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31
Mar

#Non-fiction: The Art of Time Travel

 

  1. The book contains 14 chapters
  2. …some more interesting than others.
  3. My favorite historians after reading this book are:
  4. Eleanor Dark: (1901-1985)  (novelist).
  5. Eleanor Dark has been seen to be neglected
  6. as a female writer, social critic, Australian novelist and
  7. also as an historian.
  8. I want to read her book The Timeless Land.

  1. Greg Dening (1931-2008)  just captured my heart.
  2. He demanded that his students take risks  and and at times even fail.
  3. History is a discipline without a discipline. 
  4. Nothing is discovered finally.
  5. This chapter gave me skin shivers when I read the last words.

  1. Henry Reynolds: (1938)  This chapter was an eye-opener for me.
  2. I learned ..about the ‘forgotten war’ and aboriginal lawyer, historian Noel Pearson.
  3. Reynolds has always been a ‘just-do-it’ historian.
  4. His style is lean, linear and logical.
  5. Reynolds does not depend on the lyrical language
  6. used by Australian histories to evoke the brutality of the past.
  7. He is straightforward.
  8.  Forgotten War by H. Reynolds   is on my TBR.

  1. Eric Rolls:  A Million Wild Acres
  2. Tom Griffiths said this would  be THE book about Australia he
  3. …would put in the hands of any visitor to his country to help them understand  it.
  4. I just ordered Rolls’ book all the way from Australia!…can’t wait to read it.
  5. Griffiths considers this book the BEST environmental history written of Australia!

Conclusion:

  1. This was a wonderful read
  2. …I learned so much about Australia!
  3. #GreatNonFiction

 

 

 

29
Mar

#Ireland: Poetry

 

  1. I have been struggling with poetry since December 2017
  2. I read:
  3. Poetry for Dummies (reference with basic glossary etc)
  4. Why Poetry?    (review)
  5. The Hatred of Poetry  – Ben Lerner (86 pg)
  6. And I have learned so much from watching simple
  7. ‘learn poetry videos’…on You Tube for young school children!
  8. So last night I tried to gather my strength and apply what I learned to
  9. …a poem by the Irishman Dermot Healy.
  10. It is the forward for his book
  11. …Dermot Healy Collected Short Stories (2015)

 

  1. I looked at the stanza’s tired to discover rhythm in the line breaks.
  2. There are no line breaks….the poem is one long sentence.
  3. There was no rhyme… not even eye rhyme that would help me.
  4. The first line “Feeling for the right word“
  5. reminded met of  “Feeling into Words”, an essay in Preoccupations
  6. ..by Seamus Heaney.
  7. Heaney was Dermot Healy’s mentor.

 

  1. I found a few images that seemed to
  2. …lead me to the theme of of the poem.
  3. But it was getting late…I turned out the lights.
  4. I shut the book
  5. So what was the main idea in the poem?
  6. Well, the saying ‘sleep on it’ does really work.
  7. I discovered that Healy was
  8. …describing his writing process
  9. as a physical experience!

 

  1. Images of a
  2. lost limb,  fingers,  being breathless,  young flesh
  3. …blood through the veins,  exercise (writing) as healing.
  4. It was fascinating to finally  find something in the poem
  5. …that just  hours ago
  6. were  only words, sounds and shapes.
  7. This may seem trifle…something of small importance
  8. …but it is a giant leap for me towards
  9. appreciating poetry!
  10. #ReadAPoem

 

The Lost Limb

  • Feeling for the right word
  • Leave me breathless for the many
  • As if through a lost limb sewn on    (image)
  • Feeling gradually grew

 

  • Through cold young flesh
  • Lit some fingers with old identity
  • And excitement, while others
  • Craved possession

 

  • Of life withheld,
  • Hung awkwardly till breathing as one
  • The first words came like blood   (image)
  • Down distressed veins

 

  • And, with a healing yaw,
  • New writing began like an exercise  (image)
  • Over and back across the empty yard
  • Turn, start all over.

 

 

27
Mar

#Dublin Literary Award 2019

 

Dublin Literary Award 2019

  1. This is one of the most prestigious
  2. …international literary awards.
  3. Books by Irish authors are my top priority as well as
  4. Australian and New Zealand writers.
  5. You can see a complete long list
  6. at Lisa’s website ANZ LitLovers
  7. Nominations include 39 novels in translation with
  8. …works by authors from 41 countries.
  9. Shortlist will be announced 4 April 2019 – UPDATE!
  10. Award will be announced 12 June 2019.
  11. I want to read as many books on these lists…as I can:
  12. …Irish, Australian, New Zealand, Dutch, Belgian writers.

