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Country of the Grand
A young man driving across Ireland with his wife asks her how long she would wait before being with another man if he died. A man is trapped, hidden, in a small changing room by the sea on Galway Bay, as he listens to his friends discuss his wife's infidelity. An anguished young boy and his widowed mother struggle to reconstruct their lost father and husband in their own respective ways. The stories in Country of the Grand magnify a New Ireland as it copes with the rewards and pressures of its fresh success: immigration, mid-life crisis, adultery and divorce, a lost sense of place and history, and of course, what to do with all that prosperity.
256 pages, Paperback
First published August 1, 2008
About the author
Gerard Donovan
14 books58 followersGerard Donovan is an acclaimed Irish-born novelist, photographer and poet currently living in Plymouth, England, working as a lecturer at the University of Plymouth.
Donovan attracted immediate critical acclaim with his debut novel Schopenhauer's Telescope, which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2003. His subsequent novels include Doctor Salt (2005), Julius Winsome (2006), and, most recently, Sunless (2007). However, Sunless is essentially a rewritten version of Doctor Salt -- ultimately very different from the earlier novel, but built upon the same basic narrative elements—of which Donovan has said: "Doctor Salt... was a first draft of Sunless. I wrote [Doctor Salt] too fast, and the sense I was after just wasn't in the novel. ... I saw the chance to write the real novel, if you like, [when Doctor Salt was due to be published in the United States in 2007] and this I hope I've done in Sunless."
Prior to his career as a prose author, Donovan published three collections of poetry: Columbus Rides Again (1992), Kings and Bicycles (1995), and The Lighthouse (2000). His next publication will be a collection of short stories set in Ireland, followed by a novel set in early twentieth-century Europe which he is currently writing.
Donovan made a huge Dubai picture, with 4.250 photoshots (45 billion pixels) in Dubai's panoramica area.
Donovan attracted immediate critical acclaim with his debut novel Schopenhauer's Telescope, which was long-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2003. His subsequent novels include Doctor Salt (2005), Julius Winsome (2006), and, most recently, Sunless (2007). However, Sunless is essentially a rewritten version of Doctor Salt -- ultimately very different from the earlier novel, but built upon the same basic narrative elements—of which Donovan has said: "Doctor Salt... was a first draft of Sunless. I wrote [Doctor Salt] too fast, and the sense I was after just wasn't in the novel. ... I saw the chance to write the real novel, if you like, [when Doctor Salt was due to be published in the United States in 2007] and this I hope I've done in Sunless."
Prior to his career as a prose author, Donovan published three collections of poetry: Columbus Rides Again (1992), Kings and Bicycles (1995), and The Lighthouse (2000). His next publication will be a collection of short stories set in Ireland, followed by a novel set in early twentieth-century Europe which he is currently writing.
Donovan made a huge Dubai picture, with 4.250 photoshots (45 billion pixels) in Dubai's panoramica area.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
October 2, 2016
Jako většina povídkových knih, i tato by se dala přirovnat k sexu se mnou. Občas o ničem, občas to ujde, jednou výborný a jednou jsem u toho usnul.
February 6, 2009
Four stories in, or should that be up (not in sequence), and they're very very good.
***
Finished. Very impressed. Thanks Tania/Short Review - I won this book and might never have read it but for the Short Review competition. OK these stories cover the usual themes - infidelity, death, loss, middle aged crisis, and this being Ireland, the aftermath of the Troubles - but this writer puts his own subtle stamp (if you can have a subtle stamp)on things with his complex, poetic writing full of beautiful passages. Although hard to quote from as the effect is cumulative, try this (from 'Archeologists'):
He was briefly and unconsciously a father. She told him nothing. It was none of his business, she did not want to join their lives together using a third life. She took a pill and the child went away, left much regret and so silently in the space it made, and her body went back to being single without visible signs - no trail of instruments, no hands, no eyes searching her, no waiting rooms. The journey to being hollow was water in a glass.
Or this opening to 'New Deal':
The immigrant in his new uniform blubbered away his English and left me with a dribble I couldn't understand.
