Modern Irish Literature Sources and Founders [Hardcover]

Modern Irish Literaturemarks the culmination of the lifetime interest of the distinguished scholar Vivian Mercier (1919-89) in the influence of Gaelic literature on modern Irish writing. Building on the insights developed in his classicThe Irish Comic Tradition, Mercier's focus here is on the research of nineteenth-century scholars which gave rise to the revival of Irish literature in English. Separate chapters analyzing the work of writers including Bernard Shaw, Yeats, Synge, Joyce, and Beckett build to provide a fresh and timely picture of Irish literary tradition. Informed by a wealth and diversity of scholarship, and written in a highly accessible style, this book is a major contribution to the study of Irish literature.

Knowledgeable, informative, and a great pleasure to read. --Choice

A fine monument to a splendid man [Mercier]. --The Sunday Times

What one gets [with Mercier] is the presence of a genial, well-stocked, humane mind lovingly immersed in its subject-matter, unbuttoned and anecdotal but painstaking in its scholarship. Mercier taught himself Irish in his mid-thirties, and some of the fruits of that labour are evident here in his authoritative discussion of translations of Gaelic texts. The volume is crammed with minor delights. --London Review of Books

Mercier's interpretation is persuasive-a brilliant contribution to Beckett criticism. --Magill's Literary Annual

Mercier's generous and serious application to Irish yielded very rich dividends. Though it is hard to give a fair representation of Mercier's lively felicities in a short review, they are the informing spirit of the book. --Times Literary Supplement