tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-45900842534205679882024-03-21T17:07:26.195+01:00 RAZAMATAZZLive. Create. Enjoy.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-30679074157898444672015-09-06T22:45:00.002+02:002015-09-06T22:45:29.435+02:00Moving blogsSo, I've moved blogs: <br />
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You can find me <a href="https://hilarymcgrath.wordpress.com/">here</a> <br />
<span lang="EN-GB"><br /></span><b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-47365182417250637862015-08-15T21:17:00.002+02:002015-08-15T21:17:28.821+02:00Generation by Paula McGrath<br />
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Congratulations to my sister, <a href="http://paulamcgrath.com/" target="_blank">Paula McGrath</a>, on the publication of her debut novel, Generation, published by JM Originals. <br />
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I’ve had the privilege of reading raw first drafts of most of these stories some time ago and watched them slowly evolve into the beautiful novel that was launched last week in the <a href="http://gutterbookshop.com/" target="_blank">Gutter Bookshop</a> in Cow's Lane, Dublin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFr888QC46L8Q8uD7R1JvC7jzV08Z-6yUEvb8HeWZydh6d5F7lzrDV3qdp42ps0_fAO0M3MUc7L9xpmyD9izJcJXJQ0bfAA2k0YnnydQBkG8VQOHGJUyA38a78hkhHKLlbg7cOzwMtRQ/s1600/Generation+book+cover.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheFr888QC46L8Q8uD7R1JvC7jzV08Z-6yUEvb8HeWZydh6d5F7lzrDV3qdp42ps0_fAO0M3MUc7L9xpmyD9izJcJXJQ0bfAA2k0YnnydQBkG8VQOHGJUyA38a78hkhHKLlbg7cOzwMtRQ/s1600/Generation+book+cover.jpg" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Generation is a short novel that contains a huge amount, taking place over eighty years, three continents and three generations.</blockquote>
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At its heart is Áine, a recently divorced woman in her thirties who wants some kind of escape from her life in Ireland: from her ex-husband and his pregnant girlfriend, her mundane job and unexciting love life. So she goes to stay for a few weeks on an organic farm near Chicago, with her six-year-old daughter Daisy. The trip doesn't turn out as she imagined it would, and that summer will have unforeseeable consequences for everyone involved.</blockquote>
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Ambitious and gripping, Generation moves effortlessly from the smallest of details to the largest of canvases, as the repercussions of the decisions taken by parents play out in the lives of their children for years to come.</blockquote>
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Source: hodder.co.uk</blockquote>
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This is a book that leaves you reflecting about many of the peripheral characters. I have a soft spot for Carlos, and for Yehudit. And the first chapter about the Irish miner going to Canada still gives me a lump in my throat no matter how many times I read it.<br />
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It was exciting to be in Dublin on publication day. We managed to drop into a few bookshops to see if we could spot it in the wild fending for itself. We found it first in <a href="http://hodgesfiggis.goldenpages.ie/ms/ms/hodges-figgis-the-bookstore-about-us-dublin-d2/ms-90044594-p-2/" target="_blank">Hodges Figgis</a>: Here’s Paula looking slightly embarrassed at the paparazzi who followed her in. <br />
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Launched by <a href="https://libranwriter.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Lia Mills</a>, who had nothing but nice things to say, and Tom Morris from <a href="http://www.stingingfly.org/" target="_blank">The Stinging Fly</a> was there to say a few words on behalf of editor Mark Richards.<br />
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Lia Mills</div>
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And the reviews are coming in and saying all the nicest things. Christina Patterson from <a href="http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/fiction/article1586828.ece" target="_blank">The Sunday Times</a> says 'The voices are beautifully woven together, and the prose has a weight and resonance way beyond the book's slender length' and compares the prose to Raymond Carver’s which is something to cut out and pin over the writing desk.<br />
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The structure of this novel is what makes it unique in my opinion. Jane Housham of <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/aug/14/generation-by-paula-mcgrath-review-sobering-life-lessons" target="_blank">The Guardian</a> sums this up nicely:<br />
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'It’s as if McGrath has spun her novel in a centrifuge, separating out the narrative elements and shearing off any remaining scraps of padding. What’s left is a sequence of verbal portraits, a clutch of individuals drawn to America over several decades, some of them Irish like the novelist herself, some from other diasporas. At first these characters seem disparate, unconnected, but gradually threads of attachment are strung between them, ultimately binding them into a coherent whole.'</blockquote>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-76755735651787327422015-07-18T16:48:00.000+02:002015-07-18T16:48:05.695+02:00Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee<div>
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I listened to<em> To Kill a Mockingbird</em> and <em>Go Set a Watchman</em> back to back this week.</h2>
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<em>Mockingbird</em> was a delight to experience again after all these years. Having discovered, and accepted, that <em>Watchman</em> is neither a prequel nor a sequel (It's the first draft of the same novel - a draft that was rejected) I relaxed into Reese Witherspoon's southern accent and tried to enjoy it for what it was.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_o18wdHwDXo8-kqalip0-lI92R91AXnniF_3ULWdtoScwvKuGqYnkBfczMiiYv90P7MhDKoiRJkehavjMbYfGbVa4P57Sg91Vmr98v1hfflPViW1VatsZnaPSiWyWU5ZBQs6e0gbwZo/s1600/Go+Set+a+Watchman+Harper+Lee.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_o18wdHwDXo8-kqalip0-lI92R91AXnniF_3ULWdtoScwvKuGqYnkBfczMiiYv90P7MhDKoiRJkehavjMbYfGbVa4P57Sg91Vmr98v1hfflPViW1VatsZnaPSiWyWU5ZBQs6e0gbwZo/s1600/Go+Set+a+Watchman+Harper+Lee.png" /></a><em>Watchman</em> is a bit weak on story. I found it preachy and annoying towards the end where the perspicacious author's voice comes through in a sequence of final speeches. The editor, I imagine, might have said: 'You have an interesting subject (black man on trial for rape of white girl in 1930s south) but didn't make enough of it, and an interesting voice (Scout in the flashbacks) and should use those to frame your rewrite.' </div>
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In order to mould it into her bestselling classic, Harper Lee cut many irrelevant episodes (including Jean Louise's boring love interest and uninspired coming-of-age anecdotes). She changed the point of view - it was no longer an adult looking back at her childhood, but a story written from the child's point of view. The new version centred around the court case where Atticus is not an anomaly among white men - he does have a black maid and only takes the case because he is asked to. He fights for Tom Robinson even though he knows he will lose. He may not speak down to black people but he does consider himself as a step above.</div>
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As a reader it's a mediocre book.</div>
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As a writer, it's fascinating how Harper Lee rewrote and turned it around. It's interesting that she kept whole chunks of text (that appear almost word for word in both versions), like the history of the feud between two families, or the history of how the town was founded. She had obviously done the research and wanted to keep the words.</div>
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I found an interesting piece by Brilliant Books <a href="http://www.brilliant-books.net/go-set-watchman-opinion-piece" target="_blank">here</a>: </div>
<span height="141" style="font-size: 14px;"><span height="141" style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span><blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We suggest you view this work as an academic insight rather than as a nice summer novel. This situation is comparable to James Joyce's stunning work '<strong>A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man</strong>', and his original draft '<strong>Stephen Hero</strong>'. 'Hero' was initially rejected, and Joyce reworked it into the classic 'Portrait'. 'Hero' was eventually released as an academic piece for scholars and fans—not as a new 'Joyce novel'. We would have been delighted to see “Go Set A Watchman” receive a similar fate."</blockquote>
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In conclusion, I'm not sorry I spent a week in Alabama with Scout/Jean Louise but I do feel that publishing this book was a huge swindle on the part of the publisher. Large profits were made by misleading the public that this was a prequel/sequel. How many of us purchased <em>Mockingbird</em> for the second time too? I couldn't possibly know what state of mind Harper Lee is currently in, but I know I wouldn't want any of my early drafts to be released like this.<br />
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I'm inclined to agree with Salman Rushdie on this:<br />
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<span height="141" style="font-size: 14px;"><img alt="" class="Avatar u-photo" data-scribe="element:avatar" data-src-2x="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1655254469/photo-2_bigger.JPG" src="https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/1655254469/photo-2_normal.JPG" /><u><span style="color: #0066cc; font-size: small;"> <span class="Tweet-authorName Identity-name p-name customisable-highlight" data-scribe="element:name">Salman Rushdie</span> </span></u><br />
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<b class="u-hiddenVisually">✔</b></span> <span class="Tweet-authorScreenName Identity-screenName p-nickname" data-scribe="element:screen_name">@SalmanRushdie</span> <br />
