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Nominated Books
August 2015
Ready to vote on selections for the coming year.
New Proposals
In no particular order.
Fiction
Rage of the New Ireland, Author last name Kerrigan
(didn't catch first name). Got a great review on NPR Fresh
Air. Is supposed to be a mystery novel.
The Rising Tide by Molly Keane. 1937.
Wealthy Anglo-Irish family story. "Cynthia enters the Jazz
age and on the surface her life passes in a whirl of
hunting....." but is haunted by "A secret handed on
from one generation to the next...."
The Point by Gerard Brennan. 2013. Kindle
version $0.71. When Paul crosses one thug too many in
Belfast, Paul and his brother flee to Warrenpoint, the
sleepy seaside resort with childhood memories. They
continue to screw-up.
Falling Glass. 2012. by Adrian
McKinty. Killian, a Belfast private detective of
Traveller roots,
is hired to find an ex-wife whose disappearance has deprived
his client of fatherhood.
Kilmoon, A county Clare Mystery, by Lisa
Alber. An Irish matchmaker solves the crime.
The Ghosts of Belfast, by Stuart Neville,
2009. Sectarian hatreds and an assassin's quest for
Absolution are at the heart of this debut novel. “Not
only one of the finest thriller debuts of the last ten
years, but also one of the best Irish novels, in any genre,
of recent times.”
Red Sky in Morning by Paul Lynch. 2013. Set
in Ireland & US in early 1800's, this follows a Donegal
man being stalked across Donegal, NY, & PA after he has
murdered his landlord.
Ghost Moth by Michele Fobes. 2013. Set in
Belfast its main character is a talented opera singer in
1949 & 20 years later a housewife and mother of 4.
A subtle, passionate story of private grief set against
public crisis.
Malarky by Anakana Schofield, 2013. Mayo
Farmer's wife with a gay son in Afghanistan and an
unfaithful husband. "Assured and humorous." (Ingrid:
you wanted something funny.)
The Temporary Gentleman by Sebastian Barry.
An Irishman whose commission in the British army in WWll was
temporary writes his memoir of an extraordinary life.
A Portrait of the Artist As a Young Man
-- Joyce
The Third Policeman -- Flann O’Brien
Strumpet City -- Plunkett
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
-- C.S. Lewis (Yep, he was Irish.)
The Táin -- Kinsella
The Informer -- O’Flaherty
Nora Webster, Colm Toibin - “a masterpiece in
character study…a character as iconic, engaging and
memorable as Madame Bovary or Hedda Gabbler.”
A Stone of the Heart, John Brady - the first Matt
Minogue mystery (we have read #2 & #3)
The Banyan Tree, Christopher Nolan - “a rich saga of
rural Ireland in the twentieth century."
Non-Fiction
O'Neill, Maire, "Grace Gifford Plunkett and Irish Freedom
– Tragic Bride of 1916" (Irish Academic Press, Dublin
& Portland, OR, 2000 ISBN 0-7165-2666-2)
The Story of the Irish Race, by Seumas
MacManus. This 720-page classic recounts the history
of the Irish from their earliest origin legends to the
Constitution of 1938. Remembering that the Irish,
after the Greeks and the Romans, have the earliest written
language in Europe, their trove of history and legend is
prodigious.
The Jews of Ireland from Earliest Times to 1910
by Louis Hyman. 1972.
Growing Up So High: A Liberties Boyhood, Sean
O’Connor - the father of writer Joseph recalls the unique
and colorful district of his childhood with affection,
honesty, warmth, and style.
The Outer Edge of Ulster-A Memoir of Social Life in
Nineteenth Century Donegal, Hugh Dorian
Stakeknife, Britain’s Secret Agents in Ireland,
Martin Ingram and Greg Harkin
How The Irish Saved Civilization, Thomas
Cahill. The Untold (?) story of Ireland's Heroic Role
from the Fall of Rome to the Rise of Medieval Europe.
August 2014
Fiction
The Mammy, Brendan O’Carroll
First in a trilogy; set in Dublin
during the late 60’s; inspiration for the outrageous ROI /
UK TV series “Mrs. Brown’s Boys” (the film version is
“Agnes Browne”)
Tana French (a favorite author):
- The Secret Place, To be published / released
September 2014
- Faithful Place. 1985 Rosie disappears
rather than running off to London with her
boyfriend. 22 years later her suitcase shows up in
Dublin. 2010.
The Silkworm, Robert Galbraith ( J. K. Rowling)
By The Lake, John McGahern
The Complete Plays of John M. Synge. There are six
of them. They are, for the most part, one or two-act
plays, readable in short sittings. Synge is regarded
as one of Ireland's most important playwrights and
writers, particularly for the beauty of his language.
44 Irish Short Stories. An anthology of Irish short
Fiction from Yeats to Frank O'Connor. Ed. by Devin
A. Garrity. 1987.
An Irish Christmas Feast, John B. Keane.
50 short stories.. 2002
Non-Fiction
Nan: The Life of an Irish
Travelling Woman, Sharon Gmelch
An Anthropologist’s collection of
interviews with Nan in book form.
