Aiden O’Reilly is almost faultless in his presentation of a certain way of life much of the world has probably encountered, in one way or another, but may never have paid much attention to. Greetings, Hero is a collection of short stories detailing alienated lives of O’Reilly’s male-dominated world, through events of unstable European emigration, the legacy of the Roman Empire, one night stands, the breaking of family ties and fabricated love. Each story shows a character, not always the protagonist, defeating something overpowering; the hero emerges, with no judgement on whether this is actually positive. The result is an interesting read.
The strongest point of O’Reilly’s prose is how it forms in a way which makes the book seem unfinished. Every story feels part of some never-revealed greater tale. In a Catcher in the Rye manner, the stories aren’t overly spectacular or exciting. They are undeniably intriguing, however, with O’Reilly’s focus on specific details and planned ambiguities crafting an experience where the reader is completely absorbed. Greetings, Hero ends with an anti-climax, in an equally un-Catcher in the Rye way, when it is revealed that there is no grand fate left for the characters; mere normality remains, aside from the realisation that they are changed, somehow.
The fifteen stories in Greetings, Hero seem linked. Human nature prevails over any concept of place, in stories where the setting is known to the reader. For instance, there are stark parallels between Polish characters, like Silent Michal in the title story, and characters in Ireland, like Simon in ‘The Laundry Key Process.’ Both are socially excluded, obsessive, and are slowly being integrated into society. The protagonists find themselves unhealthily involved in the curious lives of Silent Michal and Simon, to a point in which they are too intrigued to walk away. It is unclear whether these parallels come as a result of a lack of imagination, or whether they contain a comment on the extent of human nature and how it is not subject to defined places. If it’s the latter it’s wonderfully done. O’Reilly is so confident in describing this almost absent world, raising the question of how much could be inspired by O’Reilly’s life through urban Ireland and Poland, where the majority of stories are set.
Though the title story to Greetings, Hero is the longest and probably the most fascinating, it’s far from a potential favourite. Like ‘Self-Assembly,’ ‘Concrete Triumphant’ and ‘Unfinished Business,’ the huge successes in the writing are overwhelmed by a certain uncomfortable nature. ‘Self-Assembly’ describes a man who literally orders a flat-pack woman to build into a girlfriend. After weeks of putting parts together, moulding her into the perfect shape and helping her learn to move, speak and make up her own mind, she rebels. This literal objectification of women leads to disappointment as the female role is initially deemed as weak. In fact, most of the women in the book are seen as inferior. However, this book is an insight into the lives of alienated men with little regard for romantic sincerity, which is maybe the only reason behind this. ‘Concrete Triumphant’ presents a bullying, abusive father and his victimised son. After enduring his father’s erratic behaviour, the son dreams of a life away from him. While working on a house, the son is asked to securing the flooring; his insecure work results in his father’s fall to his death. The blunt ending raises the question: Did he do this on purpose? There is no answer. ‘Unfinished Business’ shows an outright creepy man trying to rediscover his youth by flirting with 17 year olds in sleazy clubs and recollecting lost stories of his adolescence. It’s uncomfortable, unneeded, and undeniably well written.
Greetings, Hero could do with a few less stories; some are far more memorable than others. It’s not something I would usually read, nor does it contain stories I could cherish, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t enjoy it; I enjoyed it increasingly more the further into the stories I read. As a piece of literature it is a success, a brilliant debut for Aiden O’Reilly.
Words by Caitlin O’Connor