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Don't think I'll be reading Go Set Your Watch or whatever it's called. I have unpublished juvenilia too; would cringe if it got published.</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-3367970547976113922015-02-27T18:09:00.000+01:002015-07-18T12:27:20.678+02:00Shortlisted ICB short story competitionGood news from the International Club of Bordeaux: My story 'Well Done' has been shortlisted in their 1st Annual Short Story Competition, judged by Amanda Hodgkinson. And I'm delighted that my fellow Writing Group member, Jane Cooper, is shortlisted too with 'The Competition.' Congratulations to the winners in each category.<br />
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Looking forward to reading all the shortlisted stories and the winners in the forthcoming e-book.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-12241213774034154722014-12-01T18:03:00.000+01:002015-07-18T12:20:22.677+02:00The Incubator JournalMy short story 'No Such Thing' appears in Issue 3 (December 2014) of <a href="http://theincubatorjournal.com/journal/" target="_blank">The Incubator</a>, another great literary journal, featuring writing from Northern Ireland and Ireland. Have a browse; the pdf version is free to download. I've enjoyed 'Sparta' by Heather Richardson and look forward to reading the rest when I receive my hard copy. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-21736516112912779552014-11-24T13:18:00.001+01:002014-11-24T13:18:05.151+01:00Crannóg 37<br />
Delighted to see my short story 'Poke' in the autumn 2014 issue of <a href="http://www.crannogmagazine.com/" target="_blank">Crannóg Magazine</a>.<br />
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Great to read the other stories in this issue. There are some very talented writers out there. My favourite (so far) is 'Tomorrow' by Melissa Goode. Beautiful and intriguing cover image by Isabelle Gaborit. <br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-46889825414244724722014-08-25T22:20:00.000+02:002014-08-25T22:20:27.926+02:00RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition 2014Writing news is trickling in at a slower pace these days as I'm sending out fewer stories and trying to concentrate on my next novel. <br />
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But one competition I did enter was the RTE Guide/Penguin Ireland Short Story Competition 2014 and I was delighted to hear that my story, The Bugaboo, was on the longlist.<br />
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I was longlisted in 2013 too and wrote <a href="http://www.writing.ie/resources/essential-advice-rte-guide-penguin-publishing-day/" target="_blank">this piece for writing.ie</a> at the time. Unfortunately I won't be able to make it to Dublin this year but I'm sure the attendees will enjoy the day in Pearse Street Library as much as I did last year.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-33820296086093944862014-07-07T21:28:00.001+02:002014-07-07T21:28:14.399+02:00An Earthless Melting Pot<h2>
<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">What a beautiful cover! Delighted to be part of this:</span></span></h2>
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<span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Another volume of prize-winning short stories from the <em><span class="il">Words</span> with <span class="il">JAM</span> </em></span></span><strong><span style="font-size: 24px;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">BIGGER Short Story Competition 2013 is released ...</span></span></strong><br />
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Judged by David Haviland (fiction agent for the Andrew Lownie Literary Agency), Polly Courtney (author of Feral Youth) and Susan Jane Gilman (author of The Ice Cream Queen of Orchard Street), this second collection displays the talents of another up-and-coming group of new writers. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">A heady mixture of stories, from romance to spine-chilling tension and from the virtual world to the extreme worlds of the self-deluded, these stories will take you to places you’ve never been before. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;">Longer stories are mixed with pieces of flash fiction. How long is a story? As long as it takes to tell it. This second volume of competition-winning stories proves the maxim once again. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><img align="right" alt="" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrqqwKpWHB8tQ6ER0uiyMPuMcNa9L123Ue7bYddoAIG6HgAr6oemhzEv3eq5uR3rT6rfjX5FRPykQLvpbCnXhYuPpZZ3w7KIRFqJxcUOIem9KxNM3LTpK102NyOAJj5zhnU1htV9soXI0K/s1600/An+Earthless+Melting+Pot+2+Cover+EBOOK.jpg" style="border-image: none; border: 0px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); float: right; margin: 0px; min-height: 300px; width: 200px;" width="200" />Stories and contributors include: </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Advertisement </em>by James Collett</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Guests </em>by Alison Wassell</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>A Lonesome Snow Leopard</em> by David McGrath</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>The Clock</em> by James Harding</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Apprentice Pillar</em> by Ralph Jackman</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Recycled</em> by Marie Gethins</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Drop-Dead Gorgeous</em> by Helen Laycock</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>The Road to Repair </em>by Gail Jack</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Street Kids Don't Have Birthdays</em> by Gill Sainsbury</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Sackcloth and Ashes </em>by Justin N Davies</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Beneath the Arches</em> by Lindsay Bamfield</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Biological </em>by KM Elkes</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Is There Anything You’d Like to Say to the Person Who Donated this Food Parcel?</em> by James Collett</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>The Baron’s Elixir</em> by Mahsuda Snaith</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Let Me Pay </em>by Bren Gosling</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Symbiosis </em>by Mark Wilkinson</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>99 Red Balloons</em> by Barbara Leahy</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Cockles </em>by A.M. Hall</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Mustard Heart</em> by L.A. Craig</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Tell Me a Secret</em> by Alison Wassell</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Your Account is in Arrears</em></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Take Action Now</em> by Justin N Davies</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>A Pointed Question</em> by Brindley Hallam Dennis</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Trumpet Dreams</em> by Hilary McGrath</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><em>Little Legs </em>by Julia Anderson.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"></span></span> </div>
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<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 14px;"><span style="font-size: 15px;"><span style="color: #e01212;"><span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif;">Paperbacks are available from <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=21324987&msgid=846097&act=OGSJ&c=1057097&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2F1500263567%2Fref%3Das_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26camp%3D1634%26creative%3D6738%26creativeASIN%3D1500263567%26linkCode%3Das2%26tag%3Dtheboo-21" target="_blank"><u><strong><span style="color: #1155cc;">Amazon</span></strong></u></a>. Ebooks are available from <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=21324987&msgid=846097&act=OGSJ&c=1057097&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.co.uk%2Fgp%2Fproduct%2FB00L5P2868%2Fref%3Das_li_qf_sp_asin_il_tl%3Fie%3DUTF8%26camp%3D1634%26creative%3D6738%26creativeASIN%3DB00L5P2868%26linkCode%3Das2%26tag%3Dtheboo-21" target="_blank"><u><strong><span style="color: #1155cc;">Amazon</span></strong></u></a>, <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=21324987&msgid=846097&act=OGSJ&c=1057097&destination=http%3A%2F%2Fstore.kobobooks.com%2Fen-US%2Febook%2Fan-earthless-melting-pot" target="_blank"><u><strong><span style="color: #1155cc;">Kobo</span></strong></u></a>, <a href="http://click.icptrack.com/icp/relay.php?r=21324987&msgid=846097&act=OGSJ&c=1057097&destination=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.smashwords.com%2Fbooks%2Fview%2F450298" target="_blank"><u><strong><span style="color: #1155cc;">Smashwords</span></strong></u></a> and other retailers.</span></span></span></span></span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-74283943052290152642014-06-16T21:35:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:25:01.449+02:00Short Story: What Happened to Us by Dan Chaon<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>What Happened to Us</em> by Dan Chaon</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The Spring 2014 edition of <a href="https://www.pshares.org/read/issue-detail.cfm?intIssueID=144" target="_blank">Ploughshares Literary Magazine</a> contains this gem: A story about Rusty Bickers and the family that takes him in as a foster child. Joseph is the narrator and is eight years old. Rusty is fourteen. We know little of what happened to Rusty before he arrived into Joseph’s home except a few hushed conversations between Joseph’s parents, where we hear that ‘unspeakable things… happened to Rusty in his family home,' and </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Joseph’s mother's comment, ‘How long does it take to get over something like that?’</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2YShTcVgxMRJLi9Cm-U4wmwufP3yuVrk_xeqBWYf5-Z-Bt361UeHW_OrV_oySguGSamrGl5yRJN8EB2xz4RpHvECse6FmqcpIeRlsutjnkzwclqkLlxIToE1iusMbqKtIIVMmj_vvgw/s1600/3d%252520Thompson-whitebackground.