We recently watched the intriguing but utterly inconclusive Series One of “The Fall” on Netflix (apparently Series Two is in production, and one can hope that it will provide the closure that was spectacularly absent in Series One. Not that it ended as a cliffhanger, precisely. But we were still a bit irked that it ended where it did), which is set in Belfast. I’ve also been reading Joyce’s Ulysses these past couple of weeks, when I have the time to do a spot of reading.
The combination got me thinking about Irish works I’ve encountered over the years and enjoyed.
Here are a couple of additional highlights:
Tana French’s books.
I read these a few years back and really liked them. My favourite of hers is Faithful Place, followed by The Likeness and In the Woods, both of which I found really compelling, despite flaws. Broken Harbour was a somewhat distant fourth, from a narrative and character perspective (part of the issue was that I didn’t like any of the characters and I found the story arc ultimately unsatisfying), though it was certainly wonderfully atmospheric and creepy, and shifted between a wistful sadness and something far darker, all of which was wrought with a subtle complexity that makes the book worth checking out in itself, in spite of the fact that neither the characters nor the conclusion were much to my liking. A haunting work.
Neil Jordan’s films, and Ondine in particular
Though I love a number of Neil Jordan’s films, I can’t say I’m a fan of all of them. I really liked Ondine, though. It’s set near Cork, and is beautifully evocative and atmospheric, riffing on the idea of selkies, which are creatures of Irish folklore (The Secret of Roan Innish, is the only other film I know of that explores this corner of mythology)–creatures like the swan maidens of middle eastern and Russian lore. Selkies have the appearence of seals, but when they come to land, they remove their seal coats and become lovely maidens, and if one finds and hides the seal coat, then the maiden must stay on land until it is found again.
The film reminded me a little of Whale Rider, in that it is magical realism, and ultimately weaves the folklore into an underlying reality, without necessarily straying into the supernatural. It was also similar in feel, and in that it touched on cultural and societal dysfunctions–issues of substance abuse and discord–presenting a stark contrast between the magic and fancifulness of the folklore/mythology, and the contemporary realty of the society and the challenges the characters are dealing with. Also, I love Stephen Rea. He is one of my actor crushes.
W.B. Yeats and George Bernard Shaw
There are so many of his poems that I love. Sailing to Byzantium, Leda and the Swan, The Second Coming… the list goes on. And of course GBS. My dad really liked Pygmalion. It was probably one of the first plays I read, as a child.
Progress check-in: Ulysses
I’m perhaps 130 pages into Ulysses so far and I’m enjoying it quite a lot–which wasn’t necessarily something I expected (I didn’t actually expect to get this far into it, to be honest). I’m a bit of a lightweight reader, and even with Ulysses, I’m enjoying the flow of it, rather than delving deeply into the meaning and allusions. I’ve actually been taking the easy route with it, by listening to an unabridged, dramatic reading of it, which helps considerably in parsing the language and maintaining the flow. I tend to switch between the two: if I’m out for a walk, I’ll listen to the recording as I go. If I sit, I’ll pull it up and read along with the recording, which animates the text. Or, if I don’t have headphones, and I have a few moments (like when I’m waiting at court to have my matter heard), I’ll just read the text. I don’t know if I’ll end up finishing the book (I often don’t finish books, I’m afraid), but however far I get, I’m glad to have joined up with Dedalus and Bloom, on their perambulations, for as long as I can manage it.
I expect there are many other Irish works that I’ve forgotten or missed–feel free to weigh in under the comments, to share your own faves–poems/plays/books/films you’ve found particularly memorable.
Kat's Blog 
It’s funny that I was in Ireland when this post was written. We went to Joyce’s tower at Sandycove and if you would like a limpet shell from just down the shore, I think Maitilde could hook you up.
There is a new Museum in Dublin. It’s The National Leprechaun Museum and it is actually a story-telling museum. It celebrates Irish stories of the magical. On weekend evenings they run adult only story telling where the darker stories are told. Unfortunately, without a babysitter, we had to pass on that one. They have done such a great job with it, and if you go to Dublin, you should stop by and check it out.
Aoife and Maitilde loved Ireland (they say it feels like home), so the plan is still on for moving there sometime in the next few years. Maybe I should try to read Ulysses again. I only got to page 50 or so and it was SO painful.
My friend Tara is a future Irish writer. She’s currently finishing a novel for her masters in creative writing at UCD. She and I vowed to do NaNoWriMo together this year, so I guess I’ll be busy!
How wonderful! I’m glad you were able to get back to Ireland–it sounds like a wonderful trip. I’d love to get there someday as well… 🙂 There seems such a plaintive, haunting beauty to so much of the countryside. How wonderful to possibly move back there someday. Funnily enough, my boss is Irish, though he’s from Belfast, so I get to hear stories of his time there too (he moved to Canada in his teens), though of course those stories are far grittier.
I’m still enjoying Joyce, but haven’t had a chance to get back to it for a couple of weeks. Work has been insane! If you are thinking of tackling it again, do consider reading it with an audiobook/dramatic reading to accompany it. It has a wonderful flow to it, in that case and makes so much more sense. The audiobook alone means you lose out on the written language, but reading the text alone is challenging at best!
I hope NaNo goes well. I really enjoy the whole vibe and the challenge of it, when I’m able to do it! The stuff that I end up writing in such cases would often require extensive revision to be able to use, but I love the exuberant creativity of the process!