Blurb
An anthology of the very best Irish short stories, selected by Sinead Gleeson, author of Constellations.
There have been many anthologies of the short
story as it developed in Ireland, but never a collection like this.
The Art of the Glimpse is a radical revision of
the canon of the Irish story, uniting classic works with neglected writers and
marginalised voices - women, LGBT writers, Traveller folk-tales, lost
19th-century voices and the first wave of 'new Irish' writers from elsewhere
now making a life in Ireland. Sinead Gleeson brings together stories ranging
from the sublime to the downright bizarre, from classics to the new generation
of writers, and from well known names to previously unpublished talent.
The collection paints a tremendous spectrum of
experience: the story of a prank come good by Bram Stoker; Sally Rooney on the
love languages of the new generation; Donal Ryan on the pains of ageing; Edna
O'Brien on political entanglements; James Joyce on losing a loved one; and the
internal monologue of a coma sufferer by Marian Keyes.
My thoughts
#100DaysofTheArtofTheGlimpse
This read is going to be something of an experiment. In general, I’m not a huge fan of short stories and I wonder if reading 100 of them, over 100 consecutive days will change my mind. Is reading shorts an acquired skill or just a matter of taste? I should be able to answer that question early April.
Having said that, I’m excited about
reading stories by 100 authors, some of whom I’ve read before and loved or not,
others I’ve heard about but never investigated, and another cohort I’ve never
even heard of.
In more ways than one, reading The Art
of the Glimpse will be a voyage of discovery for me.
“An anthology is a gift: a gathering of possibilities, and an opportunity to be converted into an avid completist of a writer’s work that may have otherwise escaped you.” – Sinead Gleeson
December 25th.
The Quest by Leland Bardwell
A mother visits the son she gave up (was forced to give up) for adoption when she was sixteen. She doesn’t appear too curious about him, or overly eager to meet him. The reason he invited her only becomes clear near the end of the story; she’s not the witch he imagined her to be.
The saddest
part of this story, for me, was the lack of emotion on the page and it makes me
wonder; was she really as unaffected by giving up her son as her words seem to
imply or is that a myth she’s made herself believe?
December 26th
A
Lingering Guest by Jane Barlow
This story made me smile while it broke my heart. It’s devastating to think that Ireland at the time was such a bleak please that an old woman would lie and pretend to be death to ensure a young granddaughter might willingly move to New York where she’d have better chances. At the same time, the love that must have inspired the old woman’s actions is heart-warming. I did stumble over the phonetic spelling at times, but most of it was clear enough for me.
December 27th
Stand Your Skin by Colin Barrett
This story was thoroughly heart-breaking and open-ended. What happened to Bat? Nothing? Did his mother’s worse fear come true?
Whatever
happened, whatever it is we’re not told, Bat’s story was devasting; a man lost
in life, resigned to the blows and pain, relying on bad substitutes to control
his pain. Without ambition and fully expecting to be disappointed, his story
left me wishing for a longer version in which someone or something restores him
to his full potential.
December 28
Men are Never God’s Creatures by Margaret Barrington.
I’m starting to wonder if short stories and I don’t mix. If that’s true it has nothing to do with the stories, I fear, and everything with me being unable to grasp the nuances.
I enjoyed this tale well enough. The ‘battle for power’ between church and the town amused me, even if I have a hard time imagining what it might be like to live in a world where priests (think they) have such power and wield it. But, I’m not sure how Jerry’s appearance, which very much is made off (both his beauty when seen from behind and the lack of it when face to face) has any relevance. In fact, I’m not sure how the constituent parts of this story fit together. Each on their own were fascinating, but all together, they failed to add up for me.
December 29
The Girls and the Dogs by Kevin Barry
“Things had gone wrong in Cork and then they went wronger again.”
And to be perfectly honest, things do not improve once our fugitive reaches Gort and Evan the Head. In a literal sense, this is the darkest story in the anthology so far. It is also the most straightforward short so far which makes the dark easier to deal with than the undercurrents I encountered in the earlier tales.
On a side note, it never ceases to amaze me how sentences that would have my editors screaming at me, make it through the editing process with larger publishers. Although, in this story that may be because of the first-person narrative, because the writing style does perfectly match the characters as I perceived them.
December 30th
Ping by Samuel Beckett
I haven’t a notion what I just read. Is it a metaphor for the vagueries of memory? The only reason I suggest this is because at some point I thought ‘this is a bit how recollections work; they arrive in bits and pieces, adding and subtracting details as we focus on them. Then the word memory popped up in the story and I figured maybe I got it right.
Then again, the above may well be pure nonsense. Most of all this story read like a collection of words I all recognised that failed to make sense of the sentences they were forced into.
