June 20, 2005

• MONDAY BOOK

  Reading in the Dark
  by Seamus Deane

  Thanks to one of our resident Real Writers, thenarrator’s, ongoing saga set against the backdrop of Ireland and its political history, I decided to brush up on my sadly lacking grasp of recent Irish drama. And of course right away and begorrah I’ve been reminded just how complex and feisty a tiny country can be over time. Just in this century, they’ve had The Troubles, which came in two parts – the Irish War of Independence back in 1919-21 (think Easter Rising, Michael Collins, black-and-tans) and the violence that sprang up again in the 1960’s and lasted into the ‘90’s when an uneasy peace process began (think Bloody Sunday, the Provisional IRA, and Gerry Adams of Sinn Fein). This book is a novel broken into tiny poetic particles that added up tell the story of a boy growing up in Derry in that restless period in between as he discovers his family has a secret dating back to the first “Troubles.” Here is a little excerpt:

  For long after, I would come awake in the small hours of the morning, sweating, asking myself over and over, “Where is the gun? Where is it? Where is the gun?” I would rub the sleep and fear that lay like a cobweb across my face. If a light flickered from the street beyond, the image of the police car would reappear and my hair would feel starched and my hands sweaty. The police smell took the oxygen out of the air and left me sitting there, with my chest heaving.

  Seamus Deane was himself born in Derry in 1940 and he has said, when asked if it was autobiographical: “A lot of it. I wouldn’t want to give a percentage, but in effect it’s an interpretation of my own family’s history. However, the novel in some ways is not just about one particular family, but also about Northern Ireland and what the Northern Irish state was like from the 1920s to the 1970s. It’s the history of the Northern Irish, of minority experience, as well as the history of the family.” He was educated at Queen’s University in Belfast and earned his doctorate at Cambridge University. A poet and literary critic, he taught literature for many years at University College Dublin and was the general editor of the three-volume Field Day Anthology of Irish Writing. He is currently Keogh Professor of Irish Studies at the University of Notre Dame.
  

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  Deep Thought: “It seemed to me that, somehow, the blue jay was trying to communicate with me. I would see him fly into the house across the way, pick up the telephone, and dial. My phone would ring, and it would be him, but it was just this squawking and cheeping. “What?! What?!” I would yell back, but he never did speak English.”
  Today I am grateful for: X-rays
  Guess the Movie: “If only I could meet someone new. I guess my chances of that happening are somewhat diminished, seeing that I’m incapable of making eye contact with a woman I don’t know.” Answer: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004. Winner: tearsign.
  June 2005: Phase II of the Anti-War Movement
  by Medea Benjamin
  For the history books, mark down June 2005 as the moment the US movement against the occupation of Iraq got its second wind. In June, the US public became solidly anti-war, Bush’s approval rating took a nosedive, and a significant number of Congresspeople started to call for an exit strategy. This marks a seismic shift from just one month ago, when Congress overwhelmingly passed another $82 billion for war-with only 44 members of the House and not one Senator dissenting. (Rest of article here.)
  End of Day: 8:56 pm
  + = Lots of practice socializing today.
  – = Still like Kafka at work.

  • 4:54 pm
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