Read Ireland Book News
Issue 95
Through the Minefield by David McKittrick (Paperback; 14.25 IEP / 18.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
This is an extraordinary account of an extraordinary time in Northern Ireland's history. As the prize-winning Ireland correspondent of the London Independent newspaper, McKittrick has reported on the violence and political turbulence since 1986, but writes that the years 1996 to 1999 'show the perils of prediction, for no writer of fiction could have dared to construct a plot filled with such incident and commotion. No one could have forecast all the high spots and low points, all that hope and all that tragedy.' Covering the rollercoaster ride of hope, despair and back to hope again as Northern Ireland inched towards a new political framework - and including major events, from the IRA attack on Canary Wharf to the murder of solicitor Rosemary Nelson - this distinguished collection presents the cream of McKittrick's outstanding journalism during these watershed years.
James Joyce by Edna O'Brien (Hardback; 15.45 IRP / 22.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
Some years ago, the critic Frank Tuohy said that while Dublin had been recreated by James Joyce, the world of Nora Barnacle had to wait for Edna O'Brien. In this new biography of Joyce his words are borne out. Edna O'Brien eschews the narrowly academic and has not truck with the superficial. Her picture of Joyce shows the complex, combative genius with his fidelity to artistic truth, virtuosity of styles and ravishing lyrical pith. But it is not simply a work of reverence, more a depiction of a man hammered by church and state and family, yet from such adversities wrote works 'to bestir the hearts of men and angels.' The journey begins with Joyce the arrogant youth, his lofty courtship of Nora Barnacle, their hectic sexuality, children, wanderings, debt and profligacy, and Joyce's obsession with the city of Dublin which he would re-render through his words. Nor does O'Brien spare the reader the anger and isolation of Joyce's later years when he felt that the world had turned its back on him, and asks how could it be otherwise for a man who knew that conflict is the source of all creation. Joyce is a hero in life and in work because for him they were inextricably bound.
A Pocketful of Stones by John Evans (Paperback; 7.99 IEP / 10.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
Brandon Marlowe, the troubled hero of John Evan's powerful second novel, lives his life on the edge of the dark. Intermittently catatonic, he finds the business of living harder than most. He is buoyed up, however, by love - for his son Donal, his grandfather, his estranged wife and the South American prostitute Rita, who shares his bed in Frankfurt. Set in Wexford, Dublin and Frankfurt, Evans's account of a maimed life is painful at times but ultimately cathartic as the imperfect hero struggles against a malign fate. The account of his recovery from utter dereliction towards a kind of forgiveness for old sins forms an unbearably moving climax. This novel is an unforgettable work by one of Ireland's newest and most promising writers.
Tribe by John F. McDonald (Hardback; 12.99 IRP / 19.99 USD) [Add To Basket]
Tribe is a novel set at the cutting-edge of Irish society at the end of the 1990s, seen through the eyes of Owen McBride - a man torn between the untethered existence and the cage respectability of his girlfriend's dreams. He is in a predicament. The old ways are being eroded and the loss he feels is extreme. As is his future. His choices are clear - to return to his Traveller heritage or follow Ann along the more predictable path of settled life. The author challenges the reader to enter the mind of Owne, where the colourful blend of expletives, Gaelic and Gypsy slang, French and Mongolian, reflect his inner turmoil. His distinctive style paints life in all its ugliness. There are not cushions to protect those who fall, no armour to shield against discrimination and prejudice, and no easy answers to the fundamental questions. This novel grasps the reader with the rolling rhythmic patterns of Owen's narration - a vibrant testament to the dilemmas posed by modern existence and the march of progress.
The Irish Chateaux: In Search of Descendants of the Wild Swans by Renagh Holohan (Paperback; 9.99 IRP / 15.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
This book looks back over centuries of migration between Ireland and France, beginning with the 'flight of the earls' in 1607 when military defeat at Kinsale and exile, initiated as tradition sustained by political and economic necessity in subsequent years. The text, lavishly illustrated by over fifty pen-and-ink drawings by Jeremy Williams, tells the stories of individual families and their chateaux, which number among the finest buildings in France. Soldiers, slavers, wine-producers, statesmen and entrepreneurs, many bear illustrious names and made lasting contributions to their host culture - the O'Mahony's and the Butlers of northern France, the Walshs of the Loire, the Hennessys of Cognac, the Bartons, Boyds and O'Byrnes of Bordeaux and Aquitaine, the MacMahons of Burgundy, the O'Neills and de Flunketts of Paris, the Dillons, MacCarthys and O'Briens of the Irish Brigades. The narrative begins and ends with Irish women memoirists: the celebrated Mme de la Tour de Pin, born Lucy Dillon; and the hitherto-unknown Lady Isabella Fitzgerald, daughter of the 2nd Duke of Leinster and niece of Lord Edward Fitzgerald. A delightful and informative guide, with map and gazetteer, it will appeal to traveller, historian, student, genealogist and Francophile alike. This new impression of a classic study contains an extended listing of chateaux and further reading.
Irish Carved Ornament by H.S. Crawford (Paperback; 12.99 IEP / 19.00 USD) [Add To Basket]
Celtic ornamentation is remarkable for the apparent ease with which it could be adapted to embellish the stone monuments, the vellum manuscripts and the silver and fold of chalices, shrines and croziers of the early Christian period: a period that produced the world-famous masterpieces like The Book of Kells, the Ardagh Chalice and the Cross of Cong. In this classic work, Henry Crawford describes in detail the ornamentation of stone monuments of this period, reproducing in the book some 300 illustrations of this form of decoration, which had its origin in the Celtic, pre-Christian period. His photographic 'restorations' of badly weathered stones are unique. Although there have been enormous technological advances in photography and reproduction since it was originally published, Crawford's work stands as a testimony to his patient dedication to creating the right natural lighting conditions to display the beauty and clarity of these precious works of art.
Soldier of Ireland by Robert Ely (Paperback; 12.50 IEP / 18.50 USD) [Add To Basket]
In this book the author intertwines a historical account of Ireland's ongoing struggle for independence with the story of a young Irish patriot. As the reader follows young Francie Chambers through his induction into the West Mayo Volunteers, he also follows the evolution of the Irish Republican Army at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ireland's exciting, tempestuous history unfolds amid scenes of political intrigue and military defiance in this book.
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