Goodreads Ireland discussion

This is the first time I've heard of Tao Lin and I'm not sure what to make of him. It seems like he could be a era-defining writer, but it also seems like he be a tiresome, self-indulgent tool.

I think I'll let the public make up their minds about him before I decide if I'd like to read his books or not.

I'll wait for your assessment, Allan. I've taken punts before on book by 'original' and 'exciting' writers, and I've come to view these words as euphemisms for 'dull' and 'inaccessible.'

Great idea!

It's the first Monday in Sept. Americans tend to steer away from May Day as "too socialist".

Allan, I had forgotten the pagan, Wiccan, and pre-Christian associations with May Day. Growing up Catholic I think we had processions to the BVM but I may be confounding all that. Some 80 countries (according to that most unreliable of sources Wikipedia) celebrate May 1st as International Workers today - and socialists and anarchists celebrate that.
As for English men dancing around Maypoles, I always thought Morris dancing was very goofy (over there you'd say "silly") and really really avoided being around it. Lots of Americans seemed to do it in past decades though it may not be as "popular" - but OMG keep it away from me.

Meyer gave an interview during the week with BBC Breakfast. He seems to be very mush a method writer, if there is such an expression. He went as far as drinking warm bison's blood and other rituals.

I think I'll have to read this before the year is out.

Declan wrote: "Meyer gave an interview during the week with BBC Breakfast. He seems to be very mush a method writer, if there is such an expression. He went as far as drinking warm bison's blood and other rituals..."

Ugh. So just a simple wine, beer, or tea wouldn't work for him?

No, it had to be blood straight from the bison.

I would have just imagined the experience or asked someone who had done it what it was like.

Declan wrote: "No, it had to be blood straight from the bison.

I would have just imagined the experience or asked someone who had done it what it was like."

Me, too! Well, at least I hope that the bison's blood played a significant part in the novel.

He certainly made it sound sugnificant.

Allan wrote: "I wonder if he used Susan's son's contacts to get the bison's blood? :)"

Wow. So maybe that's why she was writing about her son's BBQ business....Everything's connected! ;)

Wait!

Bison's blood from Susan's son!

Susan's son!

son!

The son!

The Son by Philipp Meyer!

Mind blown.

That Philipp Meyer has been everywhere this week, not only was he on Breakfast he then turned up on the Simon Mayo radio show, and all the papers are bigging up his book, I want to read this book but I find when something is bigged up this much it is then a great disapointment.

@ Allan

Maybe I'll nominate if for the August read, if it wins I will be happy to read it.

Allan wrote: "I thought I'd create this thread in distinction to the 'Articles of Interest' thread, to provide a place to post purely reviews that anyone comes across that they wish to share.

I know my tastes ..."

My favourite line from this review: “Gatsby enthusiasts – and what person with a brain isn't one?”
I’m such a Gatsby fan I’d probably be caught saying something similar.

I’m not sure I’d want to read a book like this that deconstructs Gatsby and tries to tie it all back to a real life source. I was talking about this in my writing group the other day – about how if you write something that resembles your real life you constantly get asked what’s true and what isn’t. For that reason, some of the writers in the group specifically shy away from writing anything that echoes their real life.
But I think it’s important to do what Fitzgerald did and borrow (steal!) from real life – it makes the story more believable to have those touches. Yet you still need to use your imagination and mould those real life touches into a story worth telling.
Ultimately Gatsby is a work of fiction, and a fine one at that. I think trying to deconstruct it to find the real life sources for specific details, whilst an interesting academic exercise, makes you lose sight of the artistic whole.
That being said, I found the article fascinating. I suppose if like me you’ve read Gatsby 150 times and are still thirsty for more then this will quench some of the thirst.
Fitzgerald’s diary entry, where he squeezes his child beginning to speak into a list between golf and a party is itself is an indictment of the society he was living in:
"Tootsie arrived. Intermittent work on novel. Constant drinking. Some golf. Baby begins to talk. Party at Allan Dwan's. Gloria Swanson and the movie crowd. Our party for Tootsie. The Perkins arrive. I drive into lake."