December 31st
After the Wake by Brendan Behan
I knew it was going to happen sooner or later, it invariably does when I read short stories, but this was the first time in this anthology that I wished for more when the story ended. The ‘what happened next’ question is forceful, and I will never know.
I’m not surprised this story wasn’t published until relatively recently. The homoeroticism is neither understated nor hidden. It is a side to Brendan Behan I was unaware of until now, and I wonder if I should have picked up on it in other work by him.
But, despite my wish for more this is the first story that was perfectly clear for me and didn’t leave me wondering either what I’d just read or how I was supposed to interpret what I’d just read.
January 1st.
Over and Done With by Claire-Louise Bennett
The atmosphere of this one is dark, to me. The dislike of Christmas, the eagerness to get rid of it, and the regret about having it brought into the house at all, in the form of holly, all speak of an event that should have been ignored. As to why that should be the case, I have absolutely no idea. The words used are too big and sad for something as a simple dislike of Christmas.
January 2nd
Holland Park by Maeve Binchy
A Maeve Binchy story. It’s like revisiting an old and dear friend. Binchy was the first Irish author I knowingly read. It was she who introduced me to the word ‘eejit’. At the time I had to say it out loud before I realised what it meant. 😊
Holland Park
shines with her trademark insights into people. She can put a fully fleshed
character in front of her readers with just a few pen strokes and yet the image
is so vivid it is as if she’s writing about somebody you’ve met not too long
ago. I haven’t got a lot more to say. Binchy is a writing hero of mine and will
remain so until the day I stop reading.
First published in 1978. Yes, I did go and check. Driving after three stiff drinks made me.
January 3rd
Scaphism by Blindboy Boatclub
There are dark stories and then there is Scaphism by Blindboy Boatclub. I’d never heard about Scaphism, and to be honest, I now wish that was still the case.
Having said
that, I can picture myself inspecting the bottom of men’s pants when they exit
the loo from now on.
January 4th
Ann Lee’s by Elizabeth Bowen
Having said all of that. I read the whole shopping trip with a high level of both amusement and bemusement; the obsession with the right hat is so far outside my range of experiences it could have been written centuries ago, which of course this story wasn’t.
January 5th
Concerning Virgins by Clare Boylan
A most wonderful fable with a ‘careful what you wish for’ and a ‘she who laughs last laughs best’ theme. There’s something delicious about a man who’s spent his life diminishing women getting his comeuppance from the women he hurt most.
January 6th
The
Morning After the Big Fire by Maeve Brennan
More a reminiscence than a fictional story? Not that it matters. It wonderfully captures the world view of a young child who can not yet comprehend the horror of a large fire but relishes the excitement such an event brings to an otherwise mostly unremarkable daily routine.
January 7th
Leitrim
Flip by June Caldwell
Well now, I honestly don’t know what to say about this story except that it is a BDSM tale unlike any I’ve read before (and I have read a few in my time). Definitely not a romantic depiction of dominance and submission. 😊
January 8th
Here
We Are by Lucy Caldwell
"There are times in your life, or maybe just the one time, when you find yourself in the right place, the only place you could possibly be, and with the only person."
A story about first (lesbian) love, the huge emotions accompanying it, and how your first never really leaves.
January 9th
The Wee Gray Woman by Ethna Carbery
A deeply sad tale
about a man who, for reasons best known to himself, ends up causing the death
of the girl he loves in a bout of unreasonableness.
Very much of its time in that it
states things like:
"The little one-roomed cabin was tidy as a woman might have kept it."
Which just goes to show that double standards are nothing new. While women keep the place tidy, they also get send out to mind the calves if the man of the house decides as much.
January 10th
Children’s Children by Jan Carson
I may be wrong (but I don’t think I am), but this reads coming together of a woman from ‘the south’ and a man from ‘the north’ reads as a metaphor for the island of Ireland and the difficulties people from both sides of the border have seeing the similarities because all they’ve ever focussed on are the differences. In fact, it is a wonderful example of how short-sighted and silly the whole us vs. them mindset is.
January 11th
One Word by Juanita Casey
I have absolutely no idea what this story was about unless it is an illustration of how numbing and futile life can be. It is possible that the abuse of the donkeys, were named after the two men Miss Judith Dannaher didn’t marry, was supposed to be funny as well as an indication of her desperation, but really, I just saw a woman hurting a mostly harmless animal.
January 12th
Beatrice by Evelyn Conlon
“Why am I doing this? To hear myself described in a new way, that’s it.”
The exciting start, uncomfortable middle, and inevitable demise of an affair. A variation on the ‘grass is always greener’ theme, proving that most of the time, the greenness is only visible at first glance before we take a good look.