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiu2YShTcVgxMRJLi9Cm-U4wmwufP3yuVrk_xeqBWYf5-Z-Bt361UeHW_OrV_oySguGSamrGl5yRJN8EB2xz4RpHvECse6FmqcpIeRlsutjnkzwclqkLlxIToE1iusMbqKtIIVMmj_vvgw/s320/3d%252520Thompson-whitebackground.jpg" width="227" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Rusty does talk to Joseph about his past at one stage:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Do you know what would happen if a kid like you got sent to a foster home?’ </span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘No.’ And Joseph breathed as Rusty’s eyes held him, without blinking.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘They do really nasty things to the little kids. And if you try to scream, they put your own dirty underwear in your mouth, to gag you.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although Rusty's past was disturbing, we follow his summer in Joseph's home with a little optimism. We are lulled into the meandering narrative, peppered with humour, especially when Joseph’s father dances with his prosthetic arm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘After he got drunk, Joseph’s father would go around touching the ladies on the back of the neck with his hook, surprising them, making them scream. Sometimes he would take off his arm and dance with it.'</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But this humour is followed by raw understated emotion:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'Sometimes he would cry about Billy Merritt.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The story contains some great descriptive passages.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Rusty…watching Joseph’s family as they ate their breakfast, his shaggy hair hanging lank about his face, his long arms dangling from slumped shoulders, his eyes like someone who had been marched a long way to a place where they were going to shoot him.’</span></span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The story gets progressively more disturbing as the summer passes and we sense that Rusty is a deeply troubled teenager.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘You could kill the little kids first, while they were sleeping. It wouldn’t hurt them, you know. It wouldn’t mattter. And then, with the gunshots, your mom and dad would come running in, and you could shoot them when they came through the door…’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">An excellent and enjoyable story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Dan Chaon is the author of the short-story collection Stay Awake, the novel Await Your Reply and other works of fiction. He lives in Cleveland.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-40105673818439537882014-06-13T00:45:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:30:15.296+02:00Authors in France: Amanda Hodgkinson <h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> <em>22 Britannia Road</em> by Amanda Hodgkinson</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In the small village of Labatut Rivière in the lovely south west of France a group of readers and writers welcomed Amanda Hodgkinson, author, to talk about her first novel: 22 Britannia Road.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In preparation, I did s</span>ome strenuous research on my sunlounger...</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiQ9-W9i4ujgo85ummK1WDVfZbBjFcIaMg5g9ngUG9RbW_AoNclCv2vLIisY345Vt5g6F1q2hwvRwrz3aSM5c-NdIj0jleUtngqGcJsQMlVUIBG2E2gq6z_1y69J_29mqvyZn2WA1a0k/s1600/IMG_20140611_182628.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuiQ9-W9i4ujgo85ummK1WDVfZbBjFcIaMg5g9ngUG9RbW_AoNclCv2vLIisY345Vt5g6F1q2hwvRwrz3aSM5c-NdIj0jleUtngqGcJsQMlVUIBG2E2gq6z_1y69J_29mqvyZn2WA1a0k/s320/IMG_20140611_182628.jpg" width="240" /></a> </div>
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Here's the blurb:</div>
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It is 1946 and Silvana and eight-year-old Aurek board a ship that will take them from Poland to England. Silvana has not seen her husband Janusz in six years, but, they are assured, he has made a home for them in Ipswich.</blockquote>
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However, after living wild in the forests for years, carrying a terrible secret, all Silvana knows is that she and Aurek are survivors. Everything else is lost. While Janusz, a Polish soldier who has crisscrossed Europe during the war, hopes his family will help him put his own dark past behind him.</blockquote>
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But the war and the years apart will always haunt each of them, unless together they confront what they were compelled to do to survive. </blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Amanda read an extract from the points of view of the three main characters and I enjoyed (as she suggested everybody does) being read to in the glorious sunshine with a glass of rosé and only next door’s cockerel to punctuate the silences.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Then Amanda spoke about her motivation for writing the book - her attempt to capture something of the relationships between families who were separated during the war and, although reunited, are never the same. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The discussion then moved on to her journey to publication:</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> One query letter (I said 'one' there in case you missed that), several bids which led to an auction, and the novel went straight onto the New York Times bestseller list. A dream for many, but good to hear it can, and does, happen. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Amanda's second novel Spilt Milk was released earlier this year and has been very well received:</span></div>
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'Hogkinson's second novel is simply but elegantly written, its subtle charms emerging as her gentle, bittersweet story shows history repeating itself over the generations' Sunday Times</blockquote>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPofM98QBGUVskV4c7UYiax583CK7EZmJnoPfBhj8ekgXXGkLMiUbtd_BNfLByMQacZJQWIBtlYAnb_mQw2Dlv2rqFzXqqgewRHy1QbORu576eqgEPaIPbx4OAWRTS7uwibcWXR90yoQ/s1600/9780425272022.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhfPofM98QBGUVskV4c7UYiax583CK7EZmJnoPfBhj8ekgXXGkLMiUbtd_BNfLByMQacZJQWIBtlYAnb_mQw2Dlv2rqFzXqqgewRHy1QbORu576eqgEPaIPbx4OAWRTS7uwibcWXR90yoQ/s1600/9780425272022.jpg" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">She also spoke about the <em>Grand Central, </em>an anthology to be released in July which sounds very intriguing:</span></div>
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Now, ten bestselling authors inspired by this iconic landmark have created their own stories, set on the same day, just after the end of World War II, in a time of hope, uncertainty, change, and renewal...</div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks to Jane who hosted the lunch in her beautiful garden. I returned home with garden envy and road-to-publication envy. But it was an enjoyable day and great to meet so many book lovers.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-57095071419000050352014-05-25T23:23:00.000+02:002014-05-25T23:23:31.678+02:00Creative Writing: Robert Olen Butler<h3>
Creative Writing: A Spectator Sport</h3>
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I came across this video by Robert Olen Butler on youtube, published in Oct 2012, the first in a series. He is attempting to capture his creative process for an audience and it's fascinating viewing. He uses an old postcard as a prompt and we watch and listen as he tries to articulate the reasons for the choices he makes without becoming too analytical which would impede on the dreamlike state he needs to preserve. I found it interesting that he collects old postcards for the messages written on them, and how he tries to imagine the person who wrote that card.<br />
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I noted that he uses a dictionary which references the date the word came into use. When he checked the word 'shimmied' in relation to a horse, he found that it was first included in the dictionary in 1919, but, as he was writing a story set in 1913, he couldn't use that word.<br />
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I recommend watching these if you have quite a bit of spare time, but beware there are no action scenes (unless you count when he reaches for the dictionary), just a writer sitting and tapping the keyboard, then the backspace key, then stretching and re-reading what he's written.<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-18955054964409402482014-05-19T00:45:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:33:20.458+02:00Short stories: ‘The China Factory’ by Mary Costello <h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'The China Factory’ by Mary Costello</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">This collection of short stories, published by <a href="http://www.stingingfly.org/" target="_blank">The Stinging Fly</a>, really drew me in. The first story, <em>The China Factory</em>, and the last, <em>The Sewing Room</em>, are beautiful pieces. But there is plenty to recommend in between: <em>The Patio Man, And who will pay Charon</em>, and <em>Little Disturbances</em> being worthy of mention.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>The China Factory</em> features Gus, the main character's co-worker, who gives her a lift to work every day. He’s a quiet hero and she betrays him, but he understands that she’s young and desperate to fit in with the other women, even if she has nothing in common with them. </span><br />
