. Not sure how they're going to adapt the ending, they'll obviously have to 'interpret' it.

Anonymous said...

It was an odd book, strange ending. But I can't wait to see the film, 'friendo.' McCarthy's book The Road is brilliant.