Read Ireland Book Reviews
Issue 473
17/18 April 2010
New in Paperback
Stone Buildings: Conservation, Repair & Building by Patrick McAfee
20 Euro / 28 USD / 16 UK; 224 pages
The materials and skills needed to preserve and rebuild any old stone building, from the humblest cottage to the grandest castle, are examined in this book. Many stone buildings throughout the world have become derelict or incorrectly repaired because there is a false impression that it is either impossible or very expensive to make old buildings habitable. Using traditional techniques, this guide shows the proper methods of restoration and maintenance while examining how the buildings were originally constructed. In addition to stone, it covers lime mortars, renders, and other traditional finishes, and provides information on repairing stone arches, stone cutting, and stone quarries.
Aftermath: The Omagh Bombings and the Families’ Pursuit of Justice by Ruth Dudley Edwards
10 Euro / 14 USD / 8 UK; 384 pages [Add To Basket]
The Omagh bomb was the worst massacre in Northern Ireland's modern history - yet from it came an extraordinary tale of human resilience: as the bombers congratulated themselves on escaping justice, the bereaved families determined on a civil case against them and their organisation. No one had ever done this before: many are likely to do it in the future. It was a very domestic atrocity. In Omagh, on Saturday, 15 August, 1998, a 500lb bomb placed by the Real IRA, murdered twenty-nine shoppers and two unborn babies - five men, fourteen women and nine children, of whom two were Spanish and one English: the dead included Protestants, Catholics and a Mormon. Though the police believed they knew the identities of the killers, there was insufficient evidence and political determination to bring charges.Taking as their motto 'For evil to triumph, all that is necessary is for good men to do nothing', families of ten of the dead decided to pursue these men through the civil courts, where the burden of proof is lower. These were ordinary people who included a factory worker, a mechanic and a cleaner; they had no money, no lawyers, and there was no legal precedent for such an action. This is the story of how - with the help of a small group of London sympathisers that included a viscount and two ex-terrorists - these Omagh families surmounted all the obstacles to launch a civil case against RIRA and five named individuals. Along the way the families became formidable campaigners who won the backing of Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush as well as of Bob Geldof and Bono. After years of legal wrangling their determination saw the case come to court in spring 2008.Aftermath is not just an astonishing story in itself, it is also a universal story of David challenging Goliath, as well as an inspiration to ordinary people anywhere devastated by terrorism.
Brooklyn by Colm Toibin
10 Euro / 14 USD / 8 UK; 250 pages
It is Ireland in the early 1950s and for Eilis Lacey, as for so many young Irish girls, opportunities are scarce. So when her sister arranges for her to emigrate to New York, Eilis knows she must go, leaving behind her family and her home for the first time. Arriving in a crowded lodging house in Brooklyn, Eilis can only be reminded of what she has sacrificed. She is far from home – and homesick. And just as she takes tentative steps towards friendship, and perhaps something more, Eilis receives news which sends her back to Ireland. There she will be confronted by a terrible dilemma – a devastating choice between duty and one great love.
The Infinities by John Banville
10 Euro / 14 USD / 8 UK; 300 pages [Add To Basket]
Old Adam Godley’s time on earth is drawing to an end, and as his wife and children gather at the family home, little do they realize that they are not the only ones who have come to observe the spectacle. The mischievous Greek gods, too, have come; as tensions fray and desire bubbles over, their spying soon becomes intrusion becomes intervention, until the mortals’ lives – right before their eyes – seem to be changing faster than they can cope with. Overflowing with bawdy humour, Banville has allowed his twinkling eye to rove through memories of the past and relationships of the present in this moving family drama. The Infinities is both a salacious delight and a penetrating exploration of the terrifying, wonderful, immutable plight of being human.
The Pleasant Light of Day by Philip O Ceallaigh
10 Euro / 14 USD / 8 UK; 265 pages [Add To Basket]
These new stories by the acclaimed author of Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse are at once visionary, hilarious and piercingly observant. Whether he is imagining a father and son walking the streets of Cairo or concocting a hilarious parody of a certain wildly popular inspirational author from Brazil, Philip Ó Ceallaigh is a writer who demands to be read.
Hidden Cork: Charmers, Chancers and Cute Hoors by Michael Lenihan
15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; 288 pages [Add To Basket]
In this collection, Michael Lenihan delves into the rich tapestry of Cork's history to reveal some of its most bizarre events and strangest characters. From quack doctor Baron Spolasco, to the outlaw Airt O Laoghaire, Cork has seen some eccentric, wonderful and even some downright nasty people. With revelations of mass graves in Bishop Lucey Park, how Jonathan Swift was awarded the freedom of the city, stories of the Gas Works' strike and the trams of the city, "Hidden Cork" opens the door on history, dumps the boring bits and brings to life the flow of time through the streets of Cork.
All The Names Have Been Changed by Clare Kilroy
9 Euro / 12 USD / 7 UK; 288 pages [Add To Basket]
"All Names Have Been Changed" is set in Dublin in the mid-1980s - a city in the grip of recession and a heroin epidemic. Narrated by Declan, the only boy of a tight-knit writing group at Trinity College, it tells of their fascination with the formidably talented but troubled writer Glynn, and the darkly exhilarating journey this leads them on. Brilliantly exploring the shifting group dynamic, and offering a unique insight into the pursuit of the creative life - with all its energy and demons, its moments of artistic elation and defeat - this is a novel of considerable verve. Following earlier forays into the worlds of art restoration and classical music, it is further evidence of Claire Kilroy's natural gift for narrative, atmosphere and character.
The Missing by Jane Casey
8 Euro / 11 USD / 6 UK; 496 pages [Add To Basket]
Jenny Shepherd is twelve years old and missing...Her teacher, Sarah Finch, knows better than most that the chances of finding her alive are diminishing with every day she is gone. As a little girl her older brother had gone out to play one day and never returned. The strain of never knowing what has happened to Charlie had ripped Sarah's family apart. Now in her early twenties, she is back living at home, trapped with a mother who drinks too much and keeps her brother's bedroom as a shrine to his memory. Then, horrifically, it is Sarah who finds Jenny's body, beaten and abandoned in the woods near her home. As she's drawn into the police investigation and the heart of a media storm, Sarah's presence arouses suspicion too. But it not just the police who are watching her...
Full Tilt: From Ireland to India with a Bicycle by Dervla Murphy
Large Format Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK; [Add To Basket]
When Dervla Murphy was ten, she was given a bicycle and an atlas, and within days she was secretly planning a trip to India. At the age of thirty-one, in 1963, she finally set off and this book is based on the daily diary she kept while riding through Persia, Afghanistan and over the Himalayas to Pakistan and India. A lone woman on a bicycle (with a revolver in her trouser pocket) was an almost unknown occurrence and a focus of enormous interest wherever she went. Undaunted by snow in alarming quantites, and using her .25 pistol on starving wolves in Bulgaria and to scare lecherous Kurds in Persia, her resourcefulness and the blind eye she turned to personal danger and extreme discomfort were remarkable.
Wheels Within Wheels: The Making of a Traveller by Dervla Murphy
Large Format Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK [Add To Basket]
What is it that makes us who we are? In this beautifully written and searingly honest autobiography, the intrepid cyclist and traveller Dervla Murphy remembers her richly unconventional first thirty years. She describes her determined childhood self – strong-willed and beguiled by books from the first – her intermittent formal education and the intense relationship of an only child with her parents, particularly her invalid mother whom she nursed until her death. Here lie the roots of Dervla's gift for friendship, her love of writing, her curiosity, her hatred of cant, her hardiness and her desire to travel. Bicycling fifty miles in a day at the age of eleven, alone, it seems only natural that her first major journey should have been to cycle to India.
Island the Dared: Journeys In Cuba by Dervla Murphy
Large Format Paperback; 16 Euro / 22 USD / 11 UK [Add To Basket]
Take a three-generation family holiday in Cuba in the company of Dervla Murphy, her daughter and three young granddaughters and you have a Swallows and Amazon like adventure in the Caribean as they trek into the hills and along the coast as a family, camping out on empty beaches beneath the stars and relishing the ubiquitous Cuban hospitality. But this is no more than the joyful start of a fully-fledged quest to understand the unique society created by the Cuban Revolution. For Dervla returns alone to explore the mountains, coastal swamps and decaying cities, investigating the experience of modern Cuba with her particular, candid curiosity. Through her own research and through conversations with Fidelistas and their critics alike, The Island That Dared builds a complex picture of a people struggling to retain their identity in the face of insistent hostility of the government of the United States.
A Pint of Plain: Tradition, Change and the Fate of the Irish Pub by Bill Barich
Large Format Paperback; 25 Euro / 30 USD / 20 UK; 604 pages [Add To Basket]
When Bill Barich moved to Dublin, he began searching for a traditional pub to serve as his local. Although he had no shortage of choices, he had trouble finding one that measured up to the archetypal ideal. As he roams from hectic urban pubs to their dwindling rural counterparts, he chronicles the state of the 'Irish' pub today, both in Ireland itself and all over the world. Entertaining, charming and full of insight, "A Pint of Plain" chronicles Barich's quest for the perfect pint, at the same time examining Irish culture at a time of great change. 'You can almost taste the Guinness pit-stops during Bill Barich's leisurely stroll ... Fascinating' Independent 'Bill Barich gets to the heart of the Irish pub, but he also gets to the soul of contemporary Ireland' Colum McCann '[Barich] wins us over with his delicious sense of humour, stylish storytelling and abundant affection for Ireland and its people' Kirkus 'A considered and thoughtful look at how recent changes in Irish society are being reflected in our pub culture' Irish Examiner
Balcony of Europe by Aidan Higgins
Large Format Paperback; 15 Euro / 20 USD / 10 UK; [Add To Basket]
Balcony of Europe, which was shortlisted for the 1972 Booker Prize, tells the story of a complacent young Jewish wife from San Francisco and a middle-aged Irish painter who meet in a village on the coast of Spain, beginning an affair during the coldest European winter in two hundred years - all the while surrounded by a cast of characters as bizarre and hilarious as they are, finally, touching. Lyrical and humorous, heartbreaking and hopeful, Balcony of Europe is Aidan Higgins's crowning achievement.
An Irish Country Childhood by Marrie Walsh
Paperback; 9 Euro / 14 USD / 7 UK; 186 pages [Add To Basket]
This is the heart-warming story of Marrie Walsh, growing up in the 1930s and 40s as part of an idyllic community in the beautiful County Mayo, West Ireland. Her memoirs take the reader to a time and a way of life now long disappeared, exploring lives that were intricately bound with the natural world in a small, close-knit farming community that was as resourceful as it was poor. Poor in worldly wealth and tied to the land but rich in love, kindness and good spirit, the people brought to life in this book are an inspiring reminder of a way of life lost in the past.
Please note: Prices were correct at time of original posting but are subject to subsequent change without notice.
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