 

Irish books nominated:

  1. Midwinter Break –  Bernard MacLaverty– READ   SHORTLIST
  2. The Heart’s Invisible Furies  –  John Boyne (personal favorite writer!)
  3. Conversations With Friends  –  Sally Rooney  SHORTLIST (I will give SR another chance!)
  4. Mrs Osmond  – John Banville
  5. A Line Made by Walking  –  Sara Baume
  6. Smile – Roddy Doyle (personal favorite writer!)
  7. The Blood Miracles – Lisa McInerney
  8. The Dead House – Billy O’Callaghan
  9. Ithaca – Alan McMonagle
  10. Acts of Allegiance – Peter Cunningham

Australian and New Zealand books nominated:

  1. The New Animals – Pip Adam (New Zealand)
  2. A Long Way From Home – Peter Carey (Australia)
  3. Marlborough Man – Alan Carter (New Zealand)
  4. Terra Nullius – Claire G. Coleman (Indigenous Australian)
  5. The Life to Come – Michelle de Kretser (Australia)
  6. Her – Garry Disher (Australia)
  7. Decline and Fall on Savage Street – Fiona Farrell (New Zealand)*
  8. First Person – Richard Flanagan (Australia)*
  9. Sleeps Standing Moetu – Witi Ihimaera,  (Maori, New Zealand)
  10. Baby – Annaleese Jochems (New Zealand)
  11. The Choke – Sofie Laguna (Australia)
  12. Incredible Floridas – Stephen Orr (Born in New Zealand, Australian resident)
  13. Through the Lonesome Dark – Paddy Richardson (New Zealand)
  14. The Fish Girl – Miranda Riwoe (Australia)
  15. See What I Have Done – Sarah Schmidt (Australia)
  16. Taboo – Kim Scott (Indigenous Australian) – READING SHORTLIST? ( ..tip from Brona)*
  17. The Necessary Angel – C.K. Stead (New Zealand)
  18. And Fire Came Down – Emma Viskic (Australia)
  19. Clear to the Horizon – Dave Warner (Australia)*

UPDATE: 04.04.2019

Dutch/Belgian longlist….that I will read:

  1. Monte Carlo – Peter Terrin (Belgian) – READ (… review soon)
  2. The Consequences – Nina Weijers (Dutch) –READ (..review soon)
  3. Tench – Inge Schilperoord (Dutch)…about paedophile...not reading it!

 

SHORTLIST  2019

UPDATE:

  • Reservoir 13 J. McGregor – READ
  • Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie – READ
  • Conversations With Friends – S. Rooney 
  • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders – READ  SHORTLIST (review Brona)
  • Midwinter Break –  Bernard MacLaverty– READ   SHORTLIST (review Brona)
  • Compass by M. Énard – NOT reading – SHORTLIST Prix Goncourt 2015  “un rien ennuyant”

WINNER !!

  • Idaho by Emily Ruskovich –  SHORTLIST (family epic, rugged Idaho)
  • American author Emily Ruskovich has won the prestigious 2019 International Dublin Literary Award for her debut novel Idaho.
  • The €100,000 prize is the world’s largest prize for a single novel published in English and Emily is the fourth American author to win the prize in 24 years.

My Shortlist!

  • A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert ,
  • History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund
  • Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
  • Pachinko by Jin Min Lee
  • Brother by David Chariandy
  • Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by G. Honeyman – READ
  • The Hate U Give by A. Thomas –
  • Tin Man by Sarah Winman – READ

 

  • DUBLIN LITERARY AWARD 2019 LONGLIST:

    German:

    1. Go, Went, Gone by Jenny Erpenbeck – READ!    NOT ON SHORTLIST !!! 
    2. SHORTLIST for sure – my choice as winner!
    3. …but I still have to read  Irish and Australian/New Zealand books!
    4. You Should Have Left by Daniel Kehlmann – NOT reading
    5. To Die in Spring by Ralf Rothmann – NOT reading
    6. Kruso by Lutz Seiler – NOT reading

     

    Finnish:

    1. Escape From Sunset Grove by Minna Lindgren – NOT reading
    2. My Cat Yugoslavia by Pajtim Statovci – NOT reading
    3. They Know Not What They Do by Jussi Valtonen – NOT reading

     

    Norwegian:

    1. A House in Norway by Vigdis Hjorth – NOT reading
    2. The History of Bees by Maja Lunde – NOT reading
    3. The Sixteen Trees of the Somme by Lars Mytting – NOT reading

    Swedish:

    1. Beartown / The Scandal by Fredrik Backman – NOT reading (50 % ice hockey, not my sport)
    2. Naondel ; the Red Abbey Chronicles by Maria Turtschaninoff – NOT reading ( rape, abuse)

    French:

    1. Special Envoy by Jean Echenoz- NOT reading (polar, detective)
    2. The 7th Function of Language by Laurent Binet
    3. Compass by Mathias Énard – NOT reading – SHORTLIST
    4. The End of Eddy by Edouard Louis – NOT reading   Just 192 pages of pure misery
    5. Radiant Terminus by Antoine Volodine – NOT reading ( parallel universes)

    Danish:

    1. Of Darkness by Josefine Klougart – NOT reading (apocalyptic novel)
    2. Mirror, Shoulder, Signal by Dorth Nors – NOT reading (woman with driving anxiety)

    Portuguese:

    1. The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha –NOT reading (no plot, depressing)
    2. A Poison Apple by Michel Laub – NOT reading (depressing, suicide)

    Spanish:

    1. A Vineyard in Andalusia by Maria Dueñas – NOT reading (pg 544 historical fiction, polished draft!)
    2. The Invented Part by Rodrigo Fresán – NOT reading (masturbating to Bob Dylan, jick)
    3. Return to the Dark Valley by Santiago Gamboa – NOT reading (violence, rapes, torture, mutilation)
    4. Like a Fading Shadow by Antonio Muñoz Molina – NOT reading (…like J.E. Ray bio on Wikipedia)
    5. Heretics by Leonardo Padura – READING
    6. Fever Dream by Samantha Schweblin NOT reading ( depressing, Amanda lies terminally ill)

    Slovanian:

    1. The Harvest of Chronos by Mojca Kumerdej – NOT reading ( no GR reviews…not taking chance)

    Italian:

    1. Ferocity by Nicola Lagioia – NOT reading (dubious tedious leery depiction of women.)
    2. The Temptation to be Happy by Lorenzo Marone – NOT reading ?? (..old fellow )
    3. Adua by Igiaba Scego NOT reading (Italian colonization of East Africa, Somali immigrant)

    Estonian:

    1. The Death of the Perfect Sentence by Rein Raud – NOT reading (spy novel/love story in Estonia)

    Korean:

    1. The Impossible Fairytale by Han Yujoo – NOT reading

    Serbian:

    1. The Image Interpreter by Zoran Živković – NOT READING

     

