Another Challenging Irish Author

The first being James Joyce, of course, and the second being Joseph O'Connor.  I know it's a terribly political thing to compare an author to James Joyce, but I don't really care because:

1. I'm only doing it only on the basis that they're both Irish, and they both require a smidgen of brain power to read...and
2. the similarities end there, perhaps, since I've only read Dubliners, and have enjoyed O'Connor more than Joyce (largely due to a perceived arrogance I pick up from Joyce).

Oh Joyce, may I someday be able to look past my
irritations and appreciate your literary genius. (credit)

Although, I'd guess that my current distractibility level in my reading life has something to do with it also.  I miss reading dreadfully, and though I am getting back into it, it has been a slow process.  I need to be reading something fairly light and engaging, and yet I can barely keep up with my obligatory book-group selections.

Joseph O'Connor (photo credit)

Currently I'm reading Joseph O'Connor's Redemption Falls for a discussion this coming weekend.  Having read (and looooved) Star of the Sea, my friend and myself decided to join the city of Dublin in 2011 for their One City, One Book event, and read his book Ghost Light.  I never wrote about that book in depth, not because of a lack of enjoyment, but because there was so much to digest.  Loosely based on the love affair between the great Irish playwright John Millington Synge and the Abbey Theatre actress Molly Allgood, Ghost Light not only told an amazingly captivating story, but told it in a unique, almost experimental, way.  A reading experience to be certain.

Redemption Falls is about Irish Americans in the aftermath of the American Civil War, and at page 77 I have very little real idea of what is happening...not a good sign.  Like I said, my brain simply isn't up for it right now.  It's making me want to read some nonfiction (straightforward, right?) or something humorous (easily digestible, yeah?) but I must keep on reading for I have nearly 400 pages left to turn before next weekend hits.  Problem is, time crunch + not really knowing who any of the characters are = flipping pages without being invested.  I wanted to love this book, but it isn't happening so far.

  

For the Record: September 2012

I can always tell when I am not getting enough time to read by the sharp increase in the amount of books I purchase.  Book buying represents my yearnings more than it does my reality.

While September is often a light reading month (school starting and all that jazz) this one has been my lightest reading month in years.  Really, the least amount ever since I've emerged from my baby/toddler years.  I blame it on kids, and remodels, and finally moving next weekend, and having old friends move in down the street, and recently becoming addicted to knitting.  Still and all, I'm hoping October sees an increase in books read!

2 Books Read in September: (83 year-to-date)
2 for Book Club:
  - Moloka'i, Alan Brennert (3.5)
  - Into the Blue, Robert Goddard (3.5)

  

1 DNF:
Perhaps it just isn't the right timing, but I began reading this aloud to my girls, and after a magnificent intro, this one just left me bored.  Too bad it's a Newbery Medal book, because I have a sort of personal challenge to read all those.  Right now though, dropping the challenge altogether sounds more appealing than forcing my way through a boring book.



2 Current Reads:
  - Annie Dunne, Sebastian Barry.  This is what I was reading before the ultra-craziness hit.  I've picked it back up (tentatively) and am working on it bit by bit.  It's a slim novel, but takes silence for me to really appreciate it.
  - Redemption Falls, Joseph O'Connor.  I've barely ventured into this one, but I'll get there.

 

On My Nightstand:
Ugh.  I don't know where I'm going.  I really wanted to join the Les Miserables read-along, but--as you may agree--I've made the responsible choice to bow out considering my current reading situation.  Also, as I mentioned above, I've been purchasing books left and right, so I've a dearth of new reading material to choose from.  But I'm not committed to anything right now.  I'll wait and see which way the winds blow.