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Reading Rites: Books, writing and other things that matter
‘Evelyn Conlon’s voice is instantly
wise, funny, insightful (inciteful, if that’s a word) and irrepressible.’
Lia Mills
In Reading Rites, Evelyn Conlon brings her characteristic wit and keen intelligence to the task of exploring her writing life, drawing out the events, people, books and concerns that have helped to make her the writer she is.
Using the lens of her own life as a starting point, she considers a vast array of subjects, including education; the effects of the Catholic Church, particularly on the lives of women; the legacy of historical moments such as 1916; and, through it all, the power of books to free us, to offer understanding, and to help us to see outside and beyond ourselves.
Part memoir, part manifesto, Reading Rites is full of the sharp observation, restless questioning and hard-won wisdom that make Conlon one of Ireland’s finest and most compelling writers.
‘These essays amount to an alternative history of social change in Ireland …
each one manages to keep faith with the truth of public speech.’
Sean O’Reilly
wise, funny, insightful (inciteful, if that’s a word) and irrepressible.’
Lia Mills
In Reading Rites, Evelyn Conlon brings her characteristic wit and keen intelligence to the task of exploring her writing life, drawing out the events, people, books and concerns that have helped to make her the writer she is.
Using the lens of her own life as a starting point, she considers a vast array of subjects, including education; the effects of the Catholic Church, particularly on the lives of women; the legacy of historical moments such as 1916; and, through it all, the power of books to free us, to offer understanding, and to help us to see outside and beyond ourselves.
Part memoir, part manifesto, Reading Rites is full of the sharp observation, restless questioning and hard-won wisdom that make Conlon one of Ireland’s finest and most compelling writers.
‘These essays amount to an alternative history of social change in Ireland …
each one manages to keep faith with the truth of public speech.’
Sean O’Reilly
174 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 11, 2023
2 people are currently reading
9 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
March 20, 2024
Conlon is brilliant company via this collection of essays about her life and work. I loved reading about her travels and her reading preferences and her experiences in this island's literary world. This is also an account of the life of an activist and a teacher. She tackles life fearlessly as a thoroughly independent spirit and is never boring. I truly hope that there are many more sequels to this book.
June 29, 2024
There are two good chapters in this book, one on Conlon's world travels when younger, and the other on her work with anti-death sentence advocates that includes the intriguing sentence about the boy involved in the murder in The Fugitive: 'He talked about the money and careers that people had made out of lies about his life. I have never been able to look at Harrison Ford since.'
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews