The Irish RM: A Summary

Our Foxhunting Book Club read Some Experiences of an Irish RM by Somerville and Ross.  Several of us also read Further Experiences of an Irish RM and In Mr. Knox's Country which feature the same characters.  In the hope of assisting other reading groups, here are some comments about the books.

The Irish RM was hilarious, with clever characterizations and social commentary as well as good-natured, somewhat tongue-in-cheek descriptions of horses, horse sports and horse people in early 20th Century Ireland. Neither historical context nor dialects were impediments to understanding the events or getting the humor. I thoroughly enjoyed it and would recommend it to anyone who loves fox hunting. 

Another comment:

Delightfully entertaining! . . .I found the first chapter hilarious! I laughed out loud! I find the book very entertaining. I find myself . . . being on the outside looking in and wishing I was participating in the shenanigans.

Here's my take (CM):

I believe that I saw the BBC television program first and then sought out the books and read them.  That was years ago.  When I read them again recently, I enjoyed them more than I expected.  They really are humorous and that is very appealing to me.  Several people in our reading group did not like the stories that were not about hunting and horses.  I liked almost all the stories but one could argue for a foxhunters version of selected stories.
I liked the fact that the stories are self-contained but have a recurring cast of characters.  (The stories were originally published as magazine pieces.)  For some reason, I found the second half of the second book less pleasing but some of the best hunting stories are in the third book.

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