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'She was the kind of girl who wore flesh-coloured tights and pencil skirts but never jeans, and would grow into the kind of woman I never wanted to be.'</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>The Sewing Room</em> is an elegant story, which fits perfectly with the main character’s comportment. It recounts the build-up to a schoolteacher's retirement party. While she accepts everyone's best wishes she is also considering her past mistakes. A slow-moving and evocative story.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I like that the first story is about a young girl starting in her first job and the last story is a woman retiring after many years of service.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">In many of these stories there is a note of loneliness, especially within married couples: A husband reminiscing on an affair he had with a girl when he was school inspector; a wife, bored in her relationship, having an online affair; a husband waiting for the results of medical tests, unable to express his feelings. Quite a sad reflection on married life.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although the characters are normal, almost banal, there is disease, rape, death lurking in the background. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">This collection is a treasure trove to be dipped into and savoured. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Mary Costello has a light touch and an uncomplicated, understated way of telling a story. </span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-77175553130378185282014-05-11T23:07:00.001+02:002015-07-18T12:34:41.528+02:00The Creative Process Blog Tour <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 14pt; font-weight: 600;">The Creative Process Blog Tour </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Thanks to <a href="http://viewreviewawritersblog.blogspot.fr/2014/05/the-creative-process-blog-tour.html" target="_blank">Paula McGrath</a> for nominating me to answer some questions on the creative process.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>Well-travelled - A short story collection</em>: From the backpacker to the business traveller, from the child of diplomat parents to the retired couple touring in their campervan, </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve been chipping away at about fifteen stories for the past six months and they’re currently reposing </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">in a virtual drawer.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">New novel: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’ve been plotting and planning and trying to gather inchoate notions of characters and settings for my nameless new novel. This is the creative stage of the writing process that I love. So these mornings I jump out of bed (something I’m not too well-known for) to get back to it. I hope to write the first draft (and give it a working title) over the summer.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m also working on all the little things writers have to do that take insane amounts of time - submitting my completed novel, <em>Lost in Lourdes</em>, to agents and editors, researching writing competitions and literary magazines, devouring all the information I can about the craft and business of writing (and not getting too distracted on Twitter.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">How does my work differ from others of its genre?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I haven’t really figured out my genre. I guess every author’s voice is different though, and I have been told in my writers’ group that a certain turn of phrase is ‘typically Hilary’, so although I can’t define my voice I know others can hear it. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">Why do I write what I do?</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although novels were my first love, I started writing short stories and flash fiction as a way of gaining some real critique on my writing. I soon came to love reading and writing short fiction. </span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I feel I have the freedom as an emerging writer to choose whatever form or style or subject-matter I want. I mostly write for myself, usually to just try to make sense of the world.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The books I’ve read and loved recently include <a href="http://hilarymcgrathraza.blogspot.fr/2013/07/gone-girl-review.html" target="_blank">Gone Girl</a>, <a href="http://hilarymcgrathraza.blogspot.fr/2014/02/review-apple-tree-yard-by-louise-doughty.html" target="_blank">Apple Tree Yard</a>, Transatlantic, <a href="http://hilarymcgrathraza.blogspot.fr/2013/11/the-luminaries-review.html" target="_blank">The Luminaries</a>, <a href="http://hilarymcgrathraza.blogspot.fr/2014/04/review-goldfinch-by-donna-tartt.html" target="_blank">The Goldfinch</a> and Frog Music. It’s difficult to say what these books have in common (apart from the fact that they’ve all been nominated for literary prizes) but I would like to write like that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">How does my writing process work?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s a picture of my attempt to follow the subplots in my new novel. I began with normal-sized cards but I was adding too much detail, so I had to cut the cards to small pieces. I still managed to cram each with barely decipherable scrawl.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">My writing process really consists of sitting down every day and trying to progress on one project or another depending on real and self-imposed deadlines. If my concentration is waning, I push myself to complete the task quickly (because a first draft is easier to revise than a blank sheet of paper) and then punish myself with forty lashes or some housework. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">Who I nominate next... </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I’d like to ask the same questions of KM Elkes @mysmalltales and Geoff Holder @geoffholder58 (update: <a href="http://www.geoffholder.com/blog/author-takes-part-creative-process-blog-tour/" target="_blank">here it is</a>) and look forward to reading how they work.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-54796885790300266552014-05-04T22:35:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:35:46.336+02:00Photos: Churches around the Gers<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-49099510355281230902014-04-27T11:59:00.000+02:002014-04-27T11:59:08.079+02:00Writing Contests: On The Premises Magazine <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;"><a href="http://www.onthepremises.com/" target="_blank">On The Premises</a> </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">is a web-based fiction magazine. New issues are published every four months. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A rarity in the world of writing competitions: there are <strong>no fees, yet winners receive cash prizes</strong> <strong>in addition to exposure through publication</strong>. <br /><br />They also provide a free critique to any contestant whose entry makes the top ten but doesn’t get published. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">As well as the main contests (see below) there are mini-contests for anyone who has signed up for their newsletter. The current <strong>mini-contest #No. 23 is entitled ‘</strong></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>It Was the Best of Prose, It Was the Worst of Prose.’</strong></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">There is an interesting article in the newsletter which conveys the concept of using the right prose for the right content. You should sign up for the newsletter if only to read this article, which is insightful.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The competition asks to </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">write two very short pieces of prose, each one between 10 and 25 words. The first 10-25 word piece should use TERRIBLE prose that ruins what the content is trying to convey. The second one should be a dramatically improved version of the first piece that is also 10-25 words long but uses much better prose that enhances the content's inherent power.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I have been enjoying this challenge. It’s a great learning tool - deliberately searching for the wrong way to convey the story and then aiming to improve the same few lines to produce a better version. I’m looking forward to reading the winning pieces. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The closing date is 30/4/14 so there’s still time to enter. Sign up for <a href="http://www.onthepremises.com/SignMeUp.html" target="_blank">the newsletter here</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Contest #23</strong> officially launched on March 9, 2014. Its premise is</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>DECISIONS, DECISIONS</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">One or more characters face an especially difficult decision. Whether readers would find the decision difficult will have no effect on how the story is rated. What matters is whether at least one of the story's more important characters finds the decision difficult.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">As usual, any genre except children’s fiction, exploitative sex, or over-the-top gross-out horror is fine.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Your challenge: In at least 1,000 but no more than 5,000 words, write a creative, compelling, and well-crafted story that clearly uses the “Decisions, Decisions” premise. If you have questions, ask us at Questions@OnThePremises.com.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Deadline: 11:59 PM Eastern Time, Friday, May 30, 2014.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-90809695522146318482014-04-20T16:48:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:37:01.988+02:00Review: 'The Goldfinch' by Donna Tartt<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Aged thirteen, Theo Decker, son of a devoted mother and a reckless, largely absent father, survives an accident that otherwise tears his life apart. Alone and rudderless in New York, he is taken in by the family of a wealthy friend. He is tormented by an unbearable longing for his mother, and down the years clings to the thing that most reminds him of her: a small, strangely captivating painting that ultimately draws him into the criminal underworld. As he grows up, Theo learns to glide between the drawing rooms of the rich and the dusty antiques store where he works. He is alienated and in love - and his talisman, the painting, places him at the centre of a narrowing, ever more dangerous circle. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The Goldfinch is a haunted odyssey through present-day America and a drama of enthralling power. Combining unforgettably vivid characters and thrilling suspense, it is a beautiful, addictive triumph - a sweeping story of loss and obsession, of survival and self-invention, of the deepest mysteries of love, identity and fate.’</span></div>
