A wonderful christmas listen

Any additional comments?

I really enjoyed this book as my month of December listening from Audible. It was a great warm up for the holiday season. The quirky stories are jumble of funny silliness and difficulties of every day life. The reader gets the feeling and mood of Ireland from the past. Much like a James Herriot book but with human patients. Highly recommended.

39 people found this helpful

Simply marvelous!

I stumbled upon this marvelous series by Patrick Taylor who depicts life in Ballybuckleboo a village in County Down in the 1960's. The two main likable characters are Dr. Barry Laverty, a recent graduate who is spending his first real job as an assistant to the sightly irascible but genuinely kind-hearted Dr. Fingal O'Reilly. They share the office practice in this rural setting and as they serve as country doctors they also nurture a budding friendship. Both men live in the same residence which also acts as their surgery and they are "looked after" by a delightful, witty middle age housekeeper, "Kinky" Kincaid.
If you want to get in the Christmas spirit, this is a dependable way of doing it - reading "An Irish Country Christmas". But don't miss the other books in the series; they are well worth the listen.
Speaking of listening, John Keating is an absolutely splendid narrator.He brings all the characters to life, no easy task with the wide ranging Irish accents,and transports the listener smack in the middle of Ballybuckleboo.

11 people found this helpful

Perfect holiday listening

The setting: holidaying on the tropical beaches of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia.

Wanted: the ideal holiday book: engaging characters who are in caring, construction relationships (that is, not maiming and killing) and who live in an interesting community.

The narrator: sympathetic reader with convincing characterisation
.
Solution: Patrick Taylor’s An Irish Country Christmas and An Irish Country Courtship.

I’d already read and thoroughly enjoyed An Irish Country Doctor and my holiday decision to continue the series did not disappoint.

John Keating’s gentle Irish accented narration comfortably changes to create voices that become intrinsic to each character.

Taylor, himself an eminent doctor, clearly enjoys writing these books. He devises a wonderful little village in Ireland, fascinating medical scenarios, interesting relationships and gentle humour. We are drawn into a delightful world fuelled by people the author clearly admires or dislikes. It is enriched with medical knowledge and nostalgia for world of the 1960s where intuition and care played key roles -- and doctors made home visits.

10 people found this helpful

I want to go to BallyBuckleBo

A charming glimpse at an Irish village - filled with characters and curmudgeons - people whom I would love to know in person. Spend some time in BallyBuckleBo (sp?) - you won't regret it.

9 people found this helpful

Too much bad language!

What would have made An Irish Country Christmas better?

I could only listen to a small bit of this book. There was just too much swearing. Bad language really puts me off.

What was most disappointing about Patrick Taylor’s story?

I was looking forward to lovely Irish characters; lilting brogues, laughter and warmth in a series that i could settle into and anjoy over and over but bad language renders a book unreadable for me.

Any additional comments?

I was so looking forward to a lovely Irish series that could settle down and savour like Herriot or D. E. Stevenson or Miss Read. I wish this series were more like them.

7 people found this helpful

i wish i were there

well i have another hard back to buy. this author is a marvel. i feel as tho i am with the doctors as they make there way through life. this book is a must read. this author has a way of keeping me enthralled in the story and very happy to be so. i am waitting, hopefuly not to long, for the next "volume". thank you

7 people found this helpful

A companionable book

What made the experience of listening to An Irish Country Christmas the most enjoyable?

The book was well narrated

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Fairly predicable

What does John Keating bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The accent and pronunciation of the Irish names and places

If you could take any character from An Irish Country Christmas out to dinner, who would it be and why?

The old doctor he was brash, had a good dose of common sense mixed with humour and he lived in a time when honour still meant something.

Any additional comments?

The book it not a page turner, but if you want something pleasant and undemanding that gives a a warm feeling, then you will enjoy this.

4 people found this helpful

Disappointed

This wasn't an all-together BAD audio presentation...at least the part that I actually got through. It was one of those odd situations where I got about 3/4 of the way through it...and I just didn't care anymore. I was really hoping for something along the lines of Maeve Binchy, but this didn't really come close. The narration was entertaining enough, but I found the characters to be predictable, the story to be tired, and all in all, I stopped listening because I wanted to spend my time on something better. No doubt there are legions of fans, but alas, I am not one of them.

2 people found this helpful

Wonderful!

In a time when there is so much strife in he world, it is comforting to retreat into the warm and loving neighborhood of Ballybucklebo.

1 person found this helpful

DELIGHTFUL!

Colorful characters and rich, descriptive language draws the listener in to the small village of Ballybucklebo at Christmas time. I loved escaping to a simpler time and place.

1 person found this helpful