November 10th, 2008 / 10:25 pm
Mean

Mean Monday: Christy Call Talks Shit About(2) Irish Literature

We have had no real ‘good’ gchats recently, so I must post this (and invite you to comment on the Wells Tower thread – things are trying to happen there). It’s not real shit-talking, I guess.

Does anyone know of good irish literature I can read, aside from the obvious? At Swim-Two-Birds is sitting on my shelf right now. Should I read that?

Okay, our discussion of Irish Literature:

me: dang ol
  what about
  ok
  talk about
  irish literature
  no that is dumb
Chris: irish literature?
me: ignora that

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20 Comments

  1. pr

      i went thru an Edna O’Brien phase. And I tried recently to reread Joyce. And I like patty clark ha ha ok. roddy doyle). And then I read his The woman who walks into walls. That was pretty good. And there’s this guy who teaches at Iowa’s progran in Dublin- Martin…I can’t remember. His shit’s good, too.

      Then there is Bono, who was so great as a massive poo in South Park. I worship him.

      Then there is jamesons. bushmills and the most beautiful, non partisan, Powells. All very good irishness. Then there is colin farrell, who seems like a really great lay.

      sam beckett?

      ann enright? is she irish? i bought her book and read some of it. her stories. she might not be irish.

      and then there is irish spring. makes you smell less bad. dylan thomas? Keats? Yeats? One or the other?

      they make good butter that i eat. it’s much better than butter from here.

  2. pr

      i went thru an Edna O’Brien phase. And I tried recently to reread Joyce. And I like patty clark ha ha ok. roddy doyle). And then I read his The woman who walks into walls. That was pretty good. And there’s this guy who teaches at Iowa’s progran in Dublin- Martin…I can’t remember. His shit’s good, too.

      Then there is Bono, who was so great as a massive poo in South Park. I worship him.

      Then there is jamesons. bushmills and the most beautiful, non partisan, Powells. All very good irishness. Then there is colin farrell, who seems like a really great lay.

      sam beckett?

      ann enright? is she irish? i bought her book and read some of it. her stories. she might not be irish.

      and then there is irish spring. makes you smell less bad. dylan thomas? Keats? Yeats? One or the other?

      they make good butter that i eat. it’s much better than butter from here.

  3. Ryan Call

      someone i dont see a lot of is patrick mccabe – he wrote the butcher boy. i remember liking that book.

      costco has a liquor store here – the jamesons is like 20bucks for a 1.75l

  4. Ryan Call

      someone i dont see a lot of is patrick mccabe – he wrote the butcher boy. i remember liking that book.

      costco has a liquor store here – the jamesons is like 20bucks for a 1.75l

  5. pr

      just keep in mind that bushmills and jamesons pick sides. powells doesn’t. also powells? nasty stuff. hair on chest shit.

      it’s the woman who walks into doors i think. my bad.

  6. pr

      just keep in mind that bushmills and jamesons pick sides. powells doesn’t. also powells? nasty stuff. hair on chest shit.

      it’s the woman who walks into doors i think. my bad.

  7. prathna

      when i read it i thought it you meant At Swim, Two Boys which i remember trying to read in highschool

  8. prathna

      when i read it i thought it you meant At Swim, Two Boys which i remember trying to read in highschool

  9. Ryan Call

      yeah, not that one, the um flann obrien one

  10. Ryan Call

      yeah, not that one, the um flann obrien one

  11. Bradley Sands

      The Third Policeman=good

      Preacher (comic)=good

  12. Bradley Sands

      The Third Policeman=good

      Preacher (comic)=good

  13. m t fallon

      At Swim Two Birds is great but The Third Policeman is his masterpiece.

      So much of the great modern Irish lit is theatre: Shaw, Synge, early Yeats, Beckett.

      Synge’s Aran Island Journal records stories and myths from his time living on the islands in ~1910. Very cool stuff. I remember reading somewhere that Beckett thought Synge was the greatest Irish writer.

      More recently, John Banville is an incredible writer though quite stylized. The Book of Evidence and The Sea are two of his best novels.

      Also John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten.

  14. m t fallon

      At Swim Two Birds is great but The Third Policeman is his masterpiece.

      So much of the great modern Irish lit is theatre: Shaw, Synge, early Yeats, Beckett.

      Synge’s Aran Island Journal records stories and myths from his time living on the islands in ~1910. Very cool stuff. I remember reading somewhere that Beckett thought Synge was the greatest Irish writer.

      More recently, John Banville is an incredible writer though quite stylized. The Book of Evidence and The Sea are two of his best novels.

      Also John Lydon aka Johnny Rotten.

  15. jereme

      thomas was welsh not irish.

      bushmills taste is harsh.

      can’t go wrong with jamie

  16. jereme

      thomas was welsh not irish.

      bushmills taste is harsh.

      can’t go wrong with jamie

  17. drew

      read beckett. read the third policeman. read roddy doyle, particularly a star called henry, it’s kindof a ‘boy story’ but i found it really awesome. but mainly read beckett, particularly endgame. joyce if you can handle ulysses (i got halfway through before i got really really bogged down and had to put it aside). that is my full experience with irish lit. oh and joyce’s dubliners is pretty awesome. and a portrait of the artist as a young man. hell, joyce is awesome.

  18. drew

      read beckett. read the third policeman. read roddy doyle, particularly a star called henry, it’s kindof a ‘boy story’ but i found it really awesome. but mainly read beckett, particularly endgame. joyce if you can handle ulysses (i got halfway through before i got really really bogged down and had to put it aside). that is my full experience with irish lit. oh and joyce’s dubliners is pretty awesome. and a portrait of the artist as a young man. hell, joyce is awesome.

  19. Ryan Call

      mtfallon,

      i liked the book of evidence a lot, but i never got to his other stuff

      i have read lots of beckett and joyce will keep doing so, so not an issue

      i will read the flannobrien
      i will check out roddydoyle – he is in mcsweeneys a lot i think

      thank youeveryone for comments

  20. Ryan Call

      mtfallon,

      i liked the book of evidence a lot, but i never got to his other stuff

      i have read lots of beckett and joyce will keep doing so, so not an issue

      i will read the flannobrien
      i will check out roddydoyle – he is in mcsweeneys a lot i think

      thank youeveryone for comments