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Pig Trilogy #2
The Pig Comes to Dinner
An Irish castle is haunted by the ghosts of two youths. The owner's American nephew and his new wife arrive with a pig-- Novel blending romance, comedy, and Irish history.
255 pages, Hardcover
First published May 5, 2009
About the author
Joseph Caldwell
26 books18 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
A playwright and novelist whose books include The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes to Dinner, and The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven, Joseph Caldwell has been awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York City and is working on various post-Pig writing projects.
A playwright and novelist whose books include The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes to Dinner, and The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven, Joseph Caldwell has been awarded the Rome Prize for Literature by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York City and is working on various post-Pig writing projects.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews
September 1, 2010
I liked this better than its prequel. I was a little more accumstomed to the author's dry humor, I like his use of words, and the book had a more definitive ending.
A favorite quote from the Irish priest: "...one of the few disadvantages of a long life is that so much knowledge is heaped upon my head that I sometimes worry my poor skull is going to crack under the weight and my brain drip down onto the floor like puffin droppings."
And a description of the unwanted intruder: His Lordship was tall and graying, with what could have been a craggy face had not gravity pulled it earthward. The entire man seemed to sag and droop as if the effort to keep the skin attched securely to the bone had proved beyond his interest...Kitty didn't doubt that, beneath his well-cut clothing, the pectorals and the abs, the belly and the buttocks were all descending in a flow similar to the meltings of a waxen effigy...His Lordship did, however, possess sufficient wisdom to surrender himself to a first-rate tailor--the first refuge of the hopelessly unappealing..."
A favorite quote from the Irish priest: "...one of the few disadvantages of a long life is that so much knowledge is heaped upon my head that I sometimes worry my poor skull is going to crack under the weight and my brain drip down onto the floor like puffin droppings."
And a description of the unwanted intruder: His Lordship was tall and graying, with what could have been a craggy face had not gravity pulled it earthward. The entire man seemed to sag and droop as if the effort to keep the skin attched securely to the bone had proved beyond his interest...Kitty didn't doubt that, beneath his well-cut clothing, the pectorals and the abs, the belly and the buttocks were all descending in a flow similar to the meltings of a waxen effigy...His Lordship did, however, possess sufficient wisdom to surrender himself to a first-rate tailor--the first refuge of the hopelessly unappealing..."
July 18, 2012
I did not enjoy this as much as the first book in the trilogy, The Pig Did It. That was humourous and eventful. While this is a well-written book, the tone is more serious, or at the least the characters were far more introspective, and obsessive, obsessive at least with their ghostly problem. I was looking for a blast of an ending and was left with a feeling that the story didn't really end at all. I must have missed something because I didn't see a real resolution. Perhaps the last book in the series will not leave me feeling so bland.
April 29, 2011
A weak 3 stars; I didn't find it as entertaining as the first in the series. Not enough show, too much tell. Repetitious inner thoughts of main characters, even if delivered in entertaining, humorous fashion.
March 28, 2024
This is not a good book. I'd give it one star, but I reserve one-star reviews for self-published books that are genuinely awful. This is a professional book, but it's just not any good. I have no idea why people liked the first of the series enough that the publisher was justified in making it a trilogy.
It's like someone wanted to write PG Wodehouse but had minimal inspiration, and no humor or wit.
At times, it was so elementary that I thought maybe it's a Young Adult novel. I mean, there are at least a half-dozen instances of the author telling you something that simply doesn't need to be said, as if you need your hand held. It's amateurish. One example is the use of the word bodhran, an Irish drum. He writes about a band playing, and says one person is playing "a bodhran (Irish drum)" as if any Irish or British reader would need that info and as if an American wouldn't infer it's an instrument. He also names the players in the band, but for no reason. None ever come up in the book again. There are a bunch of times when Kitty, the protagonist, thinks something that's so obvious it doesn't need to be said.
