Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is a novel by Irish writer Roddy Doyle. It was published in 1993 and received the Booker Proze later that year.
Tge story is about a ten-year-old boy living in Barrytown, North Dublin, in 1968, and tells of the events that happen within his age group, home and school. He details especially his relationship with his younger brother Sinbad, his parents and his school friends, beginning with his roaming Barrytown mischeviously and ending one year later with his father leaving the family, forcing Paddy to grow up early and take on some of his father's responsibilities in the newly single-parent home.
The novel is known for its interesting use of language using a register that gives the impression of coming from a ten year old boy in the late 'sixties; the novel is not do used into traditional chapters but into small scenes and vignettes with no particular chronology. Despite the absence of a definitive plot, it is still possible to derive a passing of time and a gradual changing of Barrytown and its residents.
The novel chronicles Paddy's preternaturally hastened internal journey towards maturity and deals with a growing up that is hard and bitter. The beginning of the novel shows a fun loving boy with no particular worries but the dismantling of his parents' marriage weigh heavily as the story progresses. The tragedy in this novel is that Paddy does not choose his own coming-of-age experience but has it thrust upon him when his parents become estranged, and his happy go lucky days of childhood are abruptly taken.
