Read Ireland Book Review
Issue 206
Poems 1930-1989 by Samuel Beckett
Hardback; 45.00 Euro / 38.00 USD / 30.00 UK; 226 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is the most complete collection of Samuel Beckett's poetry yet to appear, containing much previously uncollected work - both in English and French. As well as late work written after 1978, when the last volume was published, there is also a section of early poems, probably all written before 1930, when the author was a young man. This volume illustrates the many stages in the development of Beckett's style, from his modernist early work - thick with allusions and references from his readings and studies - to the simpler and very moving post-war poems - many of which have become much loved and quoted, and many set as songs by numerous composers. The Beckettian preoccupations, with their inherent protest at the tragedy of the human condition, are all present here, as is the author's humour and his attitudes to love, friendship, loss and tragedy. Some of the most lyrical poems take the form of beautiful philosophical musings. Beckett wrote poems in English and French. Both are included in this volume, together with his own translations when he made them.
Getting Out of the House: Women Returning to Employment, Education and Training by Helen Russell, et. al
Paperback; 18.50 Euro / 17.00 USD / 16.00 UK; Liffey Press, 142 pages [Add To Basket]
The last decade has witnessed a significant move out of full-time home duties into paid employment among women in Ireland. This book focuses on the experiences of the women driving this social change. Drawing on information from surveys and from in-depth interviews with women returners and service providers, this book explores the push and pull factors that prompt women to make a move back into employment, education or training. The study also highlights the difficulties facing women who wish to return and finds that the key barriers include poor information, lack of childcare, low levels of formal qualifications, inadequate recognition of skills obtained outside the workplace, limited opportunities for flexible work/training, and loss of self-confidence. The research shows that a significant proportion of women in the home re-enter paid employment during the second half of the 1990s, but many enter low-paid jobs and experience occupational downgrading on their return.
The Turning Tide: New Writing from County Waterford edited by Thomas McCarthy
Paperback; 8.00 Euro / 7.25 USD / 6.50 UK; Waterford County Council, 204 pages [Add To Basket]
This new anthology is an energetic gathering of voices, a snapshot of County Waterford writing today. County Waterford has always had a rich, bilingual literary history - from the poetry of Padraig Denn and Padraig O Milleadha to the prose of Arland Ussher and Dervla Murphy. The winning entries for the Molly Keane Memorial Creative Writing Award are published here for the first time: short story writers, Liz Ryan, Stephen O'Reilly, Carole Gurnett and Richard Cahill, give the reader a flavour of the variety and excellence of Waterford fiction today. Dungarvan poets Padraig J. Daly and Mai O'Higgins are represented here also, as well as gifted Irish language poets like Aine Ui Fhoghiu. Country Waterford has always been particularly rich in its non-fiction writing - Lismore-born George O'Brien meditates here upon the meaning of exile, while Dervla Murphy, the doyenne of Lismore authors, gives a trenchant and uncompromising account of her visit to Bosnia. There are nearly forty writers represented in this book; each is a vital part of the new wave of literary creativity that has been encouraged and supported by the County Arts Office, the Arts Council and Waterford County Council.
Young Farmer Seeks Wife by Nicholas Furlong
Paperback; 9.95 Euro / 9.00 USD / 8.25 UK; Marino Press, 191 pages [Add To Basket]
In the townland of Mulgannon, County Wexford, a young dairy farmer broods over his bad luck in the pursuit of love. Thwarted at every turn by his mother, the Widow Furlong, or his fearsome Uncle Richard, or mere circumstances, Nicholas's attempts to find a wife seem doomed to failure. In this hilarious and touching novel, our hero tells of the bizarre reversals he suffers and the wayward women who cross his path. But romance is in the air for some. When the local guard begins to court the mother - and her farm - Nocholas's whole future is threatened. Something must be done, but is Nicholas to one to do it?
Serpent and the Goddess by Mary Condren
Paperback; 13.99 Euro / 12.50 USD / 11.50 UK; New Island Press, 266 pages [Add To Basket]
When first published in 1989, Mary Condren's brilliantly researched account of the decline of female power in Western civilisation provoked considerable controversy and debate. Exploring uncharted territory, it precipitated and unprecendented amount of research and publication on Celtic religious origins and societal structures. Over a decade later, the book is widely regarded as the pre-eminent book in its field, a classic study of gender, power, and spirituality. Working her way through the corresponding ages of Eve, Brigit, and Mary, the author traces both the rise of patriarchal consciousness and its disturbing implications for society. By reclaiming a matri-centered culture that has been written out of history, the author offers the reader a view of a more optimistic future, reawakening us to the possibilities of an enriched female consciousness.
The Politics and Relationships of Kathleen Lynn by Marie Mulholland
Paperback; 12.99 Euro / 11.50 USD / 10.75 UK; Woodfield Press, 86 pages [Add To Basket]
Kathleen Lynn is best known for her pioneering medical practices and her transformation of healthcare services to children and the poor. However, it is the woman, the social activist, the suffragist and the militant Republican who takes centre stage in this book. She emerged from the unlikely origins of a comfortable Unionist family in Co. Mayo to storm Dublin City Hall in 1916 as a lieutenant in Connolly's Irish Citizen Army. Neither male nor mad, but something much more challenging - a woman who lived what she believed, Lynn intrigues and resonates half a century after her death, supplying inspiration and frustration in equal measures to those of us in Ireland still hungry for change.
Confessions of a Shanty Irishman by Michael Corrigan
Paperback; 25.00 Euro / 22.50 USD / 20.00 UK; AmErica House Press, 215 pages [Add To Basket]
This book is a memoir of an Irish family, and also a portrait of an American life. Born in San Francisco during World War II, raised by a single father and Irish Catholic grandparents, the author grew up between clashing cultures. Each chapter in this dark comedy is a personal story of love, rebellion, and rebirth, from the Ireland his grandparents fled to the America he discovered.
Erinsaga: The Mythological Paintings of Jim Fitzpatrick
Large Paperback; 16.50 Euro / 15.00 USD / 13.85 UK; DeDannan Press, 120 pages, full colour throughout [Add To Basket]
This book is a subtle mixture of archaic and modern which captures all that is the best and brightest in Ancient Ireland. No other artist has so successfully captured the majesty and power of Celtic folklore.
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