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Pure entertainment</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">This is a door-stopper of a book at 700+ pages. A greatly entertaining story, I was bereft when I finished and couldn’t choose another book to read for days. Well-deserving of all the accolades.</span></div>
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Well-drawn characters</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Theo, his mother, Boris, Hobie, Xandra and Andy are all memorable characters and kept me turning the pages - from Andy's <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">drawling voice telling us about his dislike of boats, to Hobie's stilted and formal manner of speaking. The only character I never got to like or care for was Pippa, but she was off-the-page almost all the time.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Theo’s mother has a strong voice although she is dead from the beginning. When she relates the history of the painting in the museum we are drawn to love it. We see the bird and its chain, and the history of the painting, and want to protect it.</span><br />
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Great settings</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I have to say I’m a sucker for great settings. I loved the New York in this book - the restaurants, cafés, parks and museums. Las Vegas was first introduced by the bling, the strip, the cliché, but we were brought with Theo to the suburbs and saw a side of Las Vegas rarely written about. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Hobie’s antique shop is vividly depicted. I can smell the antiques, the wood, the oils. The Barbour’s luxurious apartment on 5th avenue contrasted well with Theo's own New York home.</span></div>
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The devil is in the detail</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although there are sections of this novel that are arguably too detailed and unnecessarily long (the first time Theo gets really drunk in Vegas and does a lot of stupid things, or the long bus journey with the Popper, the dog), this is a novel that draws you in and you accept the detail because that was what was important to Theo.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">There is, however, a long epilogue that felt too preachy and I felt the book would have been better without it, but overall I was entertained and drawn into Theo’s world. I despaired at the hand life had dealt him. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> A wonderful novel to get your teeth into. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction 2014. Bravo Donna Tartt.</span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-83288616368771979992014-04-13T22:36:00.001+02:002014-04-13T22:36:25.658+02:00Longlisted: Fish Flash Fiction Prize<br />
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Longlisted</h3>
The winning stories of the Fish Flash Fiction Prize 2014 were announced this week and I was pleased to see my story 'Baobab' on the longlist. Thank you to the judge, Glenn Patterson, and to Fish Publishing. <br />
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Fish Publishing</h3>
From the<a href="http://www.fishpublishing.com/index.php" target="_blank"> Fish Publishing website</a>:<br />
'Publisher of over 400 emerging authors and poets since 1994 in The Annual Fish Anthology.<br />
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<em>Fish is an open door that's inviting writers to walk through it.</em><em>It has to be encouraged, celebrated, congratulated.</em> <strong>- RODDY DOYLE -</strong></div>
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<em>Fish is doing God's own work. <br /> It's an inspiration and an avenue to writers everywhere. </em><br />
<strong>- FRANK McCOURT -</strong></div>
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<em>I hail anyone who enters the Fish Prize . . . It is difficult to create from dust. <br /> I know that the best stories are those that are still untold -<br /> so keep writing, keep creating, keep the faith. </em><strong>- COLUM McCANN -'</strong></div>
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The Flash Fiction Prize</h3>
The flash fiction contest is very popular - there were 1,250 entries submitted in total. <br />
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The challenge: 'to create, in a tiny fragment, a completely resolved and compelling story in 300 words or less.'<br />
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The authors of the first ten stories have been invited to read at the launch of the anthology during the <a href="http://www.westcorkmusic.ie/literaryfestival/programme" target="_blank">West Cork Literary Festival</a> in July. I hope they enjoy <a href="http://westcorktourism.com/" target="_blank">West Cork.</a> Last time I was there I stayed in Durrus, home of Fish!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-72775758046301677692014-03-30T23:44:00.000+02:002015-07-18T12:37:40.798+02:00Review: ‘Five Star Billionaire’ by Tash Aw<h3>
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</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Five Star Billionaire’ by Tash Aw</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Here’s the blurb:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">'In the Man Booker prize-longlisted ‘Five Star Billionaire’ Tash Aw charts the overlapping lives of migrant Malaysian workers, forging lives for themselves in sprawling Shanghai.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">Justin is from a family of successful property developers. Phoebe has come to China buoyed with hope, but her dreams are shattered within hours as the job she has come for seems never to have existed. Gary is a successful pop artist, but his fans and marketing machine disappear after a bar-room brawl. Yinghui has businesses that are going well but must make decisions about her life. And then there is Walter, the shadowy billionaire, ruthless and manipulative, ultimately alone in the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif; font-size: 12pt;">In ‘Five Star Billionaire’, Tash Aw charts the weave of their journeys in the new China, counterpointing their adventures with the old life they have left behind in Malaysia. The result is a brilliant examination of the migrations that are shaping this dazzling new city, and their effect on these individual lives.'</span></div>
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Fast-paced, breathtaking</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I was surprised and delighted by this book. Tash Aw's writing style is elegant, yet fast-moving and modern. This is a novel that sparkles. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Themes</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Themes of loneliness, ambition, success and tragedy are threaded through the inter-connecting stories. Most of the characters are struggling to climb to the top of the ladder and struggling to stay there. The author imagines the difficulty of being a woman in modern China as well as the despair of a successful pop star on the way out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Setting</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">From tiny villages in Malaysia to luxury spas in Shanghai, from a dilapidated hotel in Malaysia to the slums in suburban Shanghai, from pineapple stalls near Singapore to lonely hotel rooms in Taiwan, the settings in this novel are exotic and unique. I'd love to visit modern China after reading this. Failing that I would like to read more from this author.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Format</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">I listened to this as an audiobook and felt it was hard to follow at times. As the pace is quite fast, I felt the need to flick back to check which character was which. I would highly recommend this in hard copy/e-book format.</span></span></div>
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Biography</h3>
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<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><em>Tash Aw is the author of two previous novels, 'The Harmony Silk Factory', winner of the Costa First Novel Award and a Commonwealth Writers' Prize for Best First Novel, and 'Map of the Invisible World'. He was born in Malaysia and now lives in London.</em> </span></div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-62322812988917507932014-03-26T16:47:00.000+01:002015-07-18T12:38:25.677+02:00Contemporary French Lit: ‘Bernard’ by David Foenkinos <br />
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</a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Contemporary French Literature</span></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Bernard’ by David Foenkinos is a slim French novel. In fact, fooled by the unorthodox format, I’m not sure it can even be called a novel. A novella, then.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The story begins with Bernard returning to live with his parents after he splits up with his wife. At the age of fifty he finds himself in his childhood bedroom, falling in with his parents’ rules. We find out how he ended up there: He had an affair. His wife threw him out. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">He realises that </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">he’s gradually losing contact with his daughter. He tries to reconnect with her through facebook, a rather creepy episode that doesn't show him as a sympathetic character, although that was perhaps the author's intention.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Living with his parents is difficult. They treat him like he’s still a teenager. Then they try to set him up with a divorcee.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Bernard’ is a pleasant and easy read, although I didn’t feel much empathy with any of the characters. There was a certain lightness about the story, as if it wasn’t taking itself that seriously. Plenty of humour in there that had me chuckling, especially as he reverts to the behaviour of his teenage self. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Bernard, although only concerned with himself, manages to shake up his parents’ lives too and causes them to make changes themselves that are well overdue.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">F</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">ind out more about <a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Foenkinos" target="_blank">David Foenkinos here.</a> </span></div>
