"Fellows like yourself": fathers in John McGahern's short stories"
John McGahern’s Memoir, All Will Be Well (2006) confirmed what many readers had long suspected: the tyrannical, moody, abusive father figure that dominates the novels and short stories is modelled closely on the author’s own father, Frank McGahern. The memoir reveals in elaborate detail that the oft...
Tallennettuna:
| Julkaisussa: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/jsse, |
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| Päätekijä: | |
| Aineistotyyppi: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
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Journal of the Short Story in English
2010
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| Linkit: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Yhteenveto: | John McGahern’s Memoir, All Will Be Well (2006) confirmed what many readers had long suspected: the tyrannical, moody, abusive father figure that dominates the novels and short stories is modelled closely on the author’s own father, Frank McGahern. The memoir reveals in elaborate detail that the often detestable behavior of the fictional fathers and their repugnant emotional and psychological traits were, in fact, those of McGahern’s own father. Two of the stories - “The Stoat” and “The Key” – are taken nearly whole cloth from incidents in Frank McGahern’s life, while other stories mix incidents described in the memoir with apparently imagined ones to recreate a faithful portrait of Frank McGahern. All Will Be Well also contains passages that comment on the McGahern’s father-son relationship and are, therefore, helpful in understanding the significance of McGahern’s obsession with the father figure. |
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