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A Game of Throw-ins is the sixteenth episode in Paul Howard’s chronicle of everybody’s favourite moron in a pair of dubes: Ross O’Carroll-Kelly. When comparing it to the first book in the series, what’s staggering is that there is as much here that’s completely new to long time readers as there are things that are familiar. The landscape, and indeed times, that Ross inhabits have changed dramatically. That will always remain to me the most impressive element of the seemingly immortal Ross O’ Carroll-Kelly saga – its adaptability. Considering this is a series based around a one-dimensional gimmick – affluent 90’s kids playing rugby – not only has it survived the recession, it has actually mutated and thrived. The recession forced Ross out of his comfort zone, shaking up his Groundhog Day existence, where nothing ever changed and every page in each new book was about rugby, girls or alcohol. Ever since NAMA Mia! in 2011, the adventures of Ross have felt more awake, and the world he explores is a far more exciting and varied one. This latest title in the series, A Game of Throw-ins, might just take the cake in terms of exoticism, when the Rossmeister finds himself playing division 2B rugby for Seapoint “in – let’s be honest – Ballybrack”.
While Ross remains very much front and centre as always, A Game of Throw-ins feels more like an ensemble story than the last few instalments. With his old friends absent for the majority of the novel, the focus falls on his immediate family. His daughter Honour becomes infatuated at the tender age of seven with a Justin Bieber lookalike. The resulting hilarious storyline involves alcoholism, head-locks and entrapment. His father Charles discovers a wig in his attic and slowly transforms into Dennis O’Brien. Meanwhile, his old dear – “the focking fish” – becomes engaged to a multi-billionaire, senile American in his nineties. Their marriage in a boat off the coast of Dalkey is one of the highlights of the book, and the development of Ross and his mother’s relationship from their usual passive- aggressive hatred into something more nuanced is yet another example of these characters genuinely growing and changing as time goes by.
Without a doubt, however, Ross’ son Ronan is the standout support character in A Game of Throw-ins. Despite having to study for the Leaving Cert, he starts a Love/Hate bus tour with his friends Nudger and Buckets of Blood. Things rapidly escalate when his tour clashes with another Love/Hate tour run by the appropriately named Scum. The feud’s increasingly violent set of retaliations fuels Ronan’s paranoia and North-side accent until he eventually becomes the embodiment of Nidge, shaven head and all. As Ronan’s character becomes more and more fleshed out and charismatic, it’s not impossible to imagine a novel in the saga eventually being told from his perspective. He may even become the flagship character, succeeding Ross and his ever-expanding belly.
A Game of Throw-ins is not the best title in the series, but it’s a solid entry nonetheless. The overarching themes of time, change and broken families are balanced perfectly against the hilarious antics of Ross and his lunatic family. The older Ross becomes, the more interesting and nuanced a character he’s proving to be. This novel however, belongs to the people he loves more than to him. Here’s hoping that in the next novel Sorcha finally gets an interesting storyline of her own.
