Second printing: June 20, 2020
Author’s Note (Second Printing)
Wording. The second printing of T.C. O’Connor
incorporates corrections and improvements to the wording and to the dialogue in
several of the chapters. The story is the same but suggestions from constructive
critics have made the book better and more readable than it was. In particular,
the author acknowledges the valuable contributions from James A. McGrath for
his careful, detailed review of the text.
Word
count. At slightly more
than 115 thousand words (not including the Author’s Notes), the book is but a
third of a Stephen King novel. However, T.C. O’Connor is
lengthier than publications from other popular authors such as Hank Phillippi Ryan and Daniel Silva.
The
extra paragraphs are well justified by the author’s literary style. He uses the
words and the actions of the characters to convey an understanding of their
strengths and flaws. His approach is considered to be
more interesting and effective than relying on a declarative statement that a
character is a good mechanic or an honorable or an evil individual.
It
requires extra pages of text but the deeds and conversations of the characters
allow readers to become thoroughly aware of (1) the supreme competence of the
defense attorney, (2) the well-deserved respect that a woman enjoys among her friends,
colleagues, and family, (3) the knack an automobile mechanic has for making a
troublesome engine run smoothly again, and (4) the contrasting personalities of
two delightful teenage girls to mention just four of the interesting
individuals who populate the story.
There are also the bad guys who must not be
forgotten. The author describes the evil in their hearts by allowing the reader
to observe behaviors that reflect misogynist and racist attitudes as well as
murderous intensions.
Character. The reader must ponder a contradiction in
the principle protagonist. His life’s story reflects an incongruity that is
often observed in real life.
Ted O’Connor is not scholarly by the
standard of academic achievements. However, when it comes time for him to be a teacher,
it is clear that he is an educated individual. He
wants his apprentices to understand that to be truly competent at your trade
means to understand much more than job-related recipes for doing the work. For
Ted O’Connor, even the ecological and historical components of automotive
repair are integral to a satisfying career.
By his choice of friends and companions,
Ted O’Connor seems to be blissfully unaware of racial and cultural biases. It
is a strange attitude in an age of endemic intolerance. Could it be a studied
ignorance?
Value. Go to amazon dot com and enter O’Connor by Eoghain Connor
Darragh in the search field. You will find the novel to be worth the
acquisition. It would also be a well-received choice for a book club and as a
gift to a friend or relative for a special occasion or for no reason at all.
Eoghain Connor Darragh
June 20, 2020