Puckoon: 05/05/07

The small village of Puckoon finds itself in the middle of the border dispute between Ireland and Northern Ireland. The village itself is in Ireland but the British have redrawn the border, placing the cemetery into Northern Ireland. That's the premise for this very silly novel by Spike Milligan.

Having a border check point in a cemetery leads to ingenious scenes like dead being sent for passport photos before they can be buried. It also leads to more serious things like arms smuggling in the coffins (though to disastrous and hilarious results).

Beyond the politics of Irish border (which really is as confusing as described in the book) Milligan includes numerous puns and a self aware main character who is continuously berating the author for his descriptive abilities. The protagonist hates the legs the author has given him.

Puckoon is one of those rare books that I was compelled to finish once I'd started it. I read it in the course of an hour as it's such a short book. I did have to stop a couple times to laugh.

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