Now that I mentioned Kitty, here's the deal. She is the author of popular novels in which she rewrites famous fiction and gives it a more mainstream ending. Bad people get penalized, and good people get their due. It's supposed to be a funny idea, and then we're supposed to think it's clever that she tells everyone she knows her writing is junk, but she secretly believes that she is popular because she is bringing "truth" to bloated, unrealistic fiction. And this is hammered home in the author's wooden style by a woman who tells Kitty that she knows Kitty is a great writer who tells the truth, and Kitty thinks, Oh no, if this woman tells everyone then my secret is out and I won't be popular any more. Huh?
Anyway, Kitty is rich. She has married Kieran, thus ending centuries of ill will between their families. They have bought a castle that had been empty for about 200 years, due to a presumed curse and/or hidden gunpowder on the site. They are renovating parts of it slowly, but seem to not mind living in drafty, dilapidated rooms with hand-me-down furniture. And they are happy. Except that they start seeing two ghosts, who turn out to be a 17-year-old boy and girl who were hanged by the British to intimidate the Irish residents of the area after rumors surfaced about the gunpowder designed to kill the English lord who was taking over the castle. Most of the story is taken up with them figuring out that is who the ghosts are and contemplating how to give the ghosts their freedom. Meanwhile, the pig of the title does mischievous things around the farm that Keiran is developing, and this helps to drive the plot as well. And a Lord comes from Australia to say that the castle is rightfully his. So we have a supernatural thing in a sad vein (though the ghosts aren't mean, just sad and beautiful) and a comic rural farce. It all comes together at the end with a plan that both Kitty and Keiran have to rid the castle of the horrors it represents.
The ending is obvious 50 pages before it happens. And it's helped along by the completely ridiculous 7-year-old boy who's been designated by his mother ("a seer") as the heir to her visions. He seems astonishingly articulate for a little kid, and it turns out that they can also trust him overnight to tend to a fire that's roasting a pig. Really!
The attempts are humor are lame. They consist of Kitty holding in her temper about stupid people, the back-and-forth pillow talk Kitty and Keiran have when they play ping pong, and stuff with the pig. Oh, and Kitty's best friend suddenly tries to write a novel that takes the entire plot of Kitty's married life, buying the castle, ghosts, gunpowder, etc. I guess that's funny somehow.
There are so many better light comedies out there that I just can't recommend you read this one.
It's like someone wanted to write PG Wodehouse but had minimal inspiration, and no humor or wit.
At times, it was so elementary that I thought maybe it's a Young Adult novel. I mean, there are at least a half-dozen instances of the author telling you something that simply doesn't need to be said, as if you need your hand held. It's amateurish. One example is the use of the word bodhran, an Irish drum. He writes about a band playing, and says one person is playing "a bodhran (Irish drum)" as if any Irish or British reader would need that info and as if an American wouldn't infer it's an instrument. He also names the players in the band, but for no reason. None ever come up in the book again. There are a bunch of times when Kitty, the protagonist, thinks something that's so obvious it doesn't need to be said.
Now that I mentioned Kitty, here's the deal. She is the author of popular novels in which she rewrites famous fiction and gives it a more mainstream ending. Bad people get penalized, and good people get their due. It's supposed to be a funny idea, and then we're supposed to think it's clever that she tells everyone she knows her writing is junk, but she secretly believes that she is popular because she is bringing "truth" to bloated, unrealistic fiction. And this is hammered home in the author's wooden style by a woman who tells Kitty that she knows Kitty is a great writer who tells the truth, and Kitty thinks, Oh no, if this woman tells everyone then my secret is out and I won't be popular any more. Huh?
