Chantel's Reviews > An Irish Country Doctor

** spoiler alert ** It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on childhood illness, substance use, abortion, pregnancy, sexual assault, & others.

A story that transpires throughout the spring leaves readers with the soothing greenery of new beginnings. Barry’s introduction feels similar; the dawn of a new adventure, pastures of green grass, the eagerness of a professional endeavour; all the hopes & dreams of the main character present themselves earnestly to the reader.

Those who choose to read this book might have done so for similar reasons to myself. A couple of years ago, before my grandma’s passing, I found myself needing to read what she did. It was no secret to me that our time together was coming to a close. I knew that she & my grandpa had read this series & in 2020, I felt that the moment for my commencement was imminent.

When I first read this book, I was hopeful. I found myself in Ireland with my family, roaming the homestead & eager to see what Barry chose to do with his career. The characters in this book spoke to me like friends. I admit that I found the essence of the story cheesy. Readers who go into this book will need to know what adventure they are embarking on; one that is not without faults but that does its best to cushion the stumbles of the characters with a warm & cozy ending. Surely, this approach will not work for all readers & upon my second read of this book, it no longer worked for me.

Admittedly, I feel that I was generous with my feelings towards this story because a person I loved was going to be lost to me in this life. The plot, tender & forlorn as it was, reminded me of my family in ways that I could not communicate at the time. As I progressed in the series, I found myself repeatedly annoyed with the way that Taylor approached telling the story. However, Taylor is not a storyteller, this is not who he is. He sought to share a tale, one that I am sure he feels passionate about but, the skill of transferring stories from inside the soul & mind so they might travel the ear canal to the brain is a specific talent, one not all writers have.

In its essence, this book is about Barry, a twenty-four-year-old medical doctor who spends time with Dr. O’Reilly as his Medical Assistant in a small village in Northern Ireland. The story takes place in the 1960’s, the effects of WWII loom heavily over the villagers & their economic status reflects the shift from sustainable living to the modern age wherein dimes & euros shape the livelihoods of bipartisans. The story explores the reality of Ballybucklebo, the medical field in Ireland, & the quirky events that take place throughout a nearly 400-page book.

I was drawn to read this book a second time because I wanted to complete the series. Taylor’s books have been present on the shelves of the readers I have admired most throughout my life though; they will not lie & declare this book to be a marvel of the literary world. Rather, this book & others that follow, are simply books to read when one wishes to enjoy the act of reading & a somewhat escapist moment in their day in the tiny quarters of Ireland. This is not a fantastic book nor is it particularly revolutionary. This book is corny, & cheesy, & somewhat poorly formatted, with characters that I grew to dislike. However, it is also comforting, & calming, & warm.

A reader is not meant to like every character in every book they read. Books are mediums to transport art; they hold stories & stories live forever, regardless of the recipient’s enjoyment. Barry is a prime example of this. Within the first moments of his introduction, he reads as a very cautious if not entirely insecure individual. One cannot necessarily fault him for this, he is embarking on an entirely new venture in a place that is strange to him. Readers are likely to grant Barry the benefit of the doubt, multiple times throughout this story. Whereas one would hope to find the main character carry some level of self-awareness, this hope is dashed when Barry meets Patricia.

Barry’s instant infatuation with Patricia is cute in the same way a flower in the hair is cute or a chocolate kiss surprise in an Easter basket. Barry meets Patricia on the train & is instantly in love with her. No time passes before readers read about the complicated love affair that sprung out of thin air & the turmoil that Barry feels by proxy of pursuing a girl who has ambitions.

Certainly, I am no prude nor am I a despiser of love. However, the main character falls hopelessly for a girl he does not know. I might forgive his boyish eagerness at their chance meeting & I am certainly likely to forgive his unfounded adoration for her in part thanks to her beauty. These things are not enough for me to believe that their love is genuine nor is it enough for me to be invested in their charade.

This book’s main issue is its pacing. Whereas readers might rejoice from seeing Barry meet someone who could bring joy & tenderness to his life, the author does not pace out their encounter so that it feels authentic. Their few dates do not reflect any genuine understanding of one another & the conversations they share act merely as reinforcement of their vast differences.

Barry is in love with Patricia because she is beautiful—that’s it. He goes out of his way to bid her to skip her course after she expresses having to put in extra effort to succeed in a male-dominated program. He also never actually listens to what she has to say, leaving the reader in a bizarre tango alone.

Certainly, had Taylor approached these sequences as a representation of a budding young eagerness to be present in the adult world, they would have felt justified. Barry inserts himself into situations where he does not belong & in which he has no leg to stand & all the other characters allow him to do so; Why is that?

After he threw a fit because Patricia was honest with him about her intentions & her goals in life, Barry sulks around the village. I cannot begin to express my shock that he felt the familiarity & freedom to compare his experience with Patricia—his love for this girl he doesn’t know past a superficial level--& Kinky’s beloved husband lost at sea.

The story encourages this poor pacing by including an array of characters, some of whom the reader will enjoy, & others who will mean little to the story because they so closely resemble one another. In some sense, this was to the benefit of the story. I enjoyed knowing that the village was comprised of an array of people, & I appreciated Taylor’s medical knowledge to cushion their unique personas. When it comes to adding depth to the story, I was glad for those whom Taylor deemed appropriate to include, & I didn’t much care to wonder who else we would come to meet.

That is to say, Taylor’s inclusion of specific characters to encourage the story forward was well done. His ability to incorporate factually relevant details via the exploration of a character’s reality was interesting & pertinent. I did not wonder why we did not meet everyone in the village, nor did I worry about tying in the narrative to every single character. I had faith that the author would do that in due time.

Reading this book on both occasions saw me fly through the material. It is not difficult to become immersed in the narrative. I sought to find what I had on the first occasion of our meeting & though I was met with my memories, the calming nature of the story was not the same. I do not wish to place blame; the story is good, it is fine the way that it is & for some readers, it will be a wonderful reading experience. Rather, I found that the joy to behold in the quaintly corny nature of the plot left me behind.

Highly analytical readers will feel less inclined to adore this story & will perhaps be less likely to overtly love the plot itself. The medical leniency that it took to alter the fates of those around them & the nasty temper of Dr. O’Reilly will strike many as rude & callous. I cannot rightly put my finger on why I didn’t dislike him. Perhaps I felt rather softened towards O’Reilly because Barry was so much a disaster of a person who revelled in their ignorance, whereas O’Reilly lived in the real world.

Of course, this is not a book that will present a tried & true Odyssey to readers. As I have said, this is a book that was written to be consumed for a simple & straightforward enjoyment. For this reason, I feel confident in stating that this was a good book.

I felt annoyed at Barry more than I think was healthy & was reminded of why I stopped reading the series four (4) years ago. However, I am willing to give the story another chance. I want to see O’Reilly & Kinky find their love & happiness & I am eager to be within the village again when a twist of fate brings them together.

Ultimately, this is not the best book I have ever read nor is it the most enjoyable. The pacing throws off the story to the point at which the reader feels like they are reading while on a roller coaster that stalls & starts. At times, the characters feel like caricatures while also representing the authentically flawed nature of sheltered people & those among us who have lived a thousand years within a select few. The treasure of this story is that it is good-natured & readers may find reasons to dote on it for this alone, & perhaps others because O’Reilly & Kinky warm the heart like a fire on the hearth.