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Lunch » Tags » Books » Reviews » Skippy Dies: A Novel

Skippy Dies: A Novel

17 Ratings: 4.0

A book by Paul Murray

It’s no spoiler to acknowledge that Skippy, the main character in Murray’s second novel, does indeed die, since the boy is a goner by page 5 of the prologue. Following his character’s untimely demise, Murray takes the reader back in … see full wiki

Tags: Books, Cafe Libri, Fiction, Literary Fiction, Irish Fiction

Author: Paul Murray

Genre: Literature & Fiction

Publisher: Faber & Faber

6 reviews about Skippy Dies: A Novel

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review by Fionnchu. July 30, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

Dublin boy's school as a microcosm of the great beyond

Neither Hogwarts nor "Catcher in the Rye," this captures the "de-dreamification" of being a boy of fourteen and a teacher at twenty-eight. Murray sets this in a Catholic day & boarding school in Dublin, where he lives. The novel yesterday's been placed on the Booker Prize list, so it'll surely gain attention. It's long-- 660 pages to be divided into three volumes for its official release. These handsomely watercolored covers add … more

Comments (1) Compliments (66)

review by RebeccaSchinsky. December 10, 2010

posted in The Book Lady's Blog

Like Harry Potter, But With Drugs, Dirty Jokes, and Doughnuts

Imagine if the Harry Potter books were written for adults, set at an all-boys boarding school in Dublin, and had dirtier jokes and a more serious theme, and you’ll have the phenomenal Skippy Dies by Paul Murray. The titular event takes place in the book’s opening pages when fourteen-year-old Daniel “Skippy” Juster, one of Seabrook College’s punier students, dies on the floor of the local doughnut shop just moments after writing his final message on the … more

Comments (3) Compliments (45)

review by dkeymer36. August 18, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

AN EXCEPTIONAL COMIC NOVEL --WARM AND SAVAGE AT ONCE

About a hundred pages into Skippy Dies, I put it down for the evening and, as I walked away from it, realized I missed it already. I'd grown fond of the book. Surely that's an odd emotion to feel for a comic novel, especially a good one as this one is. Comic novels may be funny, but above all, the best ones (Gulliver's Travels, for instance, or Ulysses) are savage: they take no hostages as they narrate the lives and antics of the characters contained inside them. And that's definitely true of Skippy. … more

Comments (1) Compliments (36)

review by gaelstat. September 20, 2010

posted in Cafe Libri: Reviewing Books & More

An extraordinary book: brilliant, hilarious, and very moving.

I'm the product of an Irish Catholic boarding school for boys. In September 1968, at the tender age of 11, I left the warm (over-)protective bosom of home and family and became one of the 80 or so boys in the first year class at a Franciscan boarding school, about 25 miles north of Dublin, and 160 miles from home. The experience, particularly the first year, was incredibly brutal. But it was also entirely necessary, and completely transformative. I can trace back almost all of what I consider … more

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review by jbradway. March 04, 2011

posted in Cage

Rule breaker

Skippy Dies broke a lot of my rules for literature and still allowed me to love it. I can't stand violence to children in what is, essentially, an entertainment. Really graphic, unhealthy sexual activity is another one that bothers me. Drug abuse is too hard for me to relate to and comes across as an author struggling for some sort of street cred. I'm really square and don't like being manipulated. And I can just picture the editor who leans across the desk to whisper to an aspiring … more

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review by Glanafosha. August 07, 2010

A gentle Irishman, mighty odd

I had some trouble deciding on the number of stars for this review. Murray is a gifted writer, a wordsmith who can bring characters to life in a few pages, make you care about them as if they were real people, describing their physical characteristics, their character faults, and their secret fears in a way that few writers can. He gets the modern teen-aged boy down with great accuracy, their false bravado, their vicious competition, and their reluctance to let adults know anything about them. He … more

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