January 13th
A Family Occasion by Emma Cooke
Ah, this was lovely. Description of a family gathering when the two daughters who live and work in London come home for their annual visit. Mention is made of differences between the siblings and religious tension but in the end, family is family and they all look out for each other. As I said, lovely. And given the day that’s in it (Mother and Baby Homes Report), a story about a family that doesn’t allow differences to stand in the way of love and connection is just what I needed.
January 14th
The Awakening by Daniel Corkery
A coming-of-age story? A young(ish) man is handed control over the family’s fishing boat when the old captain, who’s been in charge ever since the younger’s father died, decides to retire. His delight is tempered by the eventual realisation that despite the captain’s jovial mood and words, the older man is sad to leave his old life behind.
Beautiful descriptions of the sea and fishing as the youngish lad fully recognises those for the first time.
January 15th
Sleeping With a Stranger by Mary Costello
Nowhere near as exciting as the title suggests at first, this story portrays a man reflecting on his life and marriage as his mother dies. A sad reflection on a life perceived as unfulfilled.
“They had children because they could not be childless; childlessness would have amplified the loneliness of marriage.”
January 16th
The Vocation by Kathleen Coyle
A very sad tale about a husband and wife after their only son leaves to become a priest without talking to his dad first. Simon, the husband, firmly places the blame on his wife but I can’t help thinking that if you’re going to make the raising of children the exclusive duty of women, you don’t have the right to complain.
January 17th
A Swim by Elizabeth Cullinan
“All along they’d been outside the truth, just as they’d been outside
love, and now the truth, like love, would not let them in.”
This story made me sad. Sad because of everything the (Irish) man and (American) woman don’t have and aren’t. Sad because the woman appears to be on a mission to save the man from something (himself?). Sad because by the end of the day the distance between them is bigger than it was when they arrived at the beach in Portmarnock. Did I imagine the superiority the woman seems to feel? I did love the man observing that while the Irish have a reputation for being prudish, they are a lot more carefree than Americans when it comes to changing on the beach. That’s still true. No matter how Catholic the Irish are supposed to be, they can be surprisingly liberal when push comes to shove.
January 18th
Yew Tree Tharsp Sharko by Oein DeBhairduin
A story about grief as well as a myth/folk tale about the origin of yew trees with an important conclusion:
This tale reminds me that grief can bind us into a rigid loss if we
stand in it for too long. If we become unmoving, unexploring of the world and
unwanting of the company and kindness of others, we too risk becoming the
lonely yew in the graveyard, so lost in our own grief, that we lose ourselves.
January 19th
The Beautiful Thing by Kit de Waal
“I met my father in 1969 when I was ten, I don’t mean we were estranged;
he lived with us, I saw him everyday. But one evening, at the kitchen table,
while he polished his heavy winter boots, he started talking about coming to
England and the day he got off the boat and I saw then he had a life that
stretched back before I was born. So that’s how I met him […].
Reading this story left me with the impression that Kit de Waal’s father is (was?) a very special human being. His message to his ten-year-old daughter is one we would all be well advised to heed:
Speaking in Tongues by Emma Donoghue
Clever title, referring to kissing in this story about two women. There’s a bit of an age gap and a lot of attraction. Since the story is told from both perspectives, it is also the clearest proof ever that assuming is never wise and communication is important if you want to reach correct conclusions.
January 21st
The Husband by Mary Dorcey
A wife, leaving her husband for another woman and the man’s attempts to cope and deal with it. Is he lying to himself? Is the situation so hurtful that he refuses to face reality and seeks refuge in denial, or is he right? We will never know since we don’t get his wife’s perspective and the story ends with her leaving and him believing that she will be back.
January 22nd
The Pram by Roddy Doyle
Man, this is dark. Superstition combined with resentment makes for a stark story. And, because Roddy Doyle wrote the words, this is unsettling easy to read for something so sinister.
January 23rd
Teatro La Fenice by Christine Dwyer Hickey
(This story won the Observer Short Story Competition.)
This tale left me sad. Two ‘old’ ladies in what appears to be a care home with the narrator doing what she can to stop people from noticing her, afraid of ending up on the locked ward where those who’s minds have given up the ghost stay. Are they friends or together because there is nobody else? What remains when all that’s left is memories and those are fading?
January 24th
Virgin Soil by George Egerton
A very stark reminder of what the world was like for women until not too long ago, still is in (too) many places. Where norms and shame forced a disastrous innocence on women until it was, often horrifically, shattered on their wedding night. Is it strength, desperation, or both that gave her the courage to walk away?