What are you saying to me, I said, but he was lost to me now. It was numbers I wanted from him, not words.
He gaped at his stomach as if it might go away, the bullet in it, if he looked hard enough.
Ok there are a lot of good to great Irish writers of the short story about and maybe you're tired of them. Strictly speaking Donovan could lose a star for a touch of overdone-ness here and there:
Another sheet of rain fell, a chord of drops spreading fingertips across the strings of the dark to strum one wet hiss on the path around him.
(from 'Archeologists')
But as always I side with the writer, and Thankyou, Gerard Donovan for this signed book, it is lovely.
P.S. The greatest story here - 'Harry Dietz' - is worth 5 stars on its own, a 40 page epic of madness, set in the USA this time (all the others are set in Ireland).
...had to put up the cover again. Looking at my backlists on GR have lost soooo many covers - any idea why GR?
***
Finished. Very impressed. Thanks Tania/Short Review - I won this book and might never have read it but for the Short Review competition. OK these stories cover the usual themes - infidelity, death, loss, middle aged crisis, and this being Ireland, the aftermath of the Troubles - but this writer puts his own subtle stamp (if you can have a subtle stamp)on things with his complex, poetic writing full of beautiful passages. Although hard to quote from as the effect is cumulative, try this (from 'Archeologists'):
He was briefly and unconsciously a father. She told him nothing. It was none of his business, she did not want to join their lives together using a third life. She took a pill and the child went away, left much regret and so silently in the space it made, and her body went back to being single without visible signs - no trail of instruments, no hands, no eyes searching her, no waiting rooms. The journey to being hollow was water in a glass.
Or this opening to 'New Deal':
The immigrant in his new uniform blubbered away his English and left me with a dribble I couldn't understand.
What are you saying to me, I said, but he was lost to me now. It was numbers I wanted from him, not words.
He gaped at his stomach as if it might go away, the bullet in it, if he looked hard enough.
Ok there are a lot of good to great Irish writers of the short story about and maybe you're tired of them. Strictly speaking Donovan could lose a star for a touch of overdone-ness here and there:
Another sheet of rain fell, a chord of drops spreading fingertips across the strings of the dark to strum one wet hiss on the path around him.
(from 'Archeologists')
But as always I side with the writer, and Thankyou, Gerard Donovan for this signed book, it is lovely.
P.S. The greatest story here - 'Harry Dietz' - is worth 5 stars on its own, a 40 page epic of madness, set in the USA this time (all the others are set in Ireland).
...had to put up the cover again. Looking at my backlists on GR have lost soooo many covers - any idea why GR?
February 1, 2024
I do understand why this book has such a low rating. Even though some of the stories contained interesting starting points, none of the stories really felt complete. Instead of dealing with the troubles (mostly a cheating partner or loss because of either death or cheating) the story abruptly ends as soon as the character acknowledges or understands that he is in a tough situation. So basically every story left me feeling kind of unsatisfied. Furthermore, i don't think any of the stories were specific to Ireland and could have had a connection to any other country.
January 28, 2018
Konečně to mám za sebou! Irské povídky, které mě ale strašně nudily a na kterých mě bavilo jen to, že jsem si mohla představovat Dublin, Limerick nebo Connemaru. Pro mě povídky po té nejhorší stránce - ukecaná literární onanie, postavy, které nestihnou přirůst k srdci, a předvídatelná nebo nulová pointa. Proti tomu ty povídky Boučkové byly vyložené drahokamy.
December 10, 2011
Povídka měla a dosud má v irské literatuře silnou, bezvýhradní pozici. Je to nejen díky mnohým autorům, kteří svou zemi proslavili před desítkami let (ano, jistě můžeme jmenovat třeba Jamese Joyceho a jeho Dubliňany), ale i díky současníkům ať už starších (William Trevor, Roddy Doyle) či nastupujících (Claire Keegan). Každý rok také vychází několik souborů povídek irských autorů (můžeme jmenovat např. zřejmě nejprestižnější New Irish Short Stories, letos připravovaný Josephem O’Connorem).
