Lord of the Rams: Media Coverage - 24 September 2009

This review of Lord of the Rams originally appeared on 24 September 2009 on the Culch.ie website. Lord of the Rams is the autobiography / memoir / autohagiography of a Munterconnaught, Co. Cavan native named Ronan Smith. He¡¯s known to his mates as a variety of names: ¡°Rambo¡±, ¡°Rams¡±, ¡°the Rams¡±, and sometimes, but very rarely, Ronan. Note: he¡¯s not to be confused with me. I don¡¯t have the bizarre habit of referring to myself in the third person, like Bob Dole, The Rock, or the all-time champion illeist Rickey Henderson.

Smith (I¡¯m not going to call him ¡°the Rams¡±, as he does throughout his book) was born in 1978, and the book concerns his life and times as a County Cavan tearaway. His school days were a series of tall tales, particularly the torture himself and his schoolmates caused for their teachers, parents, priest, pets, and well, everyone really.

In fact, the book itself is just one tall tale after another, something which never really ingratiates the author/narrator/¡±the Rams¡± to the reader. The Rams character seems to have no flaws at all, and if he could have admitted to certain failings, Smith¡¯s memoir would have been much more believable, and as a result, more entertaining.

That said, people of a certain age (mid- to late-twenties) will find his rural tales enchanting, and will reminisce about the good old days, such as when Houghton scored that wonderful lob over Pagliuca in World Cup 94. Parts of the book are quite funny, and it contains a whole host of wonderful supporting characters.

Article by Ronan Hunt-Murphy

Read the review at www.culch.ie.