Prefamine Ireland bore witness to the emerging modern market beginning to challenge the preindustrial ‘moral economy’ in rural Ireland-
tho this is often citied as the root cause of the rather large volume of agrarian crime in the first half of the 19th century - what’s often overlooked is the incursion of the central state into every day life. Police stations, court houses, jails ,and a reformed police and local judiciary… As well as poor houses and other local institutions. Not only were traditional rights of subsistence being eroded but they were being brutally suppressed by the state.
The victims of many agrarian crimes were generally persons from outside a locality in search of a better life. They were often brutally assaulted or murdered and the lands they had desired were often dug up and destroyed.
The more things change, the more they stay the same.
Got a present of this for the Christmas. “You won’t go wrong buying your uncle Fagan a book about Irish history”. Good owl read in fairness even if it overdoes the “it was July 1982, Italy had just beaten Germany in the World Cup final, David Bowie was no1 in the charts” every few pages. Plus a mistake. He talks about yuppies going around with bricks of mobile phones in London in 1984 when the first mobile call in the UK wasn’t until 1985. But sure there you are.
Yes it goes into all that. Revenge for the H Blocks. It had been in planning for a while. They knew if they had been successful all hell would have broken loose but they were prepared to roll the dice on that and see how it would turn out.
I’d imagine the likes of Adams and McGuinness looking to turn around the Republican movement at the time to the ballot box must have been in the horrors.
Adams had been shot by loyalists around this time with more than a hint of State collusion so he probably wasn’t ready to take the Great Leap Forward yet.
A lot of English ordinary punters wouldnt have been too upset either I’d imagine. Jesus it would have been one of the biggest world news stories of the 20th century outside the wars if they actually killed the sitting british prime minister. What would the Brits actually have done?
Finished Prophet Song a few days ago and I’ve been ruminating over it since.
It’s a bloody brilliant book. A shit scary book.
I struggled with the prose at the start but once I got used to its rhythms and cadences, I warmed to the writing.
Whether or not Lynch intended it, I don’t believe the political and civil war backdrop is a commentary on Ireland and the book is not about Ireland. This is a contrivance, a warning certainly, but it’s more the scenery for the real story.
Which is about one person living in absolute terror. A narration of someone living with guilt, shame, fear, exhaustion, confusion, anger, every negative emotion possible. But, consciously or not, driving through it because of the one emotion that overrides them all - love of her children.
In Eilish he has given us a modern Irish literary hero.
It’s a visceral book, in the same vein as some recent Booker winners like Shuggie Bain or The Narrow Road to the Deep North. There are some horrific scenes, it’s not a pleasant read. Everyone should read it.
Solar bones I packed in halfway through and went back to DI (ex) Rebus.
In half a book he went to his daughter’s lunatic fringe art display and saw a windmill being taken away.
Add in the more recent crimes such as consigning direct descendants, girls especially, to places like ballinasloe indefinitely, so uncle paddy could get the soil. Hateful. Evil. The essence of it.
Some people think because they were confused by a book that it must be profound . Paul Murray’s Bee Sting is another that got rave reviews but like Prophet Song it’s overly descriptive in style and it kills the book. Misery heaped on misery.
Sure the ending was like the ending of the Sopranos. It was up to yourself to figure out/imagine what happened, though if you viewed the story as circular it was clear what happened. Was a bit long though in fairness.
. Paul Murray’s Bee Sting is another that got rave reviews but like Prophet Song it’s overly descriptive in style and it kills the book. Misery heaped on misery.