what's the big fuss about ross o' carroll kelly

dantes74

at the moment this guy seems to be all over the place from radio adverts to interviews with the author he just seems to trying to edge himself into my life, but the thing is i know nothing about him and have only heard of him in the last two weeks. that said what i have heard of him has sparked an interest in me that i want to take further so the question i have is, firstly where do i start (i believe there a quite a few novels not to mention what has appeared in the irish times), secondly do you have to be from dublin and possess a certain amount of hatred for the d4 crowd to fully appreciate the humour

WoollyRedHat

Not neccesarily hatred, but defintely understanding.

I believe his new book isn't as funny as it's predecessors, but is more real apparently. I haven't read his books but I know about them and am Keen myslef to get into them.

quazzy

From wikipedia

Books
Seven Ross O'Carroll-Kelly novels have been published, the first four by The O'Brien Press and the last three by Penguin Books:

1) The Miseducation of Ross O'Carroll-Kelly, covering Ross' last two years at Castlerock College and his Leinster Senior Cup victory (later editions are titled The Miseducation Years)
2) The Teenage Dirtbag Years, covering Ross' first year at UCD and holiday in the U.S. (later editions are titled The Teenage Dirtbag Years)
3) The Orange Mocha-Chip Frappucino Years, in which Ross' parents force him to fend for himself as an estate agent
4) PS, I Scored The Bridesmaids, in which Ross marries Sorcha
5) The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nightdress, in which Ross discovers he is a father
6) Should Have Got Off at Sydney Parade, in which Ross gets Sorcha pregnant
7) This Champagne Mojito Is The Last Thing I Own, in which Ross' father is imprisoned and his assets seized

I've read all of them except most recent one.
They are enjoyable enough so give them a shot

ZorbaTehZ

Ive tried to get in to them, but just couldn't. Reaelly not my type of humour tbh.

howaya

I think he's terrific - great observational humour. I loved the columns in the Tribune, but never bought the books.
I think he has had his day though, and I think that his creator is conscious of that in the title of the current offering - 'Last days of the Celtic Tiger'.

daveirl

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dubtom

So who is he, a nobody from D4? Did he used to do a skit on one of the morning radio programs,104 or 98?

Dudess

He's a satirical character created by journalist Paul Howard.

daveirl wrote:

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Agreed.

valor

he is really funny

dantes74

ye've all been very helpful with my question and i thank each and every one of ye but just one more question. if i was to start at the start and buy the first novel would i now in today's climate find it dated and therefore miss the humour in it
also is his column in the times a weekly thing and if so what day? never in my life bought a copy of the times so i've totally missed out there

cutymonalisa

Why isn't the column on the Tribune anymore? i've missed Ross's deluded commentary on the RWC -- the whole ROG saga would've been priceless

daveirl

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Peared

I resisted these for ages (first 3 books). Everyone was going on about them and I thought they sounded awful. Started the first one one day out of boredom and was completely hooked. They are absolutely hilarious. You really cant believe the character is saying some of the things he does. He does grow through the books though, and they do start do deal with some more serious subject matter while still being very funny.

Some may not agree but Id say the majority of d4 ross wannabe under 18s dont actually get the real humour and full enjoyment of the books. You certainly need to be aware of the scene but not in it. Of course you could get up to speed by reading the Sindo Life Mag for a few weeks.

Anyway give them a go, and remember Ross grows up in pretty much real time in the books. Physically anyway.

Pepe LeFrits

WoollyRedHat wrote: »

Not neccesarily hatred, but defintely understanding.

Nonsense. I introduced my old housemate to them, a Londoner who has never been to Ireland, and he loved them.

Holmer

She had a focking face that would make the Luas cut through a field"
Ross is brilliant. And he's actually a pretty sympathetic character in the new one, which puts a new spin on it. Admittedly it did need a new angle

Scoobydoobydoo

I only discovered him a couple of years ago, although he's been around for a few years by then. I am in Dublin and am familiar with the kind of characters in the books, but I think even if you're not living in Dublin, you can be familiar with the type of characters. A few years ago I lived in Cork, and they were there as well, the Cork versions of D4 heads. If you've seen any kind of U.S. teen shows in the last ten years you'll probably be familiar with these types. My hubby is from Limerick as well, and he gets it completely!
It just makes fun of today's youth's tendencies towards narcissism, vanity, egotism, pretentiousness, etc. Ross is thick, ugly but thinks he's gorgeous, stylish and smart. He also has a very affected D4 accent, in which the books are typed, so that you get the full effect as you read!
Why not just buy the first book and give it a go, although if memory serves me correctly, I think the second one was better.

pwd

They're very popular in Russia for some reason I've heard - so I guess you don't need to be familiar with the context to enjoy them.
I've read all of them. They are funny.

monkey9

These are bad bad crap books. I think he started off in the Sunday Tribune. The joke wears off after a few seconds. Oh i see what you've done there. You say 'roysh' instead of 'right', mention a couple of establishments on Baggot St, slag of Northsiders and like 'rugger'. It's the kind of joke you'd make in public, put on a D4 accent and get a laugh. But that's it. If the person went on all night doing this impression, you'd wanna hit him. Yet, there's loads of these books. They're really like The da Vinci code and the rest of the Dan Brown Collection, i.e the fashionable book to be seen reading on the bus etc if you care or want other people to know what you're reading.

clg23

The books are great, the only books that have ever made me laugh out loud on public transport has any1 been to the last days of the celtic tiger thing?

pickarooney

Forced myself to read one of these through to the bitter end, waiting for some hint of a joke or even a witty observation.

*tumbleweed*

Lands Leaving

Can anyone explain to me why they are so popular with the d4 people they're intended to ridicule?

Oh and they're awful in my opinion

podge018

Because it's healthy to laugh at yourself.

Same way as northsiders/working class Dubs love Roddy Doyle's characters from the Snapper etc. It's more a pisstake than a ridicule.

markw999

Years ago when these first came out my friend read me about 4 pages of one, complete with the accent.

My response: "But that's not actually a book, riiiight?"

Pepe LeFrits

I got the latest book for xmas and finished it today. It was probably the least amusing of the series (bar maybe PS I Scored the Bridesmaids) but it was the most advanced in terms of character development. It was also by faaaaaaaar the most downbeat of the series, with a constant string of negative events occuring to the various characters. Great read though.

Onikage

Lands Leaving wrote: »

Can anyone explain to me why they are so popular with the d4 people they're intended to ridicule?

Nobody else would understand what he's on about? Think of it as an Irish Rab C. Nesbitt, except without the humor, longevity or slapstick.