Caroline wrote: "Allan wrote: "I thought I'd create this thread in distinction to the 'Articles of Interest' thread, to provide a place to post purely reviews that anyone comes across that they wish to share.

I k..."

A friend bought me a copy of The Great Gatsby which she keeps forgetting to give me. I do definitely want to read this. I avoided the "classics" most of my life and now is time to catch up.

Barbara wrote: "Caroline wrote: "Allan wrote: "I thought I'd create this thread in distinction to the 'Articles of Interest' thread, to provide a place to post purely reviews that anyone comes across that they wis..."

It's always terrifying when you give/receive a much beloved book to/from a friend. I gave my best friend The Secret History by Donna Tartt. She avoided reading it for over two years. She didn't like the sound of it and was scared of (i) disappointing me by telling me she didn't like it or, worse still, (ii) really hating it and thinking less of me for loving a book she thought was so terrible. Then I got a call from her one random Wednesday at 5:30 am to say she'd finally started it, had been up all night reading it and why hadn't I made her read it before as she absolutely loved it.

Caroline wrote: "Allan wrote: "I thought I'd create this thread in distinction to the 'Articles of Interest' thread, to provide a place to post purely reviews that anyone comes across that they wish to share.

I k..."

Can someone answer a question for me? Since college, and the endless hours of droning lecture on deconstructing novels, I've wondered why there is any interest in pursuing that odd intellectual flagellation? What is the point of taking a piece of narrative or poetry and trying to dissect it? Hope of then being able to write like that? What's the point? It's been done. I think the writers art, once released upon the world, lives independently of the writer, but I may be wrong...

Richard - thank you!! I agree more than 100% with you. I am in a group that reads Irish poetry and we meet monthly. Everyone brings one poem. I have gotten frustrated by people making up interpretations based on nothing except guesses. To avoid that, I do try to come with some information about the poem so people aren't just guessing wildly what it's about. for me, often it's the words, and images, that appeal to me.

I have to say, I used to enjoy poetry but that's exactlt the sort of thing that put me off it.

I'd never heard of it, Allan, but now I'm itching to read it.

Allan wrote: "I'm just posting a query as to whether anyone has ever read, or even heard of this novel, 'Stoner' by John Williams.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2013/...

There..."
Hi Allan,
I've never read it, but I remember reading about it about six months or a year ago. I believe the New Yorker or the New York Review of Books has re-issued some forgotten classics of the 20th century and this was one of them. I do remember that those I know who read the book thought it was beautifully written but uniformly bleak and melancholy. But I haven't read it...yet. Maybe I wil.

Allan, I just read that Malcom Gladwell who wrote "The Outliers" has a new book coming out called David and Goliath. He is a non-fiction writer. After he discusses David and Goliath, he is going to deal with the "troubles" of NI. Have you seen any kind of review on the new book?

Allan wrote: "Susan-I just checked the release date for the book over here, and then my usual source of reviews, Guardian Online. There's nothing on the latter yet, but seeing as the release date isn't until Oct..."

Allan - like you, this also makes me nervous. It's so easy to get it all wrong. Someone has probably written a review of all the books and/or films that have gotten it right or wrong. It certainly can't be a "right" or "wrong" list -perhaps a continuum.

Allan wrote: "Susan-I just checked the release date for the book over here, and then my usual source of reviews, Guardian Online. There's nothing on the latter yet, but seeing as the release date isn't until Oct..."

I think you're right that it's too early for reviews. Could you keep an eye out? I would normally be hesitant but Gladwell did such an excellent job on Outliers. Have you read it?

Allan wrote: "I will certainly keep an eye out for the review and post it when it is published! :)

I haven't read Outliers, but am just after reading the digested read of the book that The Guardian often prints..."