Anyway, Kitty is rich. She has married Kieran, thus ending centuries of ill will between their families. They have bought a castle that had been empty for about 200 years, due to a presumed curse and/or hidden gunpowder on the site. They are renovating parts of it slowly, but seem to not mind living in drafty, dilapidated rooms with hand-me-down furniture. And they are happy. Except that they start seeing two ghosts, who turn out to be a 17-year-old boy and girl who were hanged by the British to intimidate the Irish residents of the area after rumors surfaced about the gunpowder designed to kill the English lord who was taking over the castle. Most of the story is taken up with them figuring out that is who the ghosts are and contemplating how to give the ghosts their freedom. Meanwhile, the pig of the title does mischievous things around the farm that Keiran is developing, and this helps to drive the plot as well. And a Lord comes from Australia to say that the castle is rightfully his. So we have a supernatural thing in a sad vein (though the ghosts aren't mean, just sad and beautiful) and a comic rural farce. It all comes together at the end with a plan that both Kitty and Keiran have to rid the castle of the horrors it represents.
The ending is obvious 50 pages before it happens. And it's helped along by the completely ridiculous 7-year-old boy who's been designated by his mother ("a seer") as the heir to her visions. He seems astonishingly articulate for a little kid, and it turns out that they can also trust him overnight to tend to a fire that's roasting a pig. Really!
The attempts are humor are lame. They consist of Kitty holding in her temper about stupid people, the back-and-forth pillow talk Kitty and Keiran have when they play ping pong, and stuff with the pig. Oh, and Kitty's best friend suddenly tries to write a novel that takes the entire plot of Kitty's married life, buying the castle, ghosts, gunpowder, etc. I guess that's funny somehow.
There are so many better light comedies out there that I just can't recommend you read this one.
April 1, 2024
The continuation of The Pig Trilogy: The Pig Did It, The Pig Comes to Dinner, and The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven. I did not enjoy this second installment as much as book # 1, yet it entertained me enough to finish it.
Kitty Sweeny and Aaron McCloud are now a happily married couple and owners of "the castle" situated in this small Irish village in County Kerry. Unknown to them, their marital home brings with it the presence of two ghosts who have resided there for centuries, waiting despondently for someone to release them to cross over. Along with this problem the unruly Pig is returned them, his arrival a matter of contention between the newly weds. The discovery of the two young ghosts (a man and woman who are both beautiful) brings its own problem of attraction and the humans sorrow having to rid the castle of them. Both these problems are the meat of the story.
Not quite as humorous as the first book, there were still chuckles to be had, and still the unwavering feeling that animals are much smarter than most give them credit for. I, myself, find this tune of humor the best. I will complete the series.
Caldwell is not a humor writer, by any means, but a writer he is. His descriptive prose is laced with deep thought and the added dry humor gives the reader a release from all that intense reading. The humor is, as mentioned in my review of book 1, the Might Python type of humor that some may not enjoy. I will finish with series with hopes of more inane humor to come.
Kitty Sweeny and Aaron McCloud are now a happily married couple and owners of "the castle" situated in this small Irish village in County Kerry. Unknown to them, their marital home brings with it the presence of two ghosts who have resided there for centuries, waiting despondently for someone to release them to cross over. Along with this problem the unruly Pig is returned them, his arrival a matter of contention between the newly weds. The discovery of the two young ghosts (a man and woman who are both beautiful) brings its own problem of attraction and the humans sorrow having to rid the castle of them. Both these problems are the meat of the story.
Not quite as humorous as the first book, there were still chuckles to be had, and still the unwavering feeling that animals are much smarter than most give them credit for. I, myself, find this tune of humor the best. I will complete the series.
Caldwell is not a humor writer, by any means, but a writer he is. His descriptive prose is laced with deep thought and the added dry humor gives the reader a release from all that intense reading. The humor is, as mentioned in my review of book 1, the Might Python type of humor that some may not enjoy. I will finish with series with hopes of more inane humor to come.
March 22, 2022
"Back to his familiar mischief is the obstreperous creature that romped so riotously through The Pig Did It, the best-selling first novel in the Pig Trilogy. But in this entertaining porcine sequel, The Pig Comes to Dinner, the porker has some more serious business to attend to.