Two non-fiction books on the
same subject:
- The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke.
- The Cooper's Wife is Missing by Joan Hoff and Marian
Yates.
The first explores the culture and beliefs that
lead to the 1895 death in Tipperary of a young woman who
had fallen ill and become delirious. Her family and
friends believed she'd been taken by the fairies.
Their attempts to cure her cause her death. The
British used the incident as proof that the Irish were not
fit for independence. The second book looks more closely
to the political climate and figures of the time.
No Laughing Matter, the life & times of Flann O'Brien,
Anthony Cronin
The Rebel Countess, Anne Marreco
Dublin Voices, an oral folk history, Kevin C. Kearns
The Scotch-Irish, James G. Leyburn
Carryover Titles
Book proposed in prior years. Previously read title
may be found in this portion of the list.
Fiction
A Stone of the Heart,
1988), by John Brady. Dublin's answer to Maigret, Sergeant
Matt Minogue is trying to sort out the murder-
by-strangling of a rambling tippler, 73-year-old
Englishman Arthur Combs. Minogue finds himself in the
middle of a WW II spy cover-up involving MI6. Anxious
about incriminating bits that Combs may have left behind,
the English send a man in to dog Minogue's investigation.
Soon Combs's former contact, Ball, is murdered by Irish
terrorists; Combs's secret data is retrieved from an
out-to- pasture horse; and Minogue's simple murder case is
overrun by nefarious British intelligence types who--with
more murder on their minds--want to keep the lid on
Combs's wartime activities and the dastardly lengths his
superiors went to keep him at them. By the time Minogue
pieces together Combs's story, several more have died; the
British embassy is busy ferrying its wounded warriors back
home; and Minogue is recommended for promotion. This is a
handsomely written, dark journey into Irish politics and
English duplicity. Brady is a master of the telling
detail, and within the framework of the political novel,
has created memorable characters, most especially the
estimable Minogue.
Redemption, Leon Uris -
a continuation of the Trinity Saga
Vengeance, Benjamin
Black - a Quirke novel
The Master, by Colm
Toibin 2006. Prize-winning book.
An Irish Country Christmas.
Patrick Taylor, series set in Ballybucklebo. 2008
A different book: For the last
ballot, I recommended Redemption, Leon Uris, but
stated only that it is the follow-up to Uris' landmark
novel, Trinity. I didn't think it through (tho' I
certainly should have) and didn't realize that some people
are not necessarily familiar with Trinity. So now I also
recommend for the ballot:
Trinity, Leon Uris.
Spans time from the Great Famine to the Easter Rising.
Catholic hill farming family and Belfast mill family are
the protagonists. As history sweeps around them the
perspectives of the 2 families are complicated by the
boy-girl thing, at a time when "mixed" couples had no
chance. A very exciting, adventuresome read. We might not
learn much that we don't already know, but this book found
a very large audience for popular reading. So for some
month when we don't feel like struggling through an opaque
tome, this one is a fun read. Or we could skip this one
and just go for Redemption...or skip both.... Whatever the
group decides.... But I thought it worth giving you a
little more info so the choice will have a fair basis.
Nonfiction
Why Beckett by Enoch
Brater. 1989. Literary biography which gives the general
reader easier access to Beckett’s work.
Irish Literature: A Social
History by Norman Vance, 1990. A scholarly study
which discusses works from the 17th Century through the
present. Vance specifically includes works from Ulster
which he thinks have been neglected.
The Two Unions: Ireland,
Scotland, and the Survival of the United Kingdom,
1707-2007. 2012. Alvin Jackson. Much has been
written about the decline of the United Kingdom. The Two
Unions: Ireland, Scotland, and the Survival of the United
Kingdom, 1707-2007 looks instead at the lengthy survival
of the Union, examining the institutions, structures, and
individuals that have contributed to its longevity.
In order to understand the
United Kingdom's survival, Alvin Jackson, one of the
foremost historians of modern Ireland and of the
British-Irish relationship, sustains a comparison between
the Irish and Scots Unions, their respective origins and
subsequent development. He provides a detailed examination
of the two interlinked Unionist movements in Scotland and
Ireland. Jackson illuminates not only the history and
varied health of the United Kingdom over the past 300
years, but also its present condition and prospects.
The Graves are Walking: The
Great Famine and the Saga of the Irish People, by
John Kelly.
Origins of the Irish,
by JP Mallory
James Joyce by Richard
Ellmann. THE definitive bio, and also an entertaining
read. Best of. But 744 pp
James Joyce by Edna
O'Brien. Sketchy, broad-brush treatment. OK for what it
is, but I'd recommend both of the others above this one.
On the other hand, only 178 pp.
The Letters of James Joyce,
runs about 400 pp. haven't read, but they're bound to be
interesting.
Troubles by J. G.
Farrell, intro by John Banville. Looks interesting. Might
be worth consideration on our next fiction ballot....
More by :
In the Woods, Tina
French
Marriage on an Irish Farm, by John McNamee. Article here.
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