</span><br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-58138369827155771452014-03-23T21:38:00.001+01:002015-07-18T12:38:58.434+02:00Short Story: 'The Fjord of Killary' by Kevin Barry<div style="text-align: left;">
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'The Fjord of Killary' is one of the stories in the 'Dark Lies The Island' collection by Kevin Barry.</h3>
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Originally published in the New Yorker, read the story <a href="http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/02/01/100201fi_fiction_barry" target="_blank">online here.</a><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘So I bought an old hotel on the fjord of Killary.’</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A great opening line that draws us right into this story. Caoimhin wants to escape the city and buys a hotel in the west of Ireland, a place with an interesting history, and hopes it will inspire him to write poetry again.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘All of my friends, every last one of them, said, “The Shining.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'But I was thinking, The West of Ireland . . . the murmurous ocean . . . the rocky hills hard-founded in a greenish light (the light of a sad dream) . . . the cleansing air . . . the stoats peeping shyly from gaps in the drystone walls . . . '</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">But it doesn't inspire him. Instead he grows to despise his customers in the bar and dreams of escaping elsewhere. This story takes place on the night the ‘gibbering Atlantic’ looks like it's going to flood the hotel.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Although Caoimhin himself is a bit of a bore, his customers are varied and typical. The conversations of the locals in the pub, from the undertaker to the retired lorry driver, give a realistic insight into the rural psyche in the west of Ireland. </span><br />
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Caoimhin tries to engage in discussions but is magnificently ignored. The staff, all <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Belorussians, won't let him forget he's paying them minimum wage. The disco that follows the rising water is vividly portrayed: We can imagine the old ballroom, the dusty corners and the disco lights as the water rises up the stairs. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><strong>Dialogue:</strong></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Barry's genius must lie in the authentic dialogue. The voices of his customers make the stories more gritty, more real.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The primary interest of these people’s lives is how far one place is from another, and how long it might take to complete the journey, given the state of the roads. They make a geography of the<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> country by the naming of pubs:</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“Do you know Madigan’s in Maynooth?"</span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">"I do, of course.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“You’d take a left there.”</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“I have you now.”</span><br />
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</span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Bill worked in haulage as a young man and considers himself expert.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“I don’t know, Bill,” I said.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“Would we say an hour twenty if you weren’t tailbacked out of Newport?”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“I said I really don’t fucking well know, Bill.”</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“There are those’ll say you’d do it in an hour.” He sipped, delicately. “But you’d want to be grease fuckin’ lightnin’ coming up from Westport direction, wouldn’t you?”</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">They like to criticise and discuss their neighbours.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“Fuckers are washin’ diesel up there again,” John Murphy said. “The Hourigans? Of course, they’d a father a diesel-washer before ’em, didn’t they? Cunts to a man.”</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">“Cunts,” Bill Knott confirmed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">Descriptions</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Kevin Barry certainly has a way with language. The west has ‘disgracefully gray skies' and the 'gibbering Atlantic.'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'The last of the evening light was an unreal throb of Kermit green.' </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span> '<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Seven sheep in a rowing boat were being bobbed about on the vicious waters of Killary. The sheep appeared strangely calm.'</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-weight: 600;">Humour</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">A dark humour runs throughout the story, fierce honesty amid the tragedy and we can but laugh or we’d cry.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'It was by now a hysterical downpour, with great sheets of water steaming down from Mweelrea, and the harbor roared in the fattening light. Visibility was reduced to fourteen feet. This all signalled that the West of Ireland holiday season had begun.' </span> <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'This, by the way, was the Monday of the May bank-holiday weekend. Killary was </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt; font-style: italic;">en fête</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">. Local opinion, cheerfully, was that it had been among the wettest bank holidays ever witnessed.'</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'I always tended bar in the evenings. I’d had a deranged notion that this would establish me as a kind of charming-innkeeper figure. This was despite the fact that not one but two ex-girlfriends (both of them, admittedly, sharp-tongued academics) had described my manner as “funereal.”' </span><br />
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<strong>The author</strong></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Kevin Barry is a bit of an oul' character himself. I went to see him last year at the Cork Short Story Festival where he presented the Faber anthology which he edited: 'Town & Country: New Irish Short Stories.' Remarkably down-to-earth, considering he also won the 2013 International Impac Dublin Literary Award for his novel 'City of Bohane', he advised us to 'go home to your tea, now' to close the event.</span></div>
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</span>A good interview with him on Irish Writers in America, in which he describes Ireland as 'a wet, tormented little rock,' <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8DguQ4RVpWw" target="_blank">can be viewed here.</a><br />
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</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-5503941711591108952014-03-11T22:05:00.001+01:002014-03-23T16:05:57.352+01:00Review: 'The Three Musketeers' by Alexandre DUMAS<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4FWEhUopnAbXlLRCuRnZt9M9nA3Mj2a8prw_AihXGTDIorjEHL-emwCfL71oMMDj4Nlsg8KcUYrKe_XcDPKxTbe6yW17bfceNFrmMK2HWW_JZ-XTOMzhqA_W63Yyq3j1Z-NpREl45qs/s1600/D'Artagnan+Auch.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhs4FWEhUopnAbXlLRCuRnZt9M9nA3Mj2a8prw_AihXGTDIorjEHL-emwCfL71oMMDj4Nlsg8KcUYrKe_XcDPKxTbe6yW17bfceNFrmMK2HWW_JZ-XTOMzhqA_W63Yyq3j1Z-NpREl45qs/s1600/D'Artagnan+Auch.jpg" height="181" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Statue of D'Artagnan in Auch, Gers</td></tr>
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<h3>
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre DUMAS</h3>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Written in serialised form in 1844, and set around 1625 in the France of Louis XIII, Louis XIV, Anne of Austria and bishop Richelieu, Les Trois Mousquetaires is a story of adventure that still delights and entertains. Although historically inaccurate in places, it is rich in colour and atmosphere, full of witty dialogue and drama. It is the first in a trilogy about D’Artagnan (other books are <em>Twenty Years After</em>, and <em>The Vicomte de Bragelonne</em>).</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">D’Artagnan is a brave but temperamental Gascon who makes his way to Paris on a yellow horse, encountering adventures on the way. He provokes duels with each of the three musketeers - Athos, Porthos and Aramis - when he first meets them in Paris. However they join forces to fight the bishop’s guards and forget their differences and become friends. D'Artagnan dreams of joining the Musketeers - the King’s guards - and is finally admitted to the Musketeers at the Siege of La Rochelle. D'Artagnan also falls in love with Madame Bonacieux and embarks on a quest to save her, a quest which takes him to England and back, and which also saves Queen Anne of Austria’s reputation.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy8Vhca299yOsu69VnAtLCGhKQSc984297eZp4i7lUUKxbmQAv-Z8dRWGjmWimHeYX-kB1xkmsSdjbdQnpmk4j6xELYWIpCxfTptgaemWK3IMbJBB-6Qu-qK2WIrlcq_T13NN7uqx3e0/s1600/3Musketeers+serialised.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFy8Vhca299yOsu69VnAtLCGhKQSc984297eZp4i7lUUKxbmQAv-Z8dRWGjmWimHeYX-kB1xkmsSdjbdQnpmk4j6xELYWIpCxfTptgaemWK3IMbJBB-6Qu-qK2WIrlcq_T13NN7uqx3e0/s1600/3Musketeers+serialised.jpg" height="281" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><em>Les Trois Mousquetaires</em> first appeared in serialised form in 1844</td></tr>
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<h3>
A Gascon</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Dumas’ genius must lie in the characters he creates. Like Dickens, his characters attract and hold our interest and D’Artagnan remains one of the most well-known and well-loved characters of all time. </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Much is made of the fact that D'Artagnan is a Gascon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">He had the power of seeing in the night:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vDOaXlWZ1Xf60K-s3ukxZwPHcU5gsE98S1m5mZDkMZqz26-IvlzZ0NYaAGajDtL8OLgvWOOCBnQZRi0GagA9iFrpVkiwkIjJ6vIjcNhyphenhyphenRZgesYRieFI5rMYtb7drVyJA4E9BY6zvKF8/s1600/Lupiac+5.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7vDOaXlWZ1Xf60K-s3ukxZwPHcU5gsE98S1m5mZDkMZqz26-IvlzZ0NYaAGajDtL8OLgvWOOCBnQZRi0GagA9iFrpVkiwkIjJ6vIjcNhyphenhyphenRZgesYRieFI5rMYtb7drVyJA4E9BY6zvKF8/s1600/Lupiac+5.JPG" height="200" width="112" /></a></div>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘It is said that the eyes of Gascons, like those of cats, have the faculty of seeing in the night. D’Artagnon was able to see therefore…’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">He was proud:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Proud as a Scotchman, muttered Buckingham. ‘And we,’ answered d’Artagnan, say ‘proud as a Gascon’. The Gascons are the Scotchmen of France.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And crafty:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Imagine Don Quixote at eighteen; Don Quixote without his corselet, without his coat of mail, without his cuisses, a Don Quixote clothed in a woollen doublet… face long and brown, high cheek bones, indicating craftiness, the maxillary muscles enormously developed, an infallible sign by which a Gascon may always be detected even without his cap…’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> </span>And brave: <br />
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‘Our brave Gascon has just shown himself as brave and as faithful as ever.’</blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">D’Artagnan was clever enough to be able to read people just by looking at the countenance of those he encountered:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘It was not a landlord this time but a landlady who received him. D’Artagnan, being somewhat of a physiognomist, examined at a glance the fat and good-humoured face of the mistress of the place. This glance satisfied him that dissimulation was not necessary with her and that he had nothing to fear from such a happy-looking countenance.’</span></blockquote>
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<h3>
Women</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Women in Dumas' world could be weak, powerful, cunning, charming, vindictive, and capable of sorcery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘There was an understanding between this lady and Porthos. If she was a lady of quality she would have fainted, but, as she was only a solicitor’s wife, she contented herself with saying in a concentrated rage…’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘The enchantress had resumed that magic charm which she took up and laid aside at pleasure, that is to say beauty, softness, tears and above all the irresistible attraction of that mystical voluptuousness which is the most irresistible of all kinds of voluptuousness.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Her ladyship wished to please the Abysse and this was a very easy task for a woman so truely superior. She endeavoured to be amiable and became charming so that her entertainer was seduced by her varied conversation as well as by the grades which appeared in all her person.’</span></blockquote>
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I'm particularly amazed at this feisty lady:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">'Athos examined it (the ring) and became very pale. He then tried it on the ring finger… A shade of anger and revenge passed across the generally calm forehead of the gentleman.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">She turned, no longer like a mere furious woman, but like a wounded panther.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Ah, wretch,’ said she, ‘you have betrayed me like a coward, and, moreover, you have learned my secret. You must die.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And she ran to an inlaid cabinet on her toilet table, opened it with a feverish, trembling hand, drew from it a small dagger with a golden hilt and a sharp and slender blade and returned with one bound to the side of d’Artagnan, her vesture in pieces. Although the young man was, as we know, brave, he was frightened at that convulsed countenance, at those horrible dilated pupils, at those pale cheeks and bleeding lips. He arose and recoiled as from the approach of a serpent that had crawled towards him and, instinctively putting his perspiring hand to his sword, he drew it from the sheath. But…. her Ladyship still advanced to strike him.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Her Ladyship was rushing at him in horrible transports of rage and howling in a fearful manner…’</span></blockquote>
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The English</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Dumas manages to slip in a few amusing digs at English food:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘The English, who above all things require to be well-fed in order to prove good-soldiers, eating only salted provisions and bad biscuits, had many invalids in their camp.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And comments on the weather in England:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘It was one of those few and fine summer days when Englishmen remember that there is a sun.’</span></blockquote>
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Food</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Proper sustenance is critical for the French, even in the midst of battle:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘We are four against one... about to be engaged to a far greater amount of foes…. How many persons? Twenty men. How far off are they? About 500 paces. Good, we have still time to finish this fowl and to drink a glass of wine. To your health, d’Artagnan!’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The musketeers even ask the enemy to hold off the battle until after breakfast:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Gentlemen, we are some of my friends and myself engaged in breakfasting in this bastion. Now you know that nothing is more disagreeable than to be disturbed at breakfast, so we entreat of you… to wait until we have finished our repast or to come back in a little while unless… and coming to drink with us to the health of the King of France.’</span></blockquote>
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<h3>
Loose ends</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The story in this book meanders and detours. Some of the loose ends are conveniently tied up, like where her Ladyship might be found. The name of the town they will later need to locate actually falls out of someone's hat:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Hello sir. Here is a paper which fell out of your hat. Hello sir, hello.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘My friend,’ said d’Artagnan, ‘half a pistole for that paper.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘With the greatest pleasure, here it is.’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">D’Artagnan unfolded the paper. Only one word…the name of a town… Armentieres…. is written in her hand… let us take great care of this paper…’</span></blockquote>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Her Ladyship decides to wait for the cardinal’s orders in a convent, which also happens to be the convent where Madame Bonacieux is being held:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘I am proceeding to the Carmelite convent at Bethune where I shall await your orders.’</span></blockquote>
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<h3>
'All for one and one for all'</h3>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The famous slogan is only referred to once in the book, although there are many duels and shows of bravery.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Some of the pleasure in reading this book is the fact that the real D’Artagnan (Charles de Batz de Castelmore d'Artagnan) on whom Dumas based his character, came from Lupiac, a village in Gascony. So, whilst reading the book, I paid a visit to the Musée D'Artagnan in Lupiac and was transported to the 17th century. It was easy to imagine the proud D’Artagnan, leaving the area as a boy and returning many years later leading the King’s guard. The entourage travelled through France and Gascony on the way to St Jean de Luz where Louis XIV wed Marie-Thèrese of Austria. </span><br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-71725981907917488682014-03-02T22:13:00.001+01:002015-07-18T12:40:31.192+02:00French food served in a gamelle<div style="text-align: left;">
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<h3>
Gamelle: Lunch pail; mess tin; billy can</h3>
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Although I picked up this red <em>gamelle</em> in an antique fair a few years ago I didn't ever expect to actually eat from one. I mean, a million years ago, Laura Ingalls took her lunch to school in one, but I didn't think you'd find them in use anywhere anymore. Apparently you put the soup in the bottom section and the bread and sundry items in the top. <br />
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<h3>
Dining in Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques</h3>
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On Friday last we dined in <a href="http://www.restaurant-pilota.fr/index.html" target="_blank">Restaurant Le Pilota </a>in Pau. It's situated in the sports' complex, overlooking the <a href="http://www.touradour.com/towns/pelote.htm" target="_blank">pelote basque</a> courts (although they were preparing for a badminton tournament at the time.) The setting is modern and chic but the food is traditional. <br />
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<h3>
La Musette du Jour</h3>
I ordered the set menu (served weekday lunchtimes, it consists of a starter, a main, a dessert, a 1/4 bottle of wine and a coffee - all for 13 euro) and the waiter arrived with my lunch bag and hung it over the back of my chair. <br />
