If I wasn't reading for book club and the book wasn't so short, I would have DNF'ed. I couldn't really tell most of the characters apart and the pov didn't allow me to connect to their emotional drive at all. ( )

3.5*

I found that this book, while enjoyable, was one of the few cases in which the movie adaptation was better than the original written version. Probably that's because of all the music which you can actually hear in the movie! Still, I am glad that I read this. ( )

Having never seen the movie of the same name, I had no idea what to expect from the book. Much the same way "The Full Monty" made me laugh out loud, so did The Commitments. It's a fun read. A lively group of young unemployed men and women want to be a band. They want to be famous and rake in the money, but they don't know what it takes. When they hire a manager the first thing he tells them is that they will be a soul band. The then instructs them to stretch themselves to find out what "soul" means to them: the streets? The act of getting outside one's self? What they learn is that relationships are hard and people are complicated. Doyle takes us through the first installment of the Barrytown trilogy with humor and grit. ( )

It’s a path less travelled for me to read a book that I first encountered in its film adaptation form. The Commitments (Vintage), Roddy Doyle’s debut novel, is not much more than a novella and anyone familiar with his writing will not be surprise to learn that most of this is dialogue. It’s the story of a group of young Dubliners with not many punts to rub together between them, or other prospects, trying to put a band together to deliver Soul music to the City. The characters and their insecurities are excellent and it’s easy to fall for them all over again on the page. The mix of teenagers and the odd, old stager is as warm and charming as it is funny, and the musical references are laid out for any fans of the genre. The Commitments is the first of the Barrytown Trilogy and I can now press on with a subsequent book, The Guts, which was written a couple of decades later and I understand revisits some of the band’s excellent characters. ( )

This is my second Roddy Doyle book, which was definitely lighter than A Star Called Henry. I found it humorous, irreverent, and reminiscent of the joy and angst experienced in adolescence and young adulthood. He also did a great job of capturing that feeling of wanting to transcend and be recognized....the hopeful and excited expectations of making music and sharing it.

It centers around a group of young people trying to start a soul band in Dublin. It is extremely character driven with little plot, which is hard for me…I need more narrative. I had not realized there is a movie, which I intend to see soon. I suspect this may be the type of story I’ll enjoy more in a film/visual format.

There is a rhythmic element to the dialogue and the interactions that was pleasant. However, for someone like me who does not play an instrument and can be a little tone deaf, some of it just went over my head. I did enjoy playing Sex Machine by James Brown as I read that section. 😂

There were some social commentaries that added depth and meaning to their experience as a start up band in Dublin that I also enjoyed.

Although it was funny and I can see myself liking it as a movie, I just did not feel connected to any of the characters. However, I do want to read more Roddy Doyle and “The Woman Who Walked into Doors” sounds like it’s more up my alley.

Enjoyable but not quite my cup of tea. ( )