Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Some thoughts on re-reading

I recently re-read Pride and Prejudice, a book I last read some time in the mid-1970s. In the intervening years, I have watched a couple of film adaptations but haven’t been struck giddy by the story. And I have no particular fascination for the Regency period. When I think of that period I don’t think … Continue reading Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen – Some thoughts on re-reading

Random Reading – June to September 2021

More of the bits and pieces I've read while rambling around the internet over the past few months. It's not really time-wasting if you learn something, is it? From Dunluce Castle in Antrim to Caerlaverock Castle in Dumfries and Galloway Dunluce Castle Watch 6 Ruined British Castles Come Back to Lifeby Niall Patrick Walsh While … Continue reading Random Reading – June to September 2021

Random Reading – May 2021

How young couples managed to meet before the advent of social media Rustic Courtship Love island: the love lives of our 19th century ancestorsby Dr Marion McGarryIn recent years, apps have increasingly facilitated online dating, Indeed, thanks to Covid-19, these have become the only way for single people to link up with potential partners. Covid … Continue reading Random Reading – May 2021

In my beginning is my end? – Opening and closing lines

A little while ago I saw a quote from the American novelist Gloria Naylor - 'One should be able to return to the first sentence of a novel and find the resonances of the entire work.' Other than in consciously literary works, I wondered how often this happened so I took a few favourite books … Continue reading In my beginning is my end? – Opening and closing lines

Book Review – Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain

Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain is set in a graveyard in the west of Ireland in the early 1940s and is a continuing dialogue between those buried there. These are not spirits waiting to be translated elsewhere but rather the coffin-bound corpses of the dead. They have brought with them into … Continue reading Book Review – Graveyard Clay (Cré na Cille) by Máirtín Ó Cadhain