The Van, by Roddy Doyle, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize in 1991, is the third book in the trilogy of a working-class Irish family (the Rabbittees), who live in the fictional Barrytown area of Dublin. The Commitments and The Snapper were the previous two books in the series, but The Snapper and The Van are really like two parts of the one book, so to appreciate the latter properly, I would advise you to read The Snapper first, as you will then know the characters and have a better understanding of the setting and the background.
The Van centres on the despair of unemployment, and how it can bring friends and families together, but also tear them apart.
PLOT.
Jimmy Rabbittee Snr has lost his job and feels totally useless. There is no money for anything, least of all Christmas presents, and having to rely on the charity of friends does not sit well with him at all. Then one of his friends, Bimbo, who is also out of work, comes up with the great idea of buying a Chip Van, as he believes there is a market for carry-out fast-food outside the local pub. So Jimmy and Bimbo become partners in this new business venture, but Bimbo’s wife feels superior, and starts dishing out orders to them both, and the friendship then becomes very fragile. There are various sub-plots, involving other family members, constantly intertwining throughout the book, but to divulge any more here would spoil it for those yet to read the book.
The Van, like the others in the Barrytown trilogy, is written in conversations between the characters, with little background description, at a very fast pace, until the Van arrives. The pace then slows a bit with more descriptive, conventional writing.
So basically, The Van focuses on the poverty and everyday struggles that accompany unemployment in working-class Dublin, and how close friendships can shatter when becoming too involved in business ventures. It once again shows Doyle’s ability to show real life, where ordinary people lose their jobs, cheat when on diets, and laugh and cry just like the rest of us.