Irská povídka je něco zvláštního. Něco, co jsem jinde dosud nenašel. Jakkoliv mám rád např. Ivana Krause či Nerudovy Povídky malostranské, pokud bych si měl vybrat, vždy sáhnu po knize ze smaragdového ostrova. Zahrnuje v sobě onu tajemnost vodou obklopené země, která má tak trochu jinou historii než zbytek Evropy. V irské literatuře nacházíme nejčastěji témata, jako je hladomor, nenávist k Britům nebo emigrace. Vždy ale můžeme nalézt lásku k rodné zemi, kterou nelze zaměňovat za prvoplánovaný patriotismus.
Kniha povídek Gerarda Donovana však obsahuje navíc něco, s čím jsem se dosud nesetkal. Hlavní postavy se zaobírají svými pocity k druhým, rozebírají milostné i rodinné vztahy, jejich minulost, jejich případná budoucnost. Začíná to už Ranními plavci a vztahu tří kamarádů, dá-li se tak říkat někomu, kdo se pravidelně schází ráno na plavání. Nejvíce je to však znát v povídce Archeologové. Emma se neustále trápí vztahem s Randallem. Pořád přemýšlí, zda to celé neukončit, Randall jí neustále nějakým způsobem vyrušuje a když se zdá, že už má řešení, tak… Ne, nemá cenu vám prozrazovat zápletku.
Vůbec nejkrásnější povídkou je Harry Dietz, která se kupodivu odehrává ve Státech a s Irskem má společného snad jen to, že Harryho maminka se v Irsku narodila. Ovšem brilantní popis Harryho cesty pro mléko do kávy vyústí v něco, co se nakonec dá očekávat, ale všímavějšímu čtenáři bude úzko z lidského údělu.
Ačkoliv „irské noci“ místy trpí chybami (logickými i pravopisnými), mohu povídky ze současného Irska doporučit. Je to příjemný počin nakladatelství Zlín, které mj. již vydalo překlad dvou knih povídek výše zmiňované Claire Keegan.
Irská povídka je něco zvláštního. Něco, co jsem jinde dosud nenašel. Jakkoliv mám rád např. Ivana Krause či Nerudovy Povídky malostranské, pokud bych si měl vybrat, vždy sáhnu po knize ze smaragdového ostrova. Zahrnuje v sobě onu tajemnost vodou obklopené země, která má tak trochu jinou historii než zbytek Evropy. V irské literatuře nacházíme nejčastěji témata, jako je hladomor, nenávist k Britům nebo emigrace. Vždy ale můžeme nalézt lásku k rodné zemi, kterou nelze zaměňovat za prvoplánovaný patriotismus.
Kniha povídek Gerarda Donovana však obsahuje navíc něco, s čím jsem se dosud nesetkal. Hlavní postavy se zaobírají svými pocity k druhým, rozebírají milostné i rodinné vztahy, jejich minulost, jejich případná budoucnost. Začíná to už Ranními plavci a vztahu tří kamarádů, dá-li se tak říkat někomu, kdo se pravidelně schází ráno na plavání. Nejvíce je to však znát v povídce Archeologové. Emma se neustále trápí vztahem s Randallem. Pořád přemýšlí, zda to celé neukončit, Randall jí neustále nějakým způsobem vyrušuje a když se zdá, že už má řešení, tak… Ne, nemá cenu vám prozrazovat zápletku.
Vůbec nejkrásnější povídkou je Harry Dietz, která se kupodivu odehrává ve Státech a s Irskem má společného snad jen to, že Harryho maminka se v Irsku narodila. Ovšem brilantní popis Harryho cesty pro mléko do kávy vyústí v něco, co se nakonec dá očekávat, ale všímavějšímu čtenáři bude úzko z lidského údělu.
Ačkoliv „irské noci“ místy trpí chybami (logickými i pravopisnými), mohu povídky ze současného Irska doporučit. Je to příjemný počin nakladatelství Zlín, které mj. již vydalo překlad dvou knih povídek výše zmiňované Claire Keegan.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews