First published in 1844, The Memoirs of Barry Lyndon, Esq. by Thackeray is a picaresque novel also known as The Luck of Barry Lyndon. It chronicles the life of impoverished Redmond Barry, an Irishman who wants to be an English aristocrat. An opportunist, rake, and gambler, he serves in the Seven Years War, first under the English flag and then, for money, in the Prussian Army. Continuing to play with his luck, he gains wealth in the beginning but eventually is punished for his many lovable imperfections.

This book examines key issues in transnational cinema, film aesthetics, and Irish history through a reading of Stanley Kubrick's Barry Lyndon (1975).