This week; 'Stories of Ireland', and ‘History of Irish Famine’
This week there are true stories, made-up stories, a Famine history and a shot of hope.
Stories of Ireland, Brian Friel, Penguin, €15.99
Brian Friel’s ‘Collected Short Stories’, first published in 1979, makes up this anthology. Prior to being so well known for his plays, he wrote short stories in the 1960s and 1970s, most of them appearing in the New Yorker. To have this collection in one small book is marvellous. One forgets the casual, readily accepted poverty of Ireland in the mid-20th century, but it’s all here. And not just the material poverty, there’s a persistent longing in his characters for something better, though rarely does it come around. Perfect for the bedside locker, and a reminder of just how fine a student of human nature Friel was.
A Shot of Hope, John Travers, Orpen Press, €15.99
John Travers started out his career as an engineer, then entrepreneur and now he’s a GP based in Dublin. Early on in his career, he did some volunteering in Calcutta and what he witnessed there was to change him. He has long done voluntary work since then and now has changed career path completely, to practise medicine. Once a week he works in a walk-in clinic for the homeless in the city centre. In a recent interview with the Irish Times, he recalls his days in India, saying: “…the home for the dying is many times worse than I can lay down in words”. This book is a collection of stories of patients who have stayed in his memory, from the hilarious to the tragic. The title of the book is apt; subtitled ‘Stories of Quiet Resilience’, it really is a shot of hope.
Rot, Padraic X. Scanlan, Basic Books, €18.99
Subtitled ‘A History of the Irish Famine’, this book explores the how and why of the Famine and concludes that the British Empire is to blame. Which isn’t exactly news, but this is a powerful testament of the suffering of a nation, one that at the time was part of the British Empire, the wealthiest and most powerful empire in the world. Why was Ireland left to starve, amid such plenty? ‘Blame matters’, Scanlan insists, and it is the kernel of this history, where more than a million people starved to death and more than 1.5 million people emigrated. It is at times an uncomfortable read, obviously, but is a significant and unblinking addition to the histories already written about the Great Famine and has become a much talked-about book since its publication last month. Its great strength is Scanlan’s engagement with the reader, dealing with difficult reading matter in parts.
News of the World, Andrew McNeillie, Lilliput, €16.95
In 1968, Andrew McNeillie went to Inishmore in the Aran Islands and lived there for a year, much as John Millington Synge did many years before him. Life on the island in the 1960s was still largely a life of poverty for many, and the customs around work and leisure had in some cases endured for centuries. But even as a young man, McNeillie could see that these customs and ways of doing things were not going to last much longer. And they didn’t. The 20th century came late to the Aran Islands, but it did come, although in McNeillie’s time there, they still didn’t even have electricity on the islands. So an immersive, almost year-long stay there would not have been for the faint-hearted. He loved his time there, loved the people and the island itself and this book is drawn from both a journal he kept at the time and from letters he wrote to his home in Wales. This is a reissue of the book, which originally appeared in 2001, titled An Aran Keening.
I Want to go Home but I’m Already There, Róisín Lanigan, Fig Tree, €17.99
This book covers many things but the topic it covers best is the housing crisis and what it can do to your mental health. But it’s also a coming-of-age novel and a story of love gone awry. It’s about the drawbacks of working from home, it’s a haunted house story and the story of a young woman’s unravelling. And it all starts when Áine and her boyfriend Ellott move in together, into a rickety, mouldy flat. It’s all they can afford. And the novel is set in London, not here, but the housing crisis in the UK is also alarming. The story is mapped out across 12 months, January to December, and although it’s funny in parts, it makes one wonder what this dire shortage of homes is doing to people’s lives. Young people are working hard these days for little or no reward, the least being the ability to live somewhere decent. Those days are gone and Generation Rent is in real trouble. Reality and horror blend together in this novel, but the most horrific element is the fact that there are simply no homes – not even in London – for the workforce.
Exquisite Ruin, Adrianne May, Bonnier, €18.99
Sadaré is a witch who can draw magic from pain. She wakes up in a labyrinth but can’t remember how she got there, or who took her. Her only company is the ultra-hostile Daesra, a mere mortal, but one who’s sold his soul for magical powers. Although they’re enemies, they have to work together to get to the centre of the maze and to heal their fates. As the story progresses, however, Sadaré begins to feel that this is all Daesra’s doing and begins to suspect that she’s in mortal danger. If romance and fantasy, or ‘romantasy’ as it’s called, is your thing, then you’re in for a treat with this novel.
Footnotes
On this coming Sunday (May 4), the Delvin Book Festival takes place from noon until 5pm. There will be 20,000 second-hand books on sale and prices start at 50 cent. Everything is covered, adults and kids, non-fiction and fiction. There’s also a special first-edition and limited-edition market for the moneyed! This is a fundraiser for the local community centre, and if you love books, you’d be mad to miss it.