▁and ▁turn - of - the - century ▁Dublin ▁for ▁Parad iso . ▁ ▁The ▁tone ▁of ▁the ▁book ▁is ▁pre domin ately ▁an ec dot al ▁and ▁convers ational ; ▁much ▁of ▁its ▁action ▁consists ▁of ▁l ively ▁accounts ▁of ▁dinner ▁parties , ▁lun che ons , ▁" at - hom es ", ▁pub ▁convers ations , ▁and ▁chance ▁meet ings , ▁allowing ▁G og art y ▁to ▁draw ▁v ivid ▁port ra its ▁of ▁his ▁contempor aries ▁by ▁reprodu cing ▁their ▁speech ▁patterns ▁and ▁characteristic ▁social ▁interactions . ▁ ▁G og art y ▁also ▁frequently ▁emb arks ▁on ▁hum orous , ▁r amb ling ▁narr ative ▁mon olog ues , ▁per tain ing ▁to ▁other ▁characters , ▁to ▁the ▁landscape , ▁and ▁to ▁various ▁sal ient ▁issues ▁of ▁the ▁time . ▁ ▁While ▁not ▁strictly ▁po lem ical , ▁As ▁I ▁Was ▁Go ing ▁Down ▁S ack ville ▁Street ▁is ▁notable ▁for ▁its ▁political ▁over ton es , ▁expressed ▁in ▁both ▁G og art y ' s ▁mon olog ues ▁and ▁in ▁the ▁speech es ▁he ▁places ▁in ▁the ▁mouth s ▁of ▁other ▁characters . ▁ ▁As ▁a ▁Catholic ▁with ▁strong ▁intellectual ▁and ▁personal ▁t ies ▁to ▁the ▁Ang lo - I r ish ▁As c end ancy , ▁a ▁found ing ▁member ▁of ▁S inn ▁F é in ▁with ▁a ▁deep ▁dev otion ▁to ▁Arthur ▁Griff ith , ▁and ▁a ▁Free ▁State ▁Senator ▁who ▁had ▁suffered ▁kid n apping ▁and ▁ar son ▁at ▁the ▁hands ▁of ▁I RA ▁gun men