"A Review of Roddy Doyle's Paddy Clarke Ha Ha"
...nd he loves him. Sinbad reacts differently to his parents fighting. He doesn't try to intervene or stop them. In fact he closes up, he implodes emotionally. He cuts himself off from everyone. During one of their parents arguments Paddy tries to talk to Sinbad, but Sinbad shuts himself off. ""Sinbad?" He didn't answer. He wasn't asleep though, I knew the breathing. I could hear him listening. I didn't move. I didn't want him to think I was going to get him." (p.222) This drama did not effect me as much as the daily life. The fights I could not relate to. I had never experienced arguments of such high caliber. But inevitably I had experienced the life of a ten year old. I could relate to Paddy's reactions to certain situations at school. For instance when Paddy and his grade are in line to receive check- ups a joke is made and Paddy says, " I laughed harder than I had to. We all did" (p.144). Doyle was able to allow me to not just be a reader but an actor. He was able to make me believe that I was part of Paddy Clarke. Just the way the book was set up brought me closer to the days of being ten. The book was formatted like Paddy's mind. Jumping from thought to thought and scene to scene. This low attention span was what really brought me in to Doyle's world. I believe that this book won the Booker Prize because of the way the book is able to avoid sentiment but touch on the important aspects of being ten. Doyle is able to take the life of a young boy and make it interesting, humorous, and most of all meaningful. It touches on subjects of life that adults still have trouble conquering. "Why do people not like each other?" is a question Paddy poses in the book. What seems to be a simple question asked in an innocent way, is actually a question that has stumped many. It may seem redundant, but the true reason the book is so powerful is how all the elements are put together to form this masterpiece. Not many books allow the reader to feel like you are one of the characters. The most puzzling part of the book is the title. Paddy Clarke HA HA HA appears to simple enough but it is loaded with meaning. The title is only used once in the book and it is on the second to last page. "Paddy Clarke, Paddy Clarke has no da. Ha ha ha!" The book deals with Paddy shedding his childhood ways and taking on the responsibilities of adulthood. A significant part of ...