"All of the charming characters of the previous book are present again in this delightful new story. Kitty McCloud, now married to Kieren Sweeney, her former rival in one of their district's oldest blood feuds, has bought an ancient Irish castle with the profits from her popular revisions of classic novels like Jane Eyre. Kitty's American cousin, Aaron McCloud, has arrived with his new wife, the former Lolly McKeever, to redeliver to Kitty and Kieran their wedding gift of the troublesome pig, who is not at all welcome at the castle.
"But over their lighthearted discord hangs a weightier problem -- Kitty's new home is inhabited by two comely ghosts from out of the castle's troubled past. How this haunting couple is dealt with serves only to embellish the allure and humor of Mr. Caldwell's uniquely theatrical storytelling."
~~back cover
I like this book better than I did the first in the trilogy, and it certainly has its moments. But I'm beginning to think that Irish humor is a law unto itself, and that I don't necessarily have enough Irish ancestry to be able to access it.
"All of the charming characters of the previous book are present again in this delightful new story. Kitty McCloud, now married to Kieren Sweeney, her former rival in one of their district's oldest blood feuds, has bought an ancient Irish castle with the profits from her popular revisions of classic novels like Jane Eyre. Kitty's American cousin, Aaron McCloud, has arrived with his new wife, the former Lolly McKeever, to redeliver to Kitty and Kieran their wedding gift of the troublesome pig, who is not at all welcome at the castle.
"But over their lighthearted discord hangs a weightier problem -- Kitty's new home is inhabited by two comely ghosts from out of the castle's troubled past. How this haunting couple is dealt with serves only to embellish the allure and humor of Mr. Caldwell's uniquely theatrical storytelling."
~~back cover
I like this book better than I did the first in the trilogy, and it certainly has its moments. But I'm beginning to think that Irish humor is a law unto itself, and that I don't necessarily have enough Irish ancestry to be able to access it.
March 6, 2021
The second in the Pig series brings more antics in the Irish countryside. This time, Kitty, Kieran and a couple of good-looking teenaged ghosts are ensconced in an old castle that Kitty has acquired with her large earnings from writing bad books. Unfortunately, her ownership is challenged by the English heir of the family that terrorized the area centuries earlier, resulting in the hanging of the youths that now haunt the castle. Ridiculous scenarios follow, including many more soliloquies, a pig mixup, and a reckoning with legend and history and the responsibility of subsequent generations for the acts of their ancestors. I wanted to like it more, but it didn’t hold together well, and could have used more of Aaron and Lolly from Book #1. I am not going to read the third of the trilogy.
February 25, 2023
This was a total piece of fluff, but it provided some amusement after the last heavy reading I did. An Irish writer and her new husband move into an old castle that is supposedly cursed and haunted by the ghosts of two teenagers who were hung a few centuries back by the lord of the castle in retaliation for the villagers not telling him where they had hidden gunpowder on his estate. The ghosts can only be seen by the woman and her husband, and apparently by the pig. The whole plot is rather silly, but I've read worse.
May 22, 2020
Book 2 of the Pig Triliogy reunites the Pig with newlyweds Kieran Sweeney and Kitty McCloud. In a newly acquired castle, all three can see the ghosts of a young couple wrongly hung in the British occupation. But why are they the only ones to see such going on. Meanwhile an old English Lord returns with claims on the castle. How can this be resolved. Well a good old Irish feast will help just about everything. Anice light read with humorous touches.
September 13, 2018
As entertaining as the first!
January 9, 2021
Fun, but can’t hold a candle to the first in the series!
My Full Review
My Full Review
January 30, 2022
Some pig
May 29, 2023
A library find.
A somewhat amusing read!
A somewhat amusing read!
October 29, 2018
Second novel in a trilogy that involves the characters of the first novel and of course the famous pig. This time, Kitty McCloud and her new found husband Kieran Sweeney occupy a castle that was purchased by Kitty. Come to find out that it is haunted by two beautiful souls, Brid and Taddy. Histories and stories are intertwined with both past and present to deliver another rollicking tale.
October 20, 2012
The Pig Comes to Dinner is the delightful sequel to The Pig Did It, Joseph Caldwell's hilarious farce about love, Ireland and pigs.
The story begins a short time after the first book's dramatic climax. Kitty and Kieran have married and moved into Castle Kissane, an ancient structure (something between a fortress and a barn) with a horrifying past. While the turret might seem a perfect place for Kitty to write her "corrections" of famous novels (in which the original writers have somehow gotten their plots wrong), she soon discovers that her new home is haunted. As if ghosts weren't enough to disturb her concentration, the castle is due to blow itself up--at any moment.
While The Pig Comes to Dinner features an engaging cast of characters, it is not quite as funny as The Pig Did It. For all her quirkiness, Kitty is not a strong enough central character to hold the plot together. Aaron, the lovelorn writer (now turned swineherd), was sorely missed in this book, not only for his truly over-the-top self pity, but for the contrast that his uniquely American perspective provided in The Pig Did It. In spite of its flaws, this is a book well worth reading. Caldwell is a gifted writer, and his dry, ironic wit is without compare. I look forward to reading the last book in the trilogy.
The story begins a short time after the first book's dramatic climax. Kitty and Kieran have married and moved into Castle Kissane, an ancient structure (something between a fortress and a barn) with a horrifying past. While the turret might seem a perfect place for Kitty to write her "corrections" of famous novels (in which the original writers have somehow gotten their plots wrong), she soon discovers that her new home is haunted. As if ghosts weren't enough to disturb her concentration, the castle is due to blow itself up--at any moment.
While The Pig Comes to Dinner features an engaging cast of characters, it is not quite as funny as The Pig Did It. For all her quirkiness, Kitty is not a strong enough central character to hold the plot together. Aaron, the lovelorn writer (now turned swineherd), was sorely missed in this book, not only for his truly over-the-top self pity, but for the contrast that his uniquely American perspective provided in The Pig Did It. In spite of its flaws, this is a book well worth reading. Caldwell is a gifted writer, and his dry, ironic wit is without compare. I look forward to reading the last book in the trilogy.
June 7, 2016
I originally bought book 1 and 2 of this pig trilogy, book 1 had received great reviews and I figured I would want to read all three. However after reading the first book, the Pig Did It, I was greatly disappointed as I didn't enjoy that book at all. Then I didn't want to read this book, I actually dreaded it. But since I had it, I decided I might as well. I have to admit, I was pleasantly surprised. This plot seemed much more plausible than the first plot. I also found the main characters in book 2 to be far less annoying that the characters in book 1, even Kitty who was a main character in both is more enjoyable to read about in this book. It appears that the writers writing style has evolved from book 1 to book 2 and I appreciated that.
As for the book itself, I did enjoy the plot, however the pace of the book is slow, no real action, no real drama, but interesting. The pigs involvement in this book is less comical than the first book but I still enjoyed hearing of his mischief, although I wasn't sure why the author felt the need to label her a lesbian?
In closing I would say I didn't love the book, but I liked it and I certainly liked it far more than The Pig Did It.
As for the book itself, I did enjoy the plot, however the pace of the book is slow, no real action, no real drama, but interesting. The pigs involvement in this book is less comical than the first book but I still enjoyed hearing of his mischief, although I wasn't sure why the author felt the need to label her a lesbian?
In closing I would say I didn't love the book, but I liked it and I certainly liked it far more than The Pig Did It.
September 3, 2011
This novel is one of the more unique books I have read lately. The main character is an Irish author who specializes in writing "corrections" of famous novels - writing them the way they should have been written. For example, in her correction of Jane Eyre "...it is Rochester who throws himself from the attic in despair over Jane's rejection of a bigamous marriage, after which Jane, with her goodness and kindness, tames the Madwoman, and the two of them create for themselves a life of calm contentment fulfilled by weaving, making pottery, and the practice of animal husbandry." What a great antidote for those of us who always felt that the Madwoman in the Attic did not get quite what she deserved in the original version. Kitty, the author, and her husband, Kieran, move into an ancient castle that they discover is inhabited by ghosts of two young lovers who were killed by the ancestor of an English lord who, in this novel, comes to try to claim the castle. This is a book begging to be read out loud, with its Irish cadence, emotion and humor. I never would have guessed the ending, and it leaves me wondering how the third book in the Pig Trilogy will even start!
June 3, 2012
This is the second book in the Pig Trilogy. This novel focuses on Kitty McCloud and her new husband Kiernan. They have recently purchased a castle as their home. But this home is inhabited by a pair of ghost lovers, hanged when a plot to blow up the castle went awry. Kitty first sees the ghosts thanks to the pig. As they learn more about the ghosts, each one of them is drawn to the ghost of the opposite sex. They learn from the local witch that it was their ancestors that are to blame for these two getting caught. Things get complicated when the descendant of the feudal lord who hanged the two lovers shows up with evidence that the castle belongs to him. The ghosts are terrorized by his appearance. When Kitty and Kiernan discover the method by which the castle was rigged to blow, again, thanks to the pig, each must decide whether to go peaceably or to carry out the plan that their ancestors never did. While I liked this one much better than the previous book in the series, it still had some issues for me. I do plan to read the third and final book in the series.
September 10, 2016
So Mr. Caldwell is in his 80s, gay, and decided to write humorous novels for a change. Yippee!
Kitty McCloud "corrects" novels. That is, she rewrites them in a modern idiom, what an excellent concept!
There's Kitty and Kieran, and Aaron and Lolly, and Brid and Taddy, who were hung, wrongly, about 200 years ago, in Kitty and Kieran's Castle Kissane, in County Cork, Ireland. And, of course, The Pig. Unnamed. Father Colavin is called, but exorcisms are only to deal with bad ghosts. Then there's Lord Shaftoe, who seems to have a indisputable prior claim on the castle. Then there's the Seer, Mrs. McCloskey, and her son, Peter, who assists . . .
Ah, "forever wilt thou love, and she be fair."
Altogether a GREAT story! I wish he'd write more like these!
Kitty McCloud "corrects" novels. That is, she rewrites them in a modern idiom, what an excellent concept!
There's Kitty and Kieran, and Aaron and Lolly, and Brid and Taddy, who were hung, wrongly, about 200 years ago, in Kitty and Kieran's Castle Kissane, in County Cork, Ireland. And, of course, The Pig. Unnamed. Father Colavin is called, but exorcisms are only to deal with bad ghosts. Then there's Lord Shaftoe, who seems to have a indisputable prior claim on the castle. Then there's the Seer, Mrs. McCloskey, and her son, Peter, who assists . . .
Ah, "forever wilt thou love, and she be fair."
Altogether a GREAT story! I wish he'd write more like these!
August 29, 2009
Newly-wed life-long enemies Kitty McCloud and Kieran Sweeney have moved into Shaftoe Castle, cursed by the unjust deaths of two young people at the hands of Lord Shaftoe hundreds of years before. They are surprised to find the ghosts of the dead youth and girl haunting the castle, and even more surprised when they each realize that they have fallen in love with one of the ghosts. Then the current Lord Shaftoe appears, claiming that he alone owns the castle. Can Kitty and Kieran leave their beloved ghosts to the heir of the man who killed them? Or can they find the gunpowder said to be hidden in the castle and blow it up, setting the ghosts' spirits free? Second in the trilogy.
December 20, 2011
This is the second in a series of books...maybe I would have liked it better if I'd read the first one. In this book, an Irish couple owns a castle that is haunted by two young people who were hanged there. Only the couple, and the pig they got as a wedding gift, can see the ghosts. This book purports to be along the comedic lines but I didn't think it was particularly funny. There is a bit of a mystery in the book, and some drama when an ancestor of the castle's original owner shows up claiming to still own it. However, I just couldn't relate to the characters, and I was hoping based on the title that there would be some hilarity around the pig, but not to be.
