Reviews

The Insurrection in Dublin by James Stephens

sturgeonfish's review against another edition

challenging tense

3.0

very good & a worthwhile read, although much less personal than i thought and would have liked... very clinical despite being a firsthand journal account. told a lot of the rumors and feelings of the time but again with no real like... personal feelings. which makes sense since it's the author's journal and he can write what he wants but it was very focused on the self. there was one scene where he wrote about this woman in the street just shouting obscenities at the men, and he described her and that was very insane to read and think about how that was a real human woman ... of course, then the author went on a tangent about how swearing was terrible, which was kind of funny. another scene where he wrote about one of the volunteers who would chase people out of the barricade with an umbrella. i greatly enjoyed those 2 moments but other than that it was a lot of more impersonal documentation of rumors.

also was really interesting from a 2023 perspective how information on this insurrection was so limited to the point of the author going to work the day of and not knowing much at all what was going on.

mrewers's review against another edition

tense fast-paced

3.25

vibege's review against another edition

5.0

This was a really good insight into what it was like to actually be in Dublin during the Rising. If you're looking for a book about the facts and figures of the Rising, this isn't the book for you, but if you want to know the gossip that was peddled through Dublin, the feelings of Dubliners and the view of someone who was pro Irish independence, you cant go wrong with this book.