    • The Changeling by Victor LaValle – NOT reading (…bland writing, Neil Gaiman feel….)
    • Pachinko by Jin Min Lee – (500 pg saga, tip from Sue and Brona)
    • The Barrowfields by Phillip Lewis – NOT reading (368 pg dysfunctional family sagas)
    • Mama’s Maze by Agnes Ong – NOT reading (Malaysia, daughter with mentally ill mother)
    • Stay With Me by A. Adébáyọ̀ – NOT reading ( family tragedy in Nigeria)
    • 4321 by Paul Auster  – NOT reading (866 pages..to massive)
    • Little Fires Everywhere by C. Ng – NOT reading ( complex family/small-town)
    • The Trick by Emanuel Bergmann – NOT reading
    • The Greatest Hits of Wanda Jaynes by Bridget Canning – NOT reading
    • Dragon Springs Road by Janie Chang – NOT reading (…slow book)
    • Brother by David Chariandy – (Powerful, bold and timely, Canadian)
    • What We Lose by Zinzi Clemmons – NOT reading ( coming of age…again!)
    • The Last Beothuk by Gary Collins – NOT reading (New Foundland historical fiction…hmmm)
    • In the Distance by Hernan Diaz – NOT reading (The Odyssey…in American West)
    • Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan  – NOT reading ( mind-numbing boring)
    • American War by Omar El Akkad – NOT reading ( horrifying dystopian novel)
    • This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel – NOT reading ( transgender children)
    • The Leavers by Lisa Ko  – NOT reading (Chinese village)
    • History of Wolves by Emily Fridlund – NOT reading –
    • Here in Berlin by Cristina Garcia – NOT reading (man in Berlin with a camera)
    • Dreams Beyond the Shore by Tamika Gibson – NOT reading (two different type teenagers)
    • There Your Heart Lies by Mary Gordon – NOT reading ( Spanish Civil War…and a woman)
    • Little Sister by Barbara Gowdy – NOT reading ( bizarre, bland from Canada)
    • The Road to Shenzhen by Huang Guosheng – NOT reading (no GR reviews…no risks)
    • How to Stop Time by Matt Haig – NOT reading (40 yr guy…with special power, bah)
    • Exit West by Mohsin Hamid – NOT reading   
    • All Our Wrong Todays by Elan Mastai  – NOT reading (another time travel narrative)
    • The Ninth Hour by Alice McDermott – NOT reading (depressing book, Irish, nuns, Brooklyn)
    • Reservoir 13 J. McGregor – READ
    • Gather the Daughters by Jennie Melamed – NOT reading ( rape, child abuse , incest, bah)
    • The Forensic Records Society by Magnus Mills – NOT reading (…vinyl record club?)
    • Elmet by Fiona Mozley – NOT reading (allegory of the feudal nature of land)
    • The Sparsholt Affair by Alan Hollinghurst – NOT reading (two boys attending Oxford University)
    • Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by G.Honeyman – READ
    • Darker by E.L. James – NOT reading (…average sad guy…)
    • The Stone Sky by N.K. Jemisin – NOT reading
    • First Snow, Last Light by Wayne Johnston – NOT reading
    • The Music Shop by Rachel Joyce – NOT reading (healing power of music for two lovers…)
    • Spaceman of Bohemia by Jaroslav Kalfař – NOT reading (intergalactic odyssey of love, ambition)
    • English Animals by Laura Kaye – NOT reading (girl gets job in a country house in rural England)
    • A Book of American Martyrs by Joyce Carol Oates – NOT reading (752 pg lonely/empty hearts)
    • Uncertain Weights and Measures by Jocelyn Parr – NOT reading (love story, scientist and artist)
    • Next Year, For Sure by Zoey Leigh Peterson – NOT reading
    • Reincarnation Blues by Michael Poore – NOT reading (reincarnation and rape, ugh.)
    • No One is Coming to Save Us by S. Watts – NOT reading (Great Gatsby recast in the US South)
    • The Bedlam Stacks by N. Pulley – NOT reading (smuggler journeying to Peru seeks quinine)
    • White Bodies by Jane Robins – NOT reading (psychological thriller about twin sisters, cringe)
    • Son of a Trickster by Eden Robinson – NOT reading (Canadian YA novel )
    • The Ministry of Utmost Happiness by Arundhati Roy – NOT reading (not a fan of author)
    • Breathe by Beni Rusani – NOT reading (…medical novel, not my thing)
    • The Golden House by Salman Rushdie – NOT reading
    • Idaho by Emily Ruskovich – NOT reading WINNER !!
    • The Bridge Troll Murders by Sheldon Russell – NOT reading
    • No One Can Pronounce My Name R Satyal – NOT reading (immigrants – Americanized offspring)
    • Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders – READ  SHORTLIST ?
    • A Boy in Winter by Rachel Seiffert –
    • Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie – READ
    • The Woman in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck
    • House of Spies by Daniel Silva – NOT reading (…but not about to start in middle of series)
    • The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland – NOT reading
    • Anything is Possible by Elizabeth Strout – NOT reading
    • My Absolute Darling by Gabriel Tallent – NOT reading
    • The Hate U Give by A. Thomas
    • Temporary People by Deepak Unnikrishnan – NOT reading
    • Borne by Jeff Van der Meer – NOT reading
    • Sing, Unburied, Sing by J. Ward – NOT reading (magical realism not my thing) 
    • Girlcott by Florenz Webb Maxwell – NOT reading
    • When the English Fall by David Williams – NOT reading
    • Tin Man by Sarah Winman – READ
    • Lost in September by Kathleen Winter – NOT reading
    • The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas – NOT reading
    • The Book of Joan by  Lidia Yuknavitch – NOT reading

    Previous winners

    • 2018: Solar Bones by Mike McCormack (Irish)
    • 2017: A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa (Angolan),
    • 2016: Family Life by Akhil Sharma (American)
    • 2015: Harvest by Jim Crace (British)
    • 2014: The Sound of Things Falling by Juan Gabriel Vásquez (Colombian),
    • 2013: City of Bohane by Kevin Barry (Irish)
    • 2012: Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor (British)
    • 2011: Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (Irish)
    • 2010: The Twin by Gerbrand Bakker (Dutch)
    • 2009: Man Gone Down by Michael Thomas (American)
    • 2008: De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage (Lebanese / Canadian)
    • 2007: Out Stealing Horses by Per Petterson (Norwegian)
    • 2006: The Master by Colm Toibín (Irish)
    • 2005: The Known World by Edward P. Jones (American)
    • 2004: This Blinding Absence of Light by Tahar Ben Jelloun (Moroccan)
    • 2003: My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk (Turkish)  – READ
    • 2002: Atomised by Michel Houellebecq (French)
    • 2001: No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod (Canadian)
    • 2000: Wide Open by Nicola Barker (English)
    • 1999: Ingenious Pain by Andrew Miller (English)
    • 1998: The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller (Romanian)
    • 1997: A Heart So White by Javier Marías (Spanish)
    • 1996: Remembering Babylon by David Malouf (Australian)
26
Mar

#Ireland Sally Rooney

 

Wrap-up  #ReadingIrelandMonth19

  1. I have had a busy month reading Irish authors.
  2. There is so much talent on the Emerald Isle.
  3. I want to thank Cathy for hosting.
  4. I will be back next year!
  5. @746books.com