December 9, 2016
A fun followup to "The Pig Did it." The second in the trilogy, "The Pig Comes to Dinner," begs the question, "In what form--as entre or guest?" Another delightful book, it introduces two new other-worldly characters, Brid and Taddy. Caldwell has a fine-tuned sense of humor, but I'm afraid I missed a lot of it by not having previously read George Elliot's "The Mill on the Floss." Caldwell understands well the stereotype of the Irish Storeyteller! I'm eager to read the third in the trilogy, "The Pig Goes to Hog Heaven," where I suspect the lines between the realms are even further obliterated!
February 8, 2011
I loved this book even more than the first! I can't wait to read book 3! I must say what happened to the pig was an unpleasant surprise I'm still not over. For a second I wanted to laugh, but only for a second! Then I was just overcome with shock & outrage. I can't believe Mr. Caldwell did that to that adorable pig! I loved him so! He was the best pig there ever was. He will be missed. :( Mr. Caldwell you broke my heart. But I still love you. The writing in this book was excellent. The humor top-notch. Loved it!
June 1, 2009
This was the second book in this series. The wayward pig is not so much a character as a foil for pulling all of the other characters together. I loved this story of Kieran and Kitty setting up housekeeping in an old castle with a troubled past. Each passage was something to savor, laugh about or read out loud to others.
I eagerly anticipate the third book, but I have to wonder at the connection, given the ending of this second one...
I eagerly anticipate the third book, but I have to wonder at the connection, given the ending of this second one...
June 23, 2015
I was at work and needed something to pass the time during my student’s independent work time, and this title caught my eye. It was a fun read. One issue I had was with the narrator. What she said was true for a character, and what the character did, didn't always match. I couldn't figure out if I was supposed to be reading a very biased narrator (a la Wuthering Heights) or if the author just didn't notice the inconsistencies.
February 27, 2011
The pig returns in this second volume of the trilogy. The four main characters from the first book are now paired off and married. Kitty and Kiernan, the McCloud-Sweeney feud behind them, are setting up residence in an old castle. Should they believe the tales of a gunpowder plot, hanged young lovers, and ghosts? The pig leaves Lolly and Aaron's care to set things right at the castle. Wonderful comic novel, with lilting language that begs to be read aloud.
November 23, 2013
This is the second book in a trilogy.
This book was a little wordy for what it was trying to achieve. Nonetheless, it was entertaining. We find out how the feud began between Kitty and Kieran (who are now newlyweds) and we find out what happened to the pig (comical and sad all at once). I really liked the device of the two ghosts haunting the castle and why they were there. The fantastical imagery and the overbearing history seem very Irish to me. I'm on hold for part III!
This book was a little wordy for what it was trying to achieve. Nonetheless, it was entertaining. We find out how the feud began between Kitty and Kieran (who are now newlyweds) and we find out what happened to the pig (comical and sad all at once). I really liked the device of the two ghosts haunting the castle and why they were there. The fantastical imagery and the overbearing history seem very Irish to me. I'm on hold for part III!
December 31, 2014
It's all about ghosts, pigs, dynamite, writers block, castles, property battles, pompous men and dry Irish humour. Not sure what more to say about it. Didn't hate it, didn't love it, glad I read it. It felt at times like having a conversation with my late brother who was full of wonderful flowery language and dry jokes, with me sitting smiling and nodding as my head tries to digest the overload of information coming at me. Not for everyone but still a nice read.
June 21, 2011
i think i liked the first one better (the pig did it) tho there were some elements of this one that were just as entertaining. (i do love the irish flair for storytelling...the long paragraphs on the lordship's drooping body, for example, cracked me up.) i did like the romantic "goth" element of mournful, pitiful ghosts, but the ending didn't quite satisfy.
September 4, 2012
I can't believe this book was only reviewed 49 times! It brightened my year when it came out. I looked forward to it, the second in the series (the first being The Pig Did It). Written with sly humor, it is one of the most unique novels I have read in a very long time. Put it on your list, but read the first in the series before you do so.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 72 reviews