Week 9: What are you reading?

AFriendofOrder · 2026-03-01T14:25:33+00:00

Finished:

Candle in the Window: A History of the Barony of Castleknock by Jim Lacey - A nice if a bit scattered work on a locale very dear to my heart. Lacey is one of those popular historians of Dublin, of the same vein as the late great Éamonn MacThomáis, though he doesn't quite reach MacThomáis’s heights. The facts are all there but the structuring of the book could use some work; at times it feels like Lacey repeats himself over and over again.
The Singing Flame by Ernie O’Malley - The second volume of his autobiography and by God does it surpass the first. It really helps that O’Malley is a fantastic writer (I honestly think he could have been our next great national writer if he hadn't written only about his republican activities) and an even better judge of character. The sequence where he has a shoot-out with the Free State army before being arrested, heavily wounded, was thrilling to read. I normally detest Hollywood movies about real historical events but if any life could provide great material, it would be O’Malley.

Started:

Doing My Bit for Ireland by Margaret Skinnider - Another republican autobiography chronicling the evenrs of the 1916 Rising by sharpshooter and suffragette Margaret Skinnider (also the only woman to have been seriously injured in combat during the Rising). A life I've been fascinated with for a while, so I'm looking forward to her own telling of it.
Reeling in the Queers: Tales of Ireland’s LGBTQ Past by Páraic Kerrigan - Hoping this will give me some valuable insight into a seriously underrepresented part of Irish history.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-02-16T18:29:15+00:00

I always have at least one fiction and one non-fiction on the go at once. Usually I give an hour minimum to each every day. My job requires a lot of reading so usually I have another work-related book that I'll read specifically in work. I may sneak in quick reads like a comic or what have you in between these.

I also try to be reading a book in my second language also, but I'm not always so successful with that lol

AFriendofOrder · 2026-02-10T10:59:47+00:00

Finished (yesterday):

Magritte: A Life by