Tales from the Blue Stacks

by Robert Bernen

Stories and sketches are based on the author's experience living and working among a small group of farmers in the extreme northwest of Ireland whose lives continue to be rooted in the eighteenth century

144 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Padraic · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good luck trying to find these (pssst...try interlibrary loan!). Odd tales by an early version of the now familiar American settling in Ireland and trying his hand at farming. Bernen did it, then disappeared. Along the way, he managed to capture a dying culture that was evaporating like mist. Or myst, for you Celtophiles out there...

[Kathy Piselli · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nicely crafted stories by an American writing from a farm in Donegal, Ireland in the seventies. The way of life they describe is probably gone now. If you find you like this collection, Bernan published another "More Tales from the Blue Stacks".

[Cat McKenna · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book.. i read a few pages every morning in order to savor it...to make it last longer. I would have loved to know more about Robert Bernen's personal life, not just of his neighbors. However, I loved seeing them through his eyes. It brought to me, the natural ways of nature and humankind. I felt transported and appreciated the reminders of how to live closer to the land, more simply, and even work harder. This book was an experience for me.

[Tom Kirwan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A past world of farming Donegal. To live in a quieter time while reading.

[James E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although the author and his wife certainly have an interesting tale of their own to tell of moving from urban life to an isolated rural life in the remote hills of Donegal, and all the adjustments they had to make, and all the new skills they had to learn, this is not that book. This is more of a "let me tell you about this place" sort of book. It's a snapshot in time of a people and a place still stuck in old ancient ways of farming and living. The short stories encapsulate the failures, the comedies, and the unintentional heroism of the people living there. They were mostly oblivious to their isolation and backwardness, and almost stubbornly proud of it (although the last story, "The Fence", reveals a moment of resigned awareness).
I wonder what reaction this book got among the locals at the time. If they were true to Bernen's caricature, most of them probably shrugged it off and continued about their normal routines. Possibly even prouder of their simplicity and primitiveness.