Books read:    List #ReadingIrelandMonth2019

 

Shortlisted books Kerry Group Best Irish Novel of the Year:    read 4/5

  1. Timeline: 4 years
  2. Structure: no chapter titles to indicate what we can  expect
  3. Rooney uses a chronological timeline:
  4. Begin January 2011 – End February 2015
  5. Genre: romantic tragicomedy
  6. Setting: Carricklea, Ireland and Trinity College Dublin

 

Quickscan:

  1. Sally Rooney draws on elements of the social world
  2. that she  inhabited growing up in Castlebar, Ireland
  3. …and then in college.
  4. She studied English at Trinity Dublin, and
  5. …the book is very much about her
  6. …observing that  social milieu.
  7. Two star-crossed lovers:  Connell and Marianne.
  8. “…like two little plants sharing the same plot of soil
  9. growing around one another, contorting to make room.”

 

  1. Connell: popular, quiet, studious, sport jock, good-looking,
  2. cared what people thought of him
  3. …considered quite a catch.
  4. Marianne: unpopular, feels lonely and unworthy,
  5. secretive, independent-minded – the ugliest girl in school
  6. Connell feels “…being alone with Marianne is like opening a door away from normal life…”
  7. Marianne feels “…he bought her goodness like a gift…”

 

  1. How does Connell change?
  2. March 2011:
  3. Connell pretends not to know Marianne in high-school.
  4. He wants to live in two worlds…good-looking, popular
  5. …but still dating the ugliest girl in school. No one must know.
  6. January 2015:
  7. Unlike him to behave  so openly in public
  8. by embracing Marianne and saying: ”I love you”
  9. …on New Year’s Eve.

 

  1. How does Marianne change?
  2. March 2011:
  3. Marianne feels like an observer…be it an awkward one.
  4. January 2015:
  5. Marianne feels dependent upon another human being
  6. …for the first time in her life.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. I have seen 1 star reviews….and 5 star reviews about this book.
  2. For a long time I pushed Normal People to the bottom of my TBR.
  3. The book has been nominated for many prizes and
  4. has been reviewed on blogs, magazines and in  the newspapers.
  5. When a book gets so much exposure….I recoil.
  6. Now I have to read it for Kerry Group Irish Novel shortlist.

 

  1. I read pages of teen-age sexual relationships, parties, boozing
  2. …dysfunctional family including Denise… Marianne’s  mother
  3. …and a jealous and violent  brother Alan.
  4. One of the highlights in the narrative was a minor character
  5. who played a major role:  Lorraine, Connell’s mother.
  6. Life for a millennial is not easy
  7. ….and Sally Rooney has articulated the
  8. …stress and strains of growing up and falling in love.

 

  1. Was I impressed?  No.
  2. Lorraine is the only character that saved this book.
  3. The narrative has an emotional impact
  4. that resonates with many readers.
  5. It is a very easy read and lacks depth.
  6. By that I mean…symbolism, metaphor, images.
  7. This book may be interesting for other millennials
  8. …but I found the plot uninteresting
  9. …on/off romance between two college students.
  10. It was a very average book about
  11. #NormalPeople.

 

Feedback:  to Cathy  @746books.com

I’m so glad to here somebody felt as I did.
I thought I was the only one!
I’m reading The Hoarder today by Jess Kidd…and just after
3 chapters I’ve had MORE reading pleasure than Sally Rooney’s
entire book!
I’ve had a great time reading with you during #ReadingIrelandMonth19!
Thanks for all the effort you put into this challenge (reading suggestions, giveaways etc)
I’ll continue to read Irish authors…and am looking for a #hashtag to gather my Irish reviews..for the rest of the year…any suggestions?

26
Mar

#Ireland Sally Rooney

 

Wrap-up  #ReadingIrelandMonth19

  1. I have had a busy month reading Irish authors.
  2. There is so much talent on the Emerald Isle.
  3. I want to thank Cathy for hosting.
  4. I will be back next year!
  5. @746books.com

Books read:    List #ReadingIrelandMonth2019

 

Shortlisted books Kerry Group Best Irish Novel of the Year:    read 4/5

  1. Timeline: 4 years
  2. Structure: no chapter titles to indicate what we can  expect
  3. Rooney uses a chronological timeline:
  4. Begin January 2011 – End February 2015
  5. Genre: romantic tragicomedy
  6. Setting: Carricklea, Ireland and Trinity College Dublin

 

Quickscan:

  1. Sally Rooney draws on elements of the social world
  2. that she  inhabited growing up in Castlebar, Ireland
  3. …and then in college.
  4. She studied English at Trinity Dublin, and
  5. …the book is very much about her
  6. …observing that  social milieu.
  7. Two star-crossed lovers:  Connell and Marianne.
  8. “…like two little plants sharing the same plot of soil
  9. growing around one another, contorting to make room.”

 

  1. Connell: popular, quiet, studious, sport jock, good-looking,
  2. cared what people thought of him
  3. …considered quite a catch.
  4. Marianne: unpopular, feels lonely and unworthy,
  5. secretive, independent-minded – the ugliest girl in school
  6. Connell feels “…being alone with Marianne is like opening a door away from normal life…”
  7. Marianne feels “…he bought her goodness like a gift…”

 

  1. How does Connell change?
  2. March 2011:
  3. Connell pretends not to know Marianne in high-school.
  4. He wants to live in two worlds…good-looking, popular
  5. …but still dating the ugliest girl in school. No one must know.
  6. January 2015:
  7. Unlike him to behave  so openly in public
  8. by embracing Marianne and saying: ”I love you”
  9. …on New Year’s Eve.

 

  1. How does Marianne change?
  2. March 2011:
  3. Marianne feels like an observer…be it an awkward one.
  4. January 2015:
  5. Marianne feels dependent upon another human being
  6. …for the first time in her life.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. I have seen 1 star reviews….and 5 star reviews about this book.
  2. For a long time I pushed Normal People to the bottom of my TBR.
  3. The book has been nominated for many prizes and
  4. has been reviewed on blogs, magazines and in  the newspapers.
  5. When a book gets so much exposure….I recoil.
  6. Now I have to read it for Kerry Group Irish Novel shortlist.

 

  1. I read pages of teen-age sexual relationships, parties, boozing
  2. …dysfunctional family including Denise… Marianne’s  mother
  3. …and a jealous and violent  brother Alan.
  4. One of the highlights in the narrative was a minor character
  5. who played a major role:  Lorraine, Connell’s mother.
  6. Life for a millennial is not easy
  7. ….and Sally Rooney has articulated the
  8. …stress and strains of growing up and falling in love.

 

  1. Was I impressed?  No.
  2. Lorraine is the only character that saved this book.
  3. The narrative has an emotional impact
  4. that resonates with many readers.
  5. It is a very easy read and lacks depth.
  6. By that I mean…symbolism, metaphor, images.
  7. This book may be interesting for other millennials
  8. …but I found the plot uninteresting
  9. …on/off romance between two college students.
  10. It was a very average book about
  11. #NormalPeople.
25
Mar

#Ireland Emer Martin

Shortlisted books:  read 3/5

Quickscan:

  1. Magdalene laundry survivors are honoured.
  2. Atlantic, children are wrenched from their parents and put in cages.
  3. Both the laundries and the systematic practice of harvesting children
  4. to feed labour requirements of industrial schools
  5. …carried out by the “Cruelty Men” of the title.

 

Conclusion:


Strong point:

  1. Honest, raw, brave look at dysfunctional Irish society 1930s-1960s.
  2. Writer is talented and knowledgeable about the effects
  3. of religious and industrial institutions on the lower class.
  4. She also blends Irish myth, folklore, and landscape
  5. …into a witches (Irish hag) brew.

 

Weak point:

  1. I think Emer Martin wants to squeeze
  2. so much shock and awe
  3. into the narrative to  that the
  4. pain of reading the book overwhelmed
  5. the pleasure of reading it…in my case.
  6. I had to put the book down in disbelief.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Some may like this book….some may not.
  2. Martin explores difficult topics with a touch of Irish surrealism.
  3. The beginning of the book was meant to ‘hook’ me
  4. …and nudge me further  into the novel.
  5. The first chapter just baffled me.
  6. You’ve been warned.
  7. It took my unshakeable resolution to finish
  8. reading this shortlist (foto)
  9. …that prevented me from closing the book after 100 pages.
  10. Will it win Kerry Group Best Irish Novel of the year?
  11. I think that there are better books on the shortlist.
  12. I hope you take the time between now and 29 May 2019
  13. …to read the shortlist and choose your winner!
  14. Dark side…of Irish history.

 

 

24
Mar

#Ireland John Boyne

Shortlisted books:  read 3/5

Quickscan:

  1. The story of one man’s cut-throat path to literary stardom
  2. starts impressively but then the author loses his way.
  3. BEST QUOTE:
  4. “When the gods wish to punish us
  5. …..they answer our prayers.” (pg 124)

 

Part One: Before the Wall Came Down:

  1. Maurice’s journey through 8 cities
  2. …with mentor Erich Ackermann (66 yr)

 

Interlude: The Swallow’s Nest

  1. Maurice’s vist with Gore Vidal.
  2. The title of this chapter refers to Gore Vidal’s villa in Ravello ‘La Rondinaia’
  3. The Swallow’s Nest’ was built in 1925 on the Amalfi coast
  4. Vidal bought the villa 1972.

Part Two: The Tribesman (best-seller)

  1. Maurice’s marriage to Edith and the 8 months
  2. leading up to the publication on his best-seller.

 

Interlude: The Threatened Animal

  1. 10 years later
  2. …1 child (Daniel), 2 new books published
  3. Maurice is founder and editor-in-chief
  4. …of a  NYC literary magazine.
  5. Backstory: Maurice’s childhood
  6. The story kicks into high gear!
  7. This chapter is the turning point!
  8. Maurice has married Edith
  9. ….but she is about to tell him the ugly truth!
  10. Can Maurice find redemption
  11. …or does he continue with his relentless pursuit of fame?

 

Part Three: Other People’s Stories

  1. Maurice’s meetings in 6 pubs
  2. with the thesis student,Theo Field
  3. …and Daniel’s ghost. (his son)
  4. Part 3: “Other People’s Stories” was a tour de force!.
  5. John Boyne uses  a clever maneuver (technique)
  6. in handling a difficult situation
  7. while giving the novel a satisfying ending
  8. ….a sense of justice.
  9. Extraordinary!
  10. Title: A Ladder in the Sky is a metaphor for the
  11. Main theme:  ambition
  12. “…it’s like setting a ladder to the sky
  13. …pointless waste of energy.” (pg 304)

 

Strong point:

  1. Character:
  2. Boyne developed a complex, ambitious writer…Maurice Swift.
  3. Boyne creates a push and pull in the story.
  4. Maurice bounces off characters
  5. …who are generous and loving.
  6. This is the tension that starts the problems
  7. …drives the plot with twists and turns
  8. …and makes this book a page-turner!
  9. The ultimate resolution…a feeling of closure.

 

Conclusion:

  1. This book WILL WIN the prize
  2. ….Kerry Group Irish Novel of 2019!
  3. I am a difficult reader to please when it
  4. comes to contemporary fiction.
  5. But I did NOT SKIM one word of the story.
  6. The reader will be mesmerized by
  7. …devastating effects of ambition.
  8. This book is absolutely brilliant!

 

Last thoughts:

  1. John Boyne is the discovery of my #ReadingIrelandMonth19.
  2. He wrote  the best-seller Boy in the Striped Pyjamas in 2006
  3. …but I was more impressed by the story
  4. instead of investigating the author.
  5. Boyne has continued to write 5 star books!
  6. The Ladder to the Sky was excellent
  7. …my best 2019 read so far.
  8. Pay close attention to what you’re reading
  9. …and even closer attention
  10. …to what you may be missing.
  11. #SupriseEnding
22
Mar

#Ireland David Park

Shortlisted books:  read 1/5

 

Quickscan:

  1. Tom, the narrator, is travelling from Belfast to Sunderland in
  2. heavy snow to collect his son from
  3. Sunderland university for the Christmas holidays.
  4. It proves to be a very emotional journey.

 

Conclusion:

  1. Weak point: David Park is trying too hard…..
  2. Park’s writing is interesting, but a bit belabored.
  3. There are more words and images
  4. ….there than you really need to make the point.
  5. Example: “Ice-up car the words have nowhere
  6. to go and so they hang until frozen in silence”.
  7. Weak point:  the backstories felt like a chunk of events
  8. the author is simply trying to get out the way.
  9. Flashback scenes, dream sequences or piece of dialogue
  10. were dishwater gray…..recap information
  11. purely for the reader’s benefit…did not add tension to the story.
  12. The gimmick of a child asking father silly riddles got on my nerves.
  13. The use of a another gimmick…a the car’s navigational voice
  14. (satnav) as a constant thread in the narrative
  15. …was annoying.
  16. I tried to stay focused but after 30% of the book my
  17. mind was drifting snow, blinded by Park’s white-out of
  18. never ending references to winter.
  19. Sometimes …less is more.
  20. In short…this book was not in sync with “my personal satnav.”
  21. It was all I could do to ‘hold on to the steering wheel’
  22. and at least finish the book.

 

Last thoughts:

  1. This book is just not my cup to tea.
  2. But this does not diminish the book’s merit
  3. …in any way.
  4. I don’t think this will win the
  5. 2019 Kerry Group Irish Novel of the year
  6. …perhaps I’ll be proven wrong.
  7. #Read the book and….form your own opinion!
22
Mar

#Ireland: Short story by Catherine Finn

  • Author: Catherine Finn
  • Title: Home  (short story)
  • Published: 2017 The Dublin Review Nr 69
  • Theme: identity; mental confusion
  • Setting: Registry office; suburban road with bungalows
  • Timeline: 1 day
  • List of Challenges 2019
  • Monthly plan
  • #ReadingIrelandMonth19
  • @746books.com

 

Who are the characters in the story?
Jake
Senior  and Junior Officals  registry office
Trio of neighbours at Jake’s supposed house

 

What are the personality traits of each character?

