Sinéad Gleeson’s blog
Writer Nuala O’Faolain passed away during the night aged 68. The author, best known for her memoirs Are You Somebody? had been battling terminal cancer that had only recently been diagnosed. Last month, she was interviewed by Marian Finucane about facing death, and in the interview she is honest and unsentimenal about her own mortality. […]
If ever there’s a writer who divides people it’s Michel Houellebecq, and quite often this divide occurs along gender lines, with most women loathing his work, accusing him of misogyny and objectification. I was in bookclub once, and we read Atomised (yet another of his books with a semi-naked, skinny girl on the cover). Two […]
Last night on BBC Radio 3 Samantha Morton featured in a programme that might be of interest to anyone participating in Dreadful Thoughts. Words and Music examined various poems that have been inspired by the supernatural, with readings by Morton and Dominic West from The Wire. Poems by Yeats, Emily Dickinson, Thomas Hardy and Robert […]
The third Irish Book Awards were held last night, and there were some very worthy winners. Anne Enright picked up Novel of the Year for The Gathering and I was delighted to see Julia Kelly win Best Newcomer for her book With My Lazy Eye. Dermot Ferriter picked up three gongs for his book, Judging […]
Two related things:
- Don’t forget about the next Dreadful Thoughts meeting this Monday, April 21st. To take part, just read Edith Wharton’s story ‘Kerfol’ (online version in previous link) and join us for a discussion over at Fústar at 9pm.
- One author I’m sure we’ll get around to discussing is Sheridan Le Fanu. Tonight on […]
The Orange Prize shortlist has been announced today and Anne Enright isn’t on it. Seriously, The Gathering wins last year’s Booker Prize and there isn’t room for it on this shortlist of six books? Have to admit I’m very surprised. The shortlist includes three debut novelists - Sadie Jones, Heather O’Neill and Patricia Wood - […]
If you can’t actually get around to reading all your old hardback books, here are a couple of suggestions. Via Curbly, a video tutorial on how to make this bag:
Or, via a Design Files interview with Australian book sculptor Nicolas Jones (more images via the link, something a bit trickier.
143 years ago today, Abraham Lincoln was watching a performance of Our American Cousin, when John Wilkes Booth shot him in the head. Lincoln’s prophetic dream about his own assassination is well documented (he dreamt he saw a funeral, and when he asked a soldier who was dead, was told that it was the president […]
Fústar has been been keeping the hellfires of Dreadful Thoughts burning. I had to miss last Monday’s discussion - a double helping of ‘The Tell-Tale Heart’ by Poe and Saki’s ‘Sredni Vashtar’ - but you can still offer your thoughts on either story here.
Mulley’s Fluffy badges now have an evil twin in the […]
Having been terribly disappointed by the last couple of Salman Rushdie books, I can tentatively say that I’m enjoying The Enchantress of Florence. Midnight’s Children - winner of the Booker of Bookers - is one of my favourite books of all time. I also loved The Satanic Verses and Haroun and The Sea of Stories, […]
Congratulations to Pat McCabe, who is one of eight shortlisted authors for the 2008 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It’s the world’s largest financial literary prize (for a single work of fiction in English), with the winner scooping €100,000. The prize is voted for by libraries across the globe and it’s no mean feat making the […]
Last week, The New York Times