Welcome to Litsy!

I enjoyed this collection of pandemic stories, even though---like the days during lockdown---the stories tend to blend into one another. In these stories, Doyle explores with sensitivity issues of connection, estrangement, vulnerability, mental illness, substance abuse, and grief. I know a lot of people still don't like revisiting that time, but I find it intriguing and therapeutic to look back at those years that have influenced so much.

Roddy Doyle used to be a favorite author of mine, back in the days, when he wrote the Barrytown Trilogy and Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha.
He‘s written this short story collection in 2020 and connections to the pandemic are unavoidable.
The Charger, the longest one, is my favorite. It‘s a story about the lockdown and how it could be so cozy at times and frustrating, lonely and frightening at others. It all came back to me while reading this.

The 10 short stories are set during the Covid pandemic.The writing is a delight,I loved Worms it made me cry but the plots… I wish there was more to what happens in the stories and I feel it‘s generally something that seems to be no longer relevant for prize winning writing.I appreciate the character‘s inner turmoil&thoughts&insights but where is the story?And there‘s only so much older-dude-feeling-sorry-for-himself I can take as a reader.Soft pk