Allan, it's as if you were born to be a school teacher. You always find the right research to enlighten a discussion. I basically agree with the second one. Practice is so much important than people believe. Now bands, comics and some authors think they can just put something out there and that will be enough. The really good ones honed their craft for years but that was before You Tube, etc.
I do want to read this book and see what he says about NI. It could be really good or just stink. Oct., you said?

By the way, Allan, when do you go on vacation? Will you be able to bring your wry wits to us while on vacation? Will you post soe pixs when you get back?

Allan wrote: "Hi Susan. I checked Amazon's US site as well there, and the book is due for release on 1st October. We're getting it on 3rd October, so I'd assume reviews / interviews etc will all feature around t..."

You probably know to check on rates for your location in Mexico. I was slammed with a phone bill for over $150 for 3 short phone calls home from Chile a few years ago. There was an extraordinarily high tax and other fees. I also discovered that folks going between the Republic and NI have also suffered high charges. So I switch to whatever mode it is that doesn't connect to roaming, and mostly text rather than use my phone. I am still never sure I won't have high charges when I get home. I have T-Mobile and a free international plan. I try to research country charges before I go. I've called and texted from Brazil, Peru, Spain, Ireland, and probably other countries with minimal charges. I have no idea how things work with wifi devices such as iPads etc. I traveled with mine last fall rather than a laptop. Now with the mini iPad, it's even easier.
Not to get too far off topic, but I have been surprised at the airports that don't offer free wifi including JFK in NY. I'd say we are far too connected to our devices. I know when I get back to work in a few weeks I won't be as active on Goodreads. But I will keep on reading.

@Allan. I enjoyed that review. I've never read any his Barrytown books, but I think I'll be reading this. His novels always have charm, and I think it's because he usually sticks to what he knows well, Dublin males, and the books seem vert real in spite of the countless implausible scenarios his books often involved.

He's very witty; and irreverent. I had the pleasure of seeing him read the opening chapter of S Star Called Henry while doing my leaving cert, and I loved it. I didn't enjoy Oh, Play That Thing! Half as much as ASCH, either, but I got some kicks out of it. I mean, I giant Irishman convincing Louis Armstrong to burglarise houses to make ends meet, it does have an appeal. I found them to be fantastical, so I couldn't hold them to the same standards as other novels. The Dublin and New York of those novels was no more real to me than Narnia. Just a little more familiar, is all.

Do you think you'll read The Guts, Allan?

I wouldn't call him a fabourite. It would be a lie. But I am a fan. He was the first writer I ever read who wrote about a Dublin I recognise.

Re: & Sons. I would never read that outside of a group discussion. I'd worry I'd hate it and I'd be relying on a good discussion to be my safety net in case I did.

When you eventually read Tao Lin'd book, let me know if it lives up to it's hype, Allan. I'd be keen to know what you make of it.

Cheers, Allan!

How many Irish crime novelists are journalist? Michael Clifford, Tana French... and Clifford's first book had the same context as French's last one. Are crime novels/mysteries replacing Chick Lit in Ireland?

Allan wrote: "This might be of interest to Caroline in particular, given its links to Bogata-it's a review of Juan Gabriel Vasquez's new novel, 'The Sound of Things Falling', from the NY Times website.

http://..."

This novel sounds beautiful - now more to read. And as for Greg Coles, maybe he should make that comment in certain bars/pubs where he would soon be convinced it is not all the same.

Gene Kerrigan is another Journalist-turned-crime-novelst. I've read his novel The Midnight Choir, and it wasn't bad.

I'm afraid once again I'm playing the cynic,
But this whole rhyming couplet thing's only a gimmick.
I doubt that story gets any more meaning,
I certainly don't find it all very appealing.
Would it not have been better to simply use prose?
But it then lacks in interest, so I suppose
That I can't blame the author for his literary quest,
But I think that the journalist's easily impressed.
I'll quit while I'm ahead because I'm hardly the bard,
But I don't think that rhyming's especially hard.

