| "It is refreshing
to read work of a quiet, contemporary tone, but which prods at the
depths beyond the comfort zone. He has a supple hold of brittle
things" - Frank Ronan |
"These
stories are full of old fashioned satisfactions; gripping and
beautifully written. Ridgway doesn't so much redraw the map as show us
what was there in the first place. He writes as though he has uncovered
something, not invented it; as though these tales, so completely new,
have been around for a long time." - Anne Enright |
“Ridgway
writes convincingly and with quiet certitude about the contemporary
Irish experience as lived in Ireland and abroad … a book to
salute and treasure.” Dermot Bolger, Sunday Tribune |
Standard Time consists of :
The
First Five Pages (click
to read)
Never Love A Gambler
Ross And Kinnder
The Dreams Of Mary Cleary
The Problem With German
Off Vico
How To Drown
The Ravages
Sick As A Dog, Sad As An Angel
Headwound
Shame
Angelo
Standard Time was awarded the Rooney Prize for Irish literature in 2001.
|
“The Irishman’s stories are
artful indeed - literary, yet not too showy, with a rolling, gathering
cadence that is mesmerising. The circumstances he examines
are wonderfully odd. Unusually for such a stylish,
descriptive writer, Mr Ridgway is also a master of
action.” “These flawlessly structured yarns are
told in such lovingly crafted prose.” “Echoing Joyce’s Dubliners,
this sequence of urban vignettes is strained with the rueful poetries
of love and squalor. It succeeds in mapping the districts and precincts
of Dublin to sketch a striking portrait of the city, valedictory in
spirit, yet brimming with edgy drama.” “Keith Ridgway is a talented writer,
whose chief concern in these twelve stories is to set his verbal
facility against his characters’ confinement in time and
place. His sentences are blessed with an energetic
imperative. His pacing is faultless, as is his choreography
of violence, of gestures towards tenderness and of “the noise
of the world spun out as a kind of song”.” “Keith Ridgway’s stories leave
you in no doubt you are in the presence of something weighty and
profound - a rare experience with the contemporary short story. He
offers a fresh perspective on what lies visible in human behaviour and
throws light on what is hidden.” |
“The most surprising and satisfying
stories are, curiously, the quietest in tone, concerned with ordinary,
terrifying lives… Ridgway writes with feeling and
near-absolute accuracy.” “A wry humour often informs
Ridgway’s writing and also a gentle understanding of the
nuances of human relationships. He is undoubtedly a gifted
writer, adept at creating complex, convincing characters in writing
that is fluid and un-showy. But perhaps his greatest
achievement is the Dublin he evokes: familiar yet still mysterious,
teeming with life, but always full of secrets.” “The powerful, memorable
stories in Standard Time resonate with uncluttered
sensibility and insight. The Problem with German,
in which a young man goes to Germany to visit his boyfriend, is a
superb portrait of modern relationships and of the experience of
insecurity. Ridgway has the rare gift of being able to hold up to the
light fragile things that in other hands would break." “Ridgway’s stories
reflect better than any work we have come across the tension between
the new wealth of Dublin and the underbelly of poverty. The pacing and
control of the cast of characters living out life in Dublin of the time
are manipulated with the confidence of an experienced
hand.” “Perhaps his stories strike a chord
because he gives words and shape to those feelings that are just beyond
our ken, just vanishing round a corner and yet palpable all the
same. It is at times difficult and challenging to have to
engage with this strange vision of our world. It is, though,
worth it in the end.” |