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THE GREEN ROAD
There's a short list of modern Irish novels I would describe as being privileged to have read - Amongst Women by John McGahern and The Story of Lucy Gault by William Trevor for example. The Green Road by Anne Enright is the newest entrant on that very short list. Anne Enright has been appointed the first Irish Laureate for Literature and this novel alone will demonstrate exactly why that role is so well deserved.
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MOVIE SEASON
I’m of a vintage that makes me old enough to remember a time when one of the most exciting things about Christmas was the fact that almost every channel (there were 4) had a Big Movie – around two years old – premiering on either Christmas Day or New Years Day. That would be a real event because obviously if you weren’t parked in front of your TV when the movie started then you were going to miss it; VCRs didn’t always exist you know and DVRs weren’t even a twitch in some techies brain. Add that to the perennials like Miracle on 34th Street, Wizard of Oz and A Wonderful Life and you begin to realise the 12 days of Christmas meant a movie a day (and no school). The current equivalent of that cultural…
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CHRISTMAS (CHALLENGE #5)
Christmas is all about tradition, but not really. I think Christmas as a concept may be traditional in itself but what Christmas means to people can be very different depending on the individual and will inevitably evolve as time goes by. There are elements that remain constant; the exchange of gifts, the religious aspect, the decorations and of course the increased awareness of the bond between family and friends. In my experience all of these change with time and even though on the surface these elements remain in one form or another, often the meaning of them alters to take account of the circumstances and the journey we’ve taken along life’s road. Now that I’m a Golden Boy (don’t get too excited I just meant I’m in my fifties) my take on Christmas presents has changed considerably. Mainly…