Touché, sir!

That response had made day.

(I'm really trying to fight the temptation to stop rhyming.) It's SO addictive.

It sounds, from the last comment, overtly religious which would put me off. The comment about reading 'between and behind the lines,' tells me it relies a lot on inference. I expect more from an historical book.

Allan wrote: "This wouldn't be a book I'd be interested in, but, seeing as Susan has expressed an interest in the subject of women in religion, I thought I'd post this review on a book about the role of early Ch..."

That sounds interesting. I am really interested in the woman's role in early Irish history. I read one book about a woman disciple of St. Patrick and there is a series of mysteries about a woman religious person in the early 600's. It just seemed like Ireland was more open to women in religion in the early Christian movement.

@Allan. I'll have to read that, myself. It'll be intetesting to see what changes, if any, Peace makes, and if I'll be able to notice them.

@Susan. Did you read How the Irish Saved Civilization by Thomas Cahill. It was a QIR early on in the group, and it discussed early Irish Cathilicism, very much distinct from Roman Catholicism, in some depth.

It may also be worth asking J.S. for some advice on what to read on the subject. She'd be our expert on Irish history, particularly early history.

Ooh! Let me know how the talk with Kevin Sampson goes and what he has to say about the book. I'd love to hear it.

I've never read a single book of his, he used to show up a lot on LFC TV for discussions. I saw That Damned United with Michael Sheen a couple of years ago. I love the idea of this book. It's been a while since I've read a good sports book, too.

Allan wrote: "As I'm not a fan of poetry, I've never heard of Irish poet, Maurice Riordan, but I thought I'd share this positive review of his new book with those of you who are!

http://www.theguardian.com/book..."

thanks Allan! I am not familiar with Riordan.

http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmat...

Has anyone read this or heard anything else about the author? It sounds delightful.

Sara wrote: "http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmat...

Has anyone read this or heard anything else about the author? It sounds delightful."

Hi Sara, I haven't heard about it, but it does sound really good.

Sara wrote: "http://kimbofo.typepad.com/readingmat...

Has anyone read this or heard anything else about the author? It sounds delightful."

This is new to me but I found another article in the Irish Times. Looks worth checking out.

Allan wrote: "As I'm not a fan of poetry, I've never heard of Irish poet, Maurice Riordan, but I thought I'd share this positive review of his new book with those of you who are!

http://www.theguardian.com/book..."

Thanks, Allan, for posting that link. That's quite a stellar review, isn't it? I'll have to give that volume a look. A good friend of mine is a poet and was recently at an Ezra Pound conference at one of the universities in Dublin. I'll forward it to him, too. (I was sooo jealous when I saw his photos posted on Facebook!) I have to give you points for posting all these great links when you're on vacation :) I hope the margaritas (or other favorite drinks) are cool and the sun not too hot in Mexico!

Allan wrote: "All is good in Mexico, Cathleen-great sun but my Irish skin has had enough for the day-I'm being good drinks wise, so aside from a few beers it's all been mango smoothies that have been keeping me ..."

Can't wait to read it. Susan's right--with all your enthusiasm for this site and all of the good sources you bring to it, you have to be an amazing teacher :)

Cathleen wrote: "Allan wrote: "As I'm not a fan of poetry, I've never heard of Irish poet, Maurice Riordan, but I thought I'd share this positive review of his new book with those of you who are!

http://www.thegua..."

Cathleen - I can see how both of us spend our Sat. nights BUT I am watching the Boston Red Sox beat the #$#& out of the team that shall not be named from NY. It's the 9th inning and 6-1 Boston. Yes! Poor Pedey (Pedroia) got hit by a pitched ball and is out of the game and it's his birthday. Pedey reminds me of a border collie or any working breed of dog who just keeps going and does his job.