January 25th
Revenge by Anne Enright
How appropriate to reading in times of Covid to find a story in which the main character works for a firm manufacturing rubber gloves. Which is a surprising start for a story about a couple deciding to try out swinging, mostly because the husband has committed adultery and the wife thinks this would constitute her revenge. Of course, nothing works as she plans, and the story comes full circle with a wet patch in the bed taking her back to the rubber protective layer she used to have on her bed as a child. The whole tale left me feeling sad about relationships.
January 26th
Dishonoring the dead by Chiamaka Enyi-Amadi
A funeral
Beloved parents gone
And a family torn apart.
Love’s illusion dead
As illusion stakes its claim.
And the dead have no use for what the living claim to offer.
January 27th
77 Pop Facts You Didn’t Know About Gil Courtney by Wendy Erskine
I’m a bit lost about this one. It is exactly what it says in the title, a list of 77 facts. It does paint a picture of Gil Courtney, but since I had never heard of him and am not familiar with this music, it was mostly meaningless, as in, I’m not sure why anyone would want to compile this list.
January 28th
Sojourn by Elaine Feeney
Once again not entirely sure what’s going on. Is this a couple trying to salvage something or about to split up? If the problem is his cheating, then who is Richard? But, no amount of confusion could dim the glorious beauty of the language used, especially when describing water.
January 29th
Hump by Nicole Flattery
Not a fucking clue.
January 30th
I Don’t by Lauren Foley
There’s a lot going on here. At first glance, this is a confusing trip into the head of a woman who is either desperately ill or dealing with desperate mental health issues. But in the middle of the mental chaos, there are references to doctors ignoring women, not listening to women, talking over and about rather than with women, and misdiagnosing women as a result. The frustrating thing is that I’m almost sure there’s more in this story, that I probably missed more than I found. The unsettling part is that this read like a horror story to me. The tumult in the narrator’s head seriously scared me.
January 31st
The Lovecats by Patrick Freyne
On the surface a rather mad tale about two cats getting married, in a full-blown ceremony, after the Tomcat gets the other feline pregnant and as such it is funny. But, underneath it is also a tale about simple pleasures, about indulging others, just to make them happy, and about unexpected opportunities to reconnect. I loved this one.
I wonder if short stories are just not for me. I fear I may be too invested in full stories, with a clear start, middle, and finish to appreciate these fragments, moments in time. I wonder what came before, what it was that created the object of the story and when it ends, I want to know more. The persistent thought that I’m just not getting it, that I’m missing something, doesn’t help.
February 1st
The Lady, Vanishing by Mia Gallagher
Short and oh so horrid and not just because of murder.
February 2nd
Badger by Sarah Maria Griffin
I’m starting to wonder if maybe I’m expecting too much from short stories. I liked this one. I like that the identity of the elder sibling took me by surprise. I like the obvious closeness between the two siblings. I am confused as to what the discovery under the porch means or why knowing what it is makes the sound acceptable. Is that the difference between a novel and a short story? That the first spells the answers out whereas the second leaves the reader wondering?
February 3rd
The Homesick Industry by Hugo Hamilton
If this story is about anything besides the soul-destroying boredom of a job not loved, I have missed it.
February 4th
Egress by David Hayden
Egress – The action of going out of or leaving a place.
The title wasn’t the only thing that went over my head although that was the one issue easy to resolve. I have no idea what happened here? Is this a suicide and a description of a life flashing before the ‘victim’s’ eyes? Your guess is as good as mine (probably better, if I’m honest).
February 5th
Reprieve by Dermot Healy
Once again, I’m not sure what exactly this story is about. A woman makes a momentous decision (hysterectomy?). Had the story been set in the Netherlands, I might have guessed euthanasia. Since this is Ireland, that won’t be it. But, if the story is the time leading up to an operation, what exactly is the reprieve?
February 6th
Nine Years is a Long Time by Norah Hoult
Full story with a lot going on. On the surface it’s all about a woman (middle-aged?) coming to terms with the fact that the man she’s been seeing about once a month for nine years probably won’t be coming back. It leaves her with a financial dilemma but, probably much to her surprise, she’s also emotionally affected. There’s more though. It’s about getting older. About bodies changing. About perceptions and appearances. I thoroughly enjoyed this one.
February 7th
Standard Deviation by Caoilinn Hughes
Once again, I’m not entirely sure what this is about. I suspect however it’s all about the time we live in now and how it makes people, especially the younger generation who (barely) know life without social media and validation from strangers, look at themselves, their actions, and appearance through other people’s eyes; more worried about what other people’s reaction may be then how they themselves feel about a situation. It’s a sad state of affairs really, isn’t it? People losing themselves in order to live up to the expectations of others.
