@Fagan_ODowd or anyone else.
Is Country Girls by Edna O’Brien worth reading?
No. Its turgid shit. Was probably groundbreaking at the time but has been improved upon numerous times since.
2 Likes
The exact response I was looking for. Thanks.
Fuck you @Fagan_ODowd
I can confirm that Demon Copperhead is an outstanding book.
1 Like
I never doubted your impeccable taste.
1 Like
Oh the older you get, the more you doubt it.
How someone has the talent to write a book like that though is unfathomable.
Would you have to have read David Copperfield to appreciate it?
Man that bit of the film still makes me feel ill. Especially when you think about that russian torture with the bucket
Well I haven’t, so probably not.
I don’t fancy reading anything much by authors who appeared on the LC syllabus back in the day. They were in some ways poorly chosen, and in some ways not, but the utter tedium of wuthering heights and the like read under sufferance and threat 
2 Likes
As an avid reader of non fiction, I would like to start reading fiction.
Anyone want to give me recommendations of their favourite or even 5 favourite fiction books.
Very hard to know where to start for you
Try reading Donal Ryan, I find it hard to imagine an Irish person not enjoying his books
1 Like
I loved The Great Gatsby and 1984. Read a couple more classics ages ago. Sorry, should have mentioned them to give some info.
1 Like
I only really started reading fiction in the last couple of years after a lifetime of non fiction.
I’ve enjoyed nearly everything I’ve read since. I regret not reading more fiction sooner.
I’ve enjoyed
The Queen of Dirt Island by Donal Ryan
Long Island by Colm Toibin
Star of the Sea Joseph O Connor
The Book of Evidence John Banville
Milkman Anna Burns
Trespasses Louise Kennedy
The Smallest of Things Claire Keegan.
Most of the recommendations in this thread are spot on. Especially those of @binkybarnes - he’s the Everyman of this thread.
6 Likes
Patrick O’Brian.
Denis Lehane is worth a try
One of my favourite books is The Bodhran Makers by John B.Keane.
A brilliant book, very underrated, can’t believe it hasn’t been made into a filum.
Don’t mind @flattythehurdler , he’s in an awful bad humour at the moment.
I haven’t read any in years to be honest but I think Dickens could be the GOAT
I’ve only read All We Shall Know and I didn’t like it.
1 Like
He wrote some great stuff did John b but i think his legacy was damaged by the twee shite he produced in the latter end of his career and also by his eejit of a son trying to ride on his coat tails. But The Bodhran makers, Sive, The Field and The Year of the Hiker were all excellent.
3 Likes