Officials:

Officials sigh and smile condescendingly
They do not respond, raise an eyebrow
and even snort a laugh.
They try to keep blank expressions
when they listen to Jake’s confused story.

Trio:

Man – shakes his head and snarls, forces Jake from the step
Young woman – peers at Jake while gripping the door edge
Old woman – warns Jake…I know your kind…I’m calling the authorities

 

Characterization:     Jake

Before speaking to official Jake
– slicks his hair
– rubs palms on the sides of his trousers
– swallows
– feigns confidence
– concentrates keeping his head high
– …indicates a nervous person

“I have been absent for years, and now just returned”
This sounds like a very odd situation.
Home address that Jake give the official
…..does not exist in info system.

 

Action: What does Jake do?
Jake leaves the registry and tries to find his home.
As Jake approaches the house he is:
Strangely reassured by scuffed boots worn In past years
Soothed by familiar shadows and shapes
Smiled as he reached for doorknob
Inserted his key…it did not fit.
These descriptions give the reader a hint that
…Jake is not mentally fit.
Shadows, shapes and scruffed boot soothe him.
This is not normal.

 

Theme:   What is the main idea of the story?
Identity – when you lose it, through trauma (war)
it’s hard to function in the world.
Jake’s first words are: “I have to report myself returned’.
No one seems to empathize with Jake.
Where is ‘the milk of human kindness’?.
Where is the care and compassion for others?

 

Tone:  Describe how you felt reading this story.
After the war a man attempts to claim his place in the world
I tried to imagine what it feels like to be so lost, confused
unsure and perplexed as Jake does.
Yet he is convinced he is right
….he has a home to go to.

 

Point of View:  third person narrator

 

Conflict:

External:
Jake vs officials at registry office…they won’t help him!
Jake vs trio of old neighbors….they don’t recognize him!

Internal:
Jake vs himself……is it true?
Is he the confused person
….and everyone realises this…but Jake?

 

Conclusion:

  1. I picked up The Dublin Review Nr 69 (Winter 2017)
  2. …while pausing for a cup of coffee.
  3. The title sounded simple “Home” and it was just
  4. 3,5 pages long.  #QuickReadingFix
  5. How surprised I was …as I was drawn into this
  6. simple yet very touching story.
  7. I have no idea who Catherine Finn is…..but
  8. ..chapeau au bas, bravo!

 

Last thoughts:

  1. Why should a novel be better than a short story?
  2. Some writers believe short stories are harder to write than novels.
  3. Every word has to count in a short story,
  4. ….while the narrative is allowed to meander in a novel.
  5. We are all pressed for ‘reading time’ ….why not just
  6. relax and enjoy  the  craft of the short story?

 

 

20
Mar

#Ireland Anne Griffin

 

 

Quickscan:

  1. This book will appeal to many lovers of a well-written
  2. sentimental story about a 84 yr old Irishman
  3. sitting in a hotel bar…toasting ‘for the last time’
  4. the 5 most important people in his life.

Motif: Five monologues are linked by the presence of a stolen coin.


Strong point:

  1. The first 2 toasts (Tony, brother and Molly, sister still-born)
  2. were the best.
  3. Was that a tear I pinked away
  4. ..or a speck of dust in my eye?
  5. Whatever it was…I felt very moved by these chapters.


Weak point:

  1. Unfortunately after 50 % of the book….I lost interest.
  2. his story really had no direction, no progression at all
  3. …especially since the reader already knows
  4. …the ending from the get-go.
  5. The last toasts felt like ‘filler’
  6. …for instance the long toast about
  7. …the  first day Maurice met his wife.
  8. As Montaigne once said:
  9. “Those who have A thin body fill it out with padding.
  10. Those who have slim substance….swell it out with words.”

 

Weak point:

  1. I will be curious if this new book will make it on to
  2. longlists for Irish book awards. It wouldn’t surprise if it did.
  3. I just am not a fan on sugar-spin sweet stories.
  4. I like a bit  more  ‘bite’.


Last thoughts:

  1. We don’t become our wisest selves without effort.
  2. It requires us to become skilled…
  3. in managing our emotions,
  4. in forming intimate relationships.
  5. and at times..in letting go.
  6. After learning these life lessons
  7. …Maurice is ready to share them with the reader.
  8. This is a powerful debut novel.
  9. It is good….but not great.
  10. Perfect reading for the beach or in waiting-rooms.
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