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Opening it up it revealed the lunch pail, the wine, a bread roll, a couple of slices of <em>saussisson</em>, a <a href="http://www.google.fr/imgres?imgurl=http://p3.storage.canalblog.com/38/13/599314/82005192_o.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.mesdouceurs.fr/archives/2012/12/15/25923417.html&h=183&w=275&sz=1&tbnid=iUEo5x8ZNkGJ_M:&tbnh=133&tbnw=200&zoom=1&usg=__krnSNs6o0PpsGnMj20J_gPuu8SE=&docid=wi7AwxxwtK-rMM&itg=1&sa=X&ei=gJETU933KISqhAeUwYDICw&sqi=2&ved=0CMcBEPwdMAo" target="_blank">Paris-Brest</a> in tinfoil.<br />
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The first tier contained the starter - a slice of quiche...<br />
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...the second revealed the main course - hake and king prawns in creamy sauce...<br />
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... and the third, cauliflower and cheese, although I'd lost the run of myself at that stage and forgot to take any more photos. Sorry!<br />
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Worth swinging by - all was delicious.<br />
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Find <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Restaurant-Brasserie-Pilota/154517831392655" target="_blank">La Musette du Jour on facebook</a> <br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-22050923373424459272014-02-23T21:31:00.000+01:002015-07-18T12:41:24.908+02:00Words with JAM Runner-up<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUOcC04io5YOJH3sZWSMQR_EF04P2lbZVfxWEzCEPfvr9RlvbglEu1ogjjx9APVApiPYvhauFv0PDFC9Q7-gGo2Yw31uobQEZ2eWQnT-YkYgazunzvYO2v96y8zeXNPwIPrlqEkU4t_s/s1600/51dT5C7l3eL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUUOcC04io5YOJH3sZWSMQR_EF04P2lbZVfxWEzCEPfvr9RlvbglEu1ogjjx9APVApiPYvhauFv0PDFC9Q7-gGo2Yw31uobQEZ2eWQnT-YkYgazunzvYO2v96y8zeXNPwIPrlqEkU4t_s/s320/51dT5C7l3eL.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
Words with JAM, the ezine for writers and publishers, announced the results of its <a href="http://jdsmith.moonfruit.com/" target="_blank">Bigger Short Story Competition</a> this week. I was delighted that my story 'Trumpet Dreams' was a runner-up in the Shortest Story Category (max 250 words) judged by Susan Jane Gilman. <br />
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A prize of £10 and inclusion in the anthology is a welcome result. Thank you to the judges and to Words with JAM for running this competition again this year.<br />
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This ezine contains numerous articles, reviews, interviews and practical information for writers. Check out the <a href="http://www.wordswithjam.co.uk/search/label/Writers%27%20Toolbox" target="_blank">writers' toolbox here</a>.<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-56546443759633763562014-02-17T23:20:00.002+01:002014-02-17T23:20:28.717+01:00Translating poetry<h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Le Visage Perdu</span></h2>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Last week I found myself contemplating a short poem by Yolaine Maillet and attempting to translate it from French to English for Spontaneity.org in collaboration with poet Eleanor Hooker and writer/editor Ruth McKee.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Read the concept behind Spontaneity <a href="http://spontaneity.org/about/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We spent a few days pinging suggestions back and forth, translating the words but losing or changing the meaning, paraphrasing, but losing the poetry of the original. <span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">It felt exciting to be part of a project like this.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">"Translation is like a women: if she is faithful, she is not beautiful; if she is beautiful, she is not faithful." Russian Proverb.</span></h4>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">We ended up with about ten different versions, none saying quite the same thing. We consulted the poet to try to gauge what she really meant, why she chose certain words. Finally we agreed on a version that captured the intended meaning and stuck as close to the language of the original as possible. Then we decided that it would be a nice touch to add an audio version of the poem. See the poem, the translation and the audio version <a href="http://spontaneity.org/issue02/le-visage-perdu/" target="_blank">here</a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean - neither more nor less." Lewis Carroll.</span></span></span></h4>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4590084253420567988.post-7822452842002892472014-02-09T21:46:00.000+01:002014-02-09T21:46:32.284+01:00Short story: 'The Pram' by Roddy Doyle<br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YSZpT90glD7Lga3z7QbqRs5qVWxruOTBmGS0IvtgM595lnRyXuouJU0dNsgmSIh4vbYM4gVAIKR-IVwWj-glPNVQPqW_phfPy4DcIykrNQgaMQRSGOaauOX3AZk06pi4SVvKXmBNROw/s1600/untitled.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7YSZpT90glD7Lga3z7QbqRs5qVWxruOTBmGS0IvtgM595lnRyXuouJU0dNsgmSIh4vbYM4gVAIKR-IVwWj-glPNVQPqW_phfPy4DcIykrNQgaMQRSGOaauOX3AZk06pi4SVvKXmBNROw/s1600/untitled.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><em>The Pram</em> by Roddy Doyle, part of ‘The Granta Book of the Irish Short Story' anthology, is a dark tale worth taking the time to read. I’m a fan of Roddy Doyle, especially the Barrytown trilogy, but I hadn’t read any of his short stories before.</span>
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Through the eyes of Alina, we are introduced to a (Clontarf-based?) middle-class family who have employed Alina as their au-pair. The first paragraph (‘But he did not cry very often. He was almost a perfect baby') sets the scene like a fairy tale. She adores the baby who she brings for a walk every day down by the sea. It's too wholesome though--we sense a looming Big Bad Wolf or evil step-mother. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Doyle is the expert storyteller who sets the scene beautifully: </span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘The piano was in the tiled hall, close to the stained-glass windows of the large front door. The coloured sunlight of the late afternoon lit the two girls as they played. Their black hair became purple, dark red and the green of deep-forest leaves (nice foreshadowing here). Their fingers on the keys were red and yellow.’</span><br /><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The two little girls Alina minds, although well-spoken and polite, have a macabre presence about them--I picture Wednesday and Pugsley Addams. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Alina is from Eastern Europe—Poland, we learn later—and tries to carry out her duties as best she can. But when the little girls give her secret away, the mother's nasty side emerges: ‘Listen, babes, said O’Reilly. - Nothing is your private affair. Not while you’re working here. Are you fucking this guy?’</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Alina begins to simmer:</span>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">‘Alina was going to murder the little girls. This she decided as she climbed the stair to her attic room. She closed the door. It had no lock. She sat on the bed, in the dark. She would poison them. She would drown them. She would put pillows on their faces.’ </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPavifdd8DIXoBZ7atiAZYJqcSqw1vplzeXsuQstGCQqHNyKNfE_thwgcn-ZRIb2Jpk-t1p9SvYPKCiJJAm1N5y_-ZQ8GGW-uCCpZxPN_JHiERynGCsuf_jtq5F6AtWI5wjm7DBzPq_S0/s1600/untitled+%25282%2529.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPavifdd8DIXoBZ7atiAZYJqcSqw1vplzeXsuQstGCQqHNyKNfE_thwgcn-ZRIb2Jpk-t1p9SvYPKCiJJAm1N5y_-ZQ8GGW-uCCpZxPN_JHiERynGCsuf_jtq5F6AtWI5wjm7DBzPq_S0/s1600/untitled+%25282%2529.png" /></a><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The author has given us time to believe that she will. But this is quickly followed up with ‘She would not, in actuality, kill the girls.’ We are left feeling uneasy.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">Then </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">comes the story within the story. This is nicely executed. I can clearly picture the old woman in the forest as the woodcutters draw closer. Doyle paints the scene perfectly, the two little girls sitting on Alina’s feet listening, the pram creaking. </span></span><br />
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The portrayal of the mother, though, is a little clichéd. As a working mother, she is portrayed as<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> a hard-nosed bitch who cares more about her BMW, her expensive pram and her material possessions than her children. She ‘took the pram and pushed it through the gateway. She tapped the brick pillars. - Don’t scrape the sides. She tapped the sides of the pram. - It is very valuable, said the mother.’ </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The mother's evil traits emerge further. She frightens her two daughters by telling them the pram is haunted. </span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">She speaks crudely to her colleague on the phone: ‘We have to cancel tomorrow’s meeting. Yes. No; My Polish peasant. Yes; again. Yes. Yes. A fucking nightmare. You can? I’ll suck your cock if you do. Cool. Talk to you.’</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">And she exploits the au-pair, and treats her like she is disposable. Alina is subsequently fired with a simple ‘You can stay the night, then off you fucking go.’</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">The husband is also a walking cliché: He touches Alina with his foot under the table, and his wife says ‘lock your door tonight, sweetie.’ Alina comments that she has no key. A little disconcerting - is this the usual and acceptable routine for the husband to take the key and fuck the au-pair?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;">So I'm a little disappointed at the way the family is depicted. Yet most clichés are based on reality and maybe this story of a middle-class family employing and exploiting an au-pair is a story that is worth telling.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman"; font-size: 12pt;"> There used to be an urban myth doing the rounds of an au-pair who sent a photo of her charges in the middle of a dual carriageway to the parents before resigning. So, although hard to read, it is a story that makes you think.</span></span><br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14512394666005589962noreply@blogger.com0