February 8th
Trio by Jennifer Johnston
Tale of an execution the victim almost misses because he’s late. No explanation as to the why. The most chilling part was not the killing itself but the casual conversation about childbirth one of the two assassins kept up. That, and the fact that it’s written in such distant language that by the end, the shooting almost felt like a non-event. Fascinating what words can do.
February 9th
A Love by Neil Jordan
“As I remember you I define you, I choose bits of
you like a child with a colouring-book, I fill you out.”
A story about a goodbye, about the us never being able to revisit the past, no matter how hard we try. It is funny though how a story about memories made me reminiscence too. Because despite the Irish setting I got a strong sense of Rob de Nijs singing Het Werd Zomer from this story.
February 10th
Eveline by James Joyce
Just goes to show that I should never take anything as a given. There were so many stories in this collection so far that I couldn’t really follow, that I was convinced a story by James Joyce would surely join those ranks. I was wrong. I understood this story all too well and it made my heart bleed for Eveline and the opportunity she doesn’t take.
February 11th
Antarctica by Claire Keegan
It is no coincidence that this story came after Eveline. From one woman who doesn’t make a decision and foregoes the opportunity of changing her life for the better to another woman whose life is good making a decision that will take her to her personal vision of hell. Very well written though. The language plain and simple and yet, that undercurrent of dread was there, from start to finish.
It is shocking that I made it until here before I realised that these stories are organised in alphabetical order by author surname. #MustPayMoreAttention. So, I guess I was right when I said the two previous stories following each other was no coincidence. I was, however, very wrong about the reason why that was the case.
February 12th
Drown Town by Colm Keegan
“Coolness comes off us like a ready-brek glow.”
AKA, how not to have a fun night out. I loved the direct, in your face language in this story. I’m less charmed by the open ending though.
February 13th
The Intruders by Rita Kelly
There’s a lot of Irish in this story, which goes completely over my head, of course. Having said that, I do wonder if learning to understand Irish properly (also) stands for learning to communicate. We approach and comprehend language differently as we get older, and this very much is a coming off age story set in an Irish, all female boarding school. In such a setting, young and handsome teachers have a lot to answer for.
February 14th
Hunger by Louise Kennedy
The day Bobby Sands died as seen through the eyes of a teenage Northern girl now living in the republic. If anything, it proves that no matter what Southern people may say, the issues of the North don’t live in the Republic's consciousness to the same extent. Although the last paragraph indicates that at least some Northern Irish people might to keep a distance from the politics too.
February 15th
Under by Marian Keyes
Such a quiet yet distressing tale. A woman is in a coma and listens to her family imploring her to come back. She’s no intention of returning to her life though, and we only learn why slowly…devastatingly. Somehow Marian’s writing style, simple yet visual, quiet yet poignant, make Laura’s plight so much harsher. The desire to die touched a nerve while the ending filled me with both dread and hope. I can’t begin to tell you how badly I want to know what happened next.
February 16th
Through the Fields in Gloves by Benedict Kiely
I’m going to assume this story is confused because the main character, with an obsession about women who dress in his eyes flamboyantly, himself is confused. Painting painted ladies…I guess it makes a weird kind of sense.
I can’t help wondering if Sinead Gleeson went out of her way to put stories on the same theme together while also introducing the authors in alphabetical order. That almost must be the case. Coincidence can only explain so much.
February 17th
Sarah by Mary Lavin
This story was an easy and rather refreshing read until the very end. I’m not sure what I expected but it wasn’t for a story about freedom turning into a story about repression. I did not (want to?) see this ending coming and when it did, I wasn’t happy.
February 18th
The Village Bully by Sheridan Le Fanu
A wonderful supernatural tale and, in contrast to the previous story, in this one justice is done even if a bit postponed and at a very high cost. It’s good to see that bullies were frowned upon long before modern times too.
February 19th
Me and the Devil Eimear McBride
A devastating story. There’s so much bad and sad in these few pages. The hypocritical priest, the forbidden love, and consequences that will come, later if sooner isn’t possible.
Heart-breaking,
but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to cheering a little about how it ended.
February 20th
Cancer by Eugene McCabe
Now here’s a title that fits several of the subjects touched upon in the story. Of course, it describes the fate of one of the two bachelor brothers. But weren’t the troubles a cancer on the land, and wouldn’t the Catholics have seen the English army as an occupying cancer?
It feels like
another lifetime and yet, it’s not so very long ago.
February 21st
Thomas Crumlesh, 1960 – 1992: A Retrospective by Mike McCormack
Oh my, while the story is perfectly clear, I do wonder what to make of it. Is it a statement about the often-obscure nature of modern art? About the lengths people may go to in order to produce something original? Given my limited appreciation for and understanding of modern art forms, I like that explanation and am sticking to it. Although it remains a bizarre idea that a surgeon would be happy to perform amputations until the point of death, just for the sake of art.
February 22nd
High Ground by John McGahern
How I would have loved to know the ending of this story. Did young Moran take the job and replace the old headmaster? I like to think he didn’t, but that’s just my optimism, maybe. A nice insight into (local) Irish politics though. I’d love to say things have changed since then, but I’m not sure that’s the case.
Feb 23rd
Transmission by Blánaid McKinney
A very good short. What starts out as a madman acting out turns into a heartbreaking tale of loss and an attempt to take back control of a life that appears to have lost all meaning. Destruction of the very thing that has destroyed a life makes perfect sense.
Feb 24th
Those that I fight I Do Not Hate by Danielle McLaughlin
Kevin, persona non grata, is present at a first communion party where he’s obviously not wanted. Why he’s not wanted is never made clear although several options are hinted at. Is it because he’s cheated with his hostess? Because he has a problem with alcohol? Because he caused/was involved in a car accident? Whatever it is, my opinion of him didn’t improve when he gave alcohol to the underage daughter of his hosts and touched her leg.
Maybe I should look up the definition of a short story one of these
days. It is hard not to think that one of the requirements has to be
ambivalence as to content and/or ending.
Feb 25th
Walking the Dog by Bernard McLaverty
Scary tale as a man, out walking his dog, is picked up by a gunman with a car. Scary mostly because I have no doubt shit like this happened. Scary.
Feb 26th
Exile’s Return by Bryan MacMahon
This story did not develop in the way I feared it might and that was a wonderful surprise. Less cheerful is the subject of this story since it gives an insight into the all but impossible venture of keeping a marriage together and working while one of the partners is gone for years on end. The power of compromise is everything.
Feb 27th
Sometimes on Tuesdays by Janet McNeill
I may be wrong but to me this read like a story about a man being selfish, only noticing the problems the two women in his life have in so far as they reflect on him or affect his life and comforts. Then again, aren’t we all guilty of that to some extent at least?
Feb 28th
Hollow by Paul McVeigh
A fairy tale that seems to promise a happy ending until it goes absolutely horrid.
March 1st
A Shiver of Hearts by Una Mannion
Simple and devastating. A girl returns to Ireland (Sligo) from America every summer, alone. Her mother was banished and refuses to return, no matter how much she misses her home. The friend she makes falls pregnant. Nothing much has changed; mothers still abandon their daughters when faced with premarital sex and its consequences. ☹
March 2nd
Access by Aidan Mathews
I’m not sure if this is a sad story or not. A bit of both, maybe. A girl in her early teens meets with her dad for their weekly time together. She feels she’s no longer a child and too mature for certain words and actions only to discover, as we all do, that while we do get older, we never stop being our father’s (and mother’s) child.
March 3rd
Women are the Scourge of the Earth
Harrowing story told from the point of few of a man defending himself, presenting excuses for something he has done to his wife. Classic abuser’s language. The woman was unstable and ungrateful. Everything that happened to her was her own fault and the whole world, but especially the women in his life, is against him. Sickening to read…and disturbing because it’s unclear what he’s done to her except to be rid of her now.
March 4th
Home Sickness by George Moore
I feel this story is mainly about the inability to go back combined with ‘the grass is always greener’. Because while we can return to the place where we grew up, it will never fit the memories we hold of it; memories which are far better than reality could ever be. Self-censure is a beautiful but tricky thing.
March 5th
Divided Attention by Mary Morrisy
This is an imaginative story about a woman who uses the crank caller who’s bothering her at night to get over being abandoned by her married lover. This is a rather inspired idea. Put two horrid things together in order to create a new start. If you could organise it, I could see this working as a form of therapy.
March 6th
The Deserter’s Song by Peter Murphy
A story out of time and place. It reads as something about the Civil War, but burner phones and other mentions of more modern items make that setting unlikely. Mostly the tale made me angry. I have no time for blind obedience, and that is exactly what this story is about, with horrific consequences.
March 7th
The Hungry Death by Rosa Mulholland
Innisbofin where pride (and what some might call romantic notions) come before the fall in the harshest of manners. Mind you, it was hard to feel much, if any, sympathy for Bridget, who threw it all away because she wanted to feel special.
On a side note, I’m noticing that I’m, in general, enjoying the older
stories more than the more recent works and I wonder if that is because the
contemporary tales are more ambiguous as if these days a story must be
mysterious and open to various interpretations in order to be valued.
March 8th
Away from it All by Val Murkerns
The end of a relationship, and rightly so. I’m glad to read a story in which the woman doesn’t make excuses for her man’s inadequacies but instead allows herself to see them and come to the (right conclusion). Timothy was a dick and almost certainly using her. Good riddance!
Clever though how the author depicts
Timothy’s selfishness with very few words.
March 9th
Literary Lunch by Eilis NiDhuibhne
I really liked this one, despite its darker theme. The frustrations of the unpublished, unsuccessful writer are brilliantly explored and with devastating results. Mind you, I’m inclined to agree that the Irish writers' world does often resemble a closed club with obscure initiation rules. You only need to look at the reviews Irish authors leave for other Irish authors to see the truth.
I just came across an Edna O’Brien quote about the male-dominated Irish
writing scene. Given the subject of ‘Literary Lunch’ and an Edna O’Brien story
coming up next, this seems the perfect place to share it: 'I
never dared enter those precincts, nor was I invited. Nor was that where I
wanted to be. I wrote alone.'
March 10th
A Journey be Edna O’Brien
Reflections on an affair and how it may or may not continue. Two very different people. The ‘only’ thing connecting them appears to be attraction. But he has a life, woman, and child elsewhere and, by the time they part, she has no idea what, if anything will happen next. This read like an observation, almost emotionless, and all the more powerful for it.
March 11th
Two in One by Flann O’Brien
Very clever and equally horrific and proof of a fabulous, be it morbid imagination. Two in One, indeed. A taxidermist’s nightmare might be a good alternative title. This is one short story that will stay with me for some time.
March 12th
The Road to Brightcity by Mártín Ó Cadhain
Despite the somewhat upbeat ending, when the arrival of the sun lifts Brid’s spirits, this was a rather dismal story about the long road between home and market, the repetitiveness of daily life, and the shadowy places our minds take us, especially while the world is dark. Still, it was also a (timely) reminder to keep life in perspective. What we perceive as hardships now is nothing compared to the lives people used to live in Ireland and still live elsewhere in the world.
March 13th
The Man of the World by Frank O’Connor
Interesting. The man of the world in question is a boy, one year older and from a better-off family than the narrator. The secrets he shares are of a typical boyish nature and delivered with an air of knowing supremacy. When the boy decides it doesn’t sit right with him he puts that down to God, while I suspect it’s more a matter of him growing up and learning that just because something is possible doesn’t mean it should be done. Which, of course, makes him a faster learner than his older friend.
March 14th
Ailsa by Joseph O’Connor
Disturbing story about a disturbing mind. Male, of course. The timing is rather freaky though what with the horrific pictures of men subjecting women to unnecessary violence we saw from Clapton Common yesterday. Ugh. The most frightening thing about this story was probably the monotone in which it was told; the total lack of emotion from the narrator.
March 15th
Squidinky by Nuala O’Connor
A beautiful story about love, grief, and overcoming pain and loneliness. Opening your life and your heart again, almost against your wishes at a most surprising time as the result of an unexpected encounter. How long is too long to grieve somebody you’ve loved?
March 16th
The Glass Panel by Eimar O’Duffy
A most wonderful mystery clearly inspired by and in the style of a Sherlock Holmes story except that in this case, the assistant out-clevers the famous sleuth. Thoroughly enjoyed this one.
If the previous story doesn’t prove that I prefer my reading with an obvious
start, middle, and ending, I don’t know what will. My ambivalence regarding
many of the stories in this collection is no longer bewildering.
March 17th
A Dead Cert by Seán Ó Faoláin
I forgot that ‘a death cert’ actually means two different things in Irish-English. This story is rather sad. Unrequited love always seems to lead to dark thoughts battling the light. Still, a woman (or a man for that matter), no matter how attractive shouldn’t tease like this.
March 18th
The Doctor’s Visit by Liam O’Flaherty
A story with a twist I didn’t see coming at all and appreciated all the more for it.
March 19th
Under the awning by Melatu Uche Okorie
Powerful and a lot going on for such a short story. Of course, it was about racism, both blatant and overt. But it is also about we shouldn’t allow others to judge our story. Our personal experiences can never be appreciated by others the way we do. In this case I can only imagine how painful it must be to be told that the events you describe are too bleak and therefore overstated. Whereas I’m fairly sure the narrator had actually sugar-coated her daily life.
March 20th
The Apprentice by David Park
Well-written and captivating story about a young man (boy?) doing something for the first time. What that is, is never revealed but it’s obviously something secret, something he’s nervous about, something he can’t talk about. Reading between the lines I’m going to say it is something gang or terrorists related, which means that although he does manage to be in the right place at the right time, it’s a bittersweet ending. It’s hard not to think it might be better for him if he’d missed the appointment.
March 21st
Manners by Elske Rahill
I’m not sure what the point of this story is. Is it a reflection on privilege? Is it trying to be nasty or nice about travellers? Why do the sexual fantasies matter? This story left me with nothing except a vague feeling of unease.
March 22nd
A Strange Christmas Game by Charlotte Riddell
Nice ghost story, but not as much of a mystery as it tries to be?
March 23rd
Where Do I Go When You Die? By Keith Ridgway
Going by the last few lines I’m going to guess this is some sort of declaration of love. But until that moment it read like the ramblings of someone who had smoked a joint or two too many.
March 24th
Robbie Brady’s Astonishing Late Goal Takes its Place in Our Personal Histories by Sally Rooney.
Right from the start this story felt familiar, although I’ve never read it before. Then I encountered the term ‘normal persons’ and it all made a weird kind of sense. The term also made me wonder if this story was written before the book titled Normal People because Conor and Helen and their conversation reminded me of Connell and Marianne. A quick Google search later I know that the story preceded the book by about a year.
As for this story seen on its own: It’s a rather charming lead up to the first time Conor and Helen profess their love for each other while he’s in France watching the Irish football team and she’s in Cambridge.
March 25th
Physiotherapy by Donal Ryan
A life reduced to the main events: Married, a love affair, and a son killed, and reflected upon near the end of that lifetime, when husband and wife both do an exercise to counter the effects of the strokes they had. It could be me and my current mood, but I got a distinct ‘what’s it all for’ sense from this story.
March 26th
Red Eye by Ian Sansom
Memories of a wedding which appears to also have been the Englishman’s introduction to Belfast. Quite a few prejudices confirmed too, especially about religious concerns. “Welcome to the family. Welcome to Northern Ireland. Welcome to Belfast.” Have to be honest though and admit that I’m not entirely sure what the point of this story is except to show that, like most others, the people in Northern Ireland are proud of their country.
March 27th
A Rhinoceros, Some Ladies and a Horse by James Stephens
I’m not sure if it’s technically right, but to me this read like a nonsense tale. It was fun and made me smile but made very little sense at all.
March 28th
A Young Widow by Bram Stoker
Not at all what I expected from Bram Stoker (mind you, I’m only familiar with Dracula). A fun romance with a hint of mystery to it and utterly charming.
Come to think of it. This is such a ‘common’
romance trope. The child bringing their guardian in contact with someone who
will turn out to be the love interest and completion of their family. Just goes
to show that there really isn’t anything new under the sun.
March 29th
Black Spot by Deirdre Sullivan
Not entirely sure what this was about. Loneliness? Feeling unfulfilled?
I did recognise quite a few things though. The
endless commute from home to place of work, meaning you leave and return in the
dark because housing near the job is unaffordable for ‘normal’ people. Feeling
resentful about a job you do actually like as a result of lack of respect from
your colleagues and manager. And the feeling of dread that creeps up on a
driver when they drive past a memorial at a black spot. I wonder though, was
the beeping seat-belt alarm really a ghost driving along or was it just a broken
sensor, possibly in the passenger seat?
March 30th
The Story by Cathy Sweeney
The story, in this case is rather sad. Or rather, both stories - the one found and the one told by him who does the finding - are sad. Live without love or a love not recognised until long after opportunities have vanished, is there anything sadder?
March 31st
One Minus One by Colm Tóbín
A sad tale about regret on the anniversary of a mother’s death. Thoughts send at a friend - former partner? Everything that was lost and unretrievable, all the things he never said and wished he had. Regret: it’s probably the saddest of our emotions.
April 1st
A Happy Family by William Trevor
Devastating story about a wife and mother’s descend into madness? I wonder if it could also be a form of postnatal depression. But, the story is sad in more respects for example when the husband just supposes his marriage and family were happy. Maybe because he wonders if his marriage caused his wife’s decline?
April 2nd
The Apple by Una Troy
‘She had
never used her mind for thinking, only for recording the thoughts of others.’
Ugh. On the face of it, the tale of a nun returning to the place that used to be home thirty years ago. On a deeper level a vivid description of the ridiculous limitations the church has, for centuries, inflicted on those who believe, just because it could.
April 3rd
The Sea’s Dead by Katharine Tynan
‘There
was scarce a windowsill in Achill by which the banshee had not cried.’
Such a sad tale. Everything about and in this story is grey, dark, and filled with doom. Achill, the sea, a boat claimed and men lost, a large wave (tsunami?). Even the mystery about Moya and the mermaid myth she becomes doesn’t lift this tale in which even the glorious and vivid descriptions are gloomy.
*****
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