A Smattering of Irish Stories

March had me really missing Ireland, wishing I was there, and thus reading Irish literature as a way to make do.  I finished a small assortment of Irish books, and felt like I'd keep finding more, but I think the craving may have receded for a while.

After owning it for 2 years (and having it partially read for just about as long) I have finally finished reading the stories in this volume. While many of the stories left me ambivalent or disappointed, there were a few standouts that I was very glad to have read. As a group, I think they made an interesting Irish portrait. Two authors I especially enjoyed, and anticipate reading more from, were Dermot Bolger and Orfhlaith Foyle.  

I was disappointedly not as enraptured with my first tastes of Roddy Doyle, Colum McCann, or Colm Toibin as I'd hoped I'd be.

"These mornings when I wake up - no longer even caring if I wake up - I feel oddly free. It's a terrible freedom, but it's the freedom that comes from knowing there is nothing more that life can do to you, that fate can have no more tricks up its sleeve.  I'm numb with grief, Maureen, I don't know if I'll ever feel warm again.  But I'm afraid of nothing now.  My sleepless nights are over because there is nothing left for life to snatch away from me." Winter, by Dermot Bolger


Ireland by Frank Delaney is a book that always caught my eye in the book store, so I finally received it through PaperbackSwap sometime last year, and then I ended up listening to it on Audible just recently.  Actually, it was a much more drawn out process than "recently" implies.  It was narrated by the author himself, and - though he has much experience reading aloud - wasn't very engaging.  The recording was some 20 hours long (thank goodness for being able to speed up the narrator's voice) and felt that long - and longer.

In the end there was much to appreciate, but I felt that Ronan's story was too bogged down by the lengthy "histories" that were the real point of the story.  The stories themselves weren't connected enough or interesting enough to keep me going.  Only the fact that it was on audio (and therefore multi-task-able) got me through it.  Makes me loathe to try his other titles, even if they are all about Ireland.

Sebastian Barry always writes beautifully.  If you are in the mood for some contemplative, gorgeous prose, pick up a Sebastian Barry novel.  His novel of WWI (A Long Long Way) is one of my most favorite books, and in fact, little Annie Dunne appeared in that novel, as she was the sister of the main character.  In this novel, life has passed her by for the most part, and we are treated to a portrait of her aged self.

Most of what I've read from Barry (this was my 4th novel) has a perfect (for me) balance of plot and sparkling composition, but Annie Dunne was definitely lacking a bit on the plot side—even for me, which is saying something!  I actually began reading it last autumn, and just now picked it up to finish it.  It took a level of focus I've found difficult to harness lately.

Still, I'd recommend giving Barry a try.  As a first foray I'd recommend The Secret Scripture, as I remember it being a tad more plot-driven.  And as always, I'm up for recommendations also!

The Famine Plot by Tim Pat Coogan

"It would have pitied the sun

to look at them"

--James Hack Tuke

I have long been interested in learning more about the Irish potato famine—its causes and effects—but haven't been up to diving into a dense, detailed history.  The solution to the problem was The Famine Plot.  In a brief 235 pages, an overview of Ireland's modern history with a focus on the popular and political opinions around the time of the Great Famine (1845-1852).

Coogan, asserting that "Irish historians as a class have not done justice to the Famine," makes some bold claims about "England's role in Ireland's greatest tragedy."  Focusing mostly on the role Charles Trevelyan played in refusing aid to the famine stricken peasants, and influencing opinion about the Irish in general, it is easy to see that the outcome of those fateful years would likely have been very different under a different influence.

I can't begin to count the number of passages I underlined, nor can I think how to properly reduce all I learned into a few inadequate sentences.  The chapter talking about souperism and the Catholic/Protestant conflict were fascinating, and I found his observations on popular opinion quite captivating in light of how enlightened we now think we are.  The truth is that there is no perfect, easy answer to such a complex, multi-faceted problem, even though it is hard for me to read such derogatory opinions about the Irish people.

His writing did get a bit repetitive towards the end, but his tone wasn't near as accusatory as I feared it might be based on the title and subtitle.  The best part is that it did such a good job at keeping me interested that I'm eager to read on and learn more.

"For our part, we regard the potato blight as a blessing.  When the Celts once cease to be potatophagi, they must become carnivorous.  With the taste for meats will grow the appetite for them; with the appetite, the readiness to earn them.  With this will come steadiness, regularity, and perseverance; unless, indeed, the growth of these qualities be impeded by the blindness of Irish patriotism, the short-sighted indifference of petty landlords or the random recklessness of Government benevolence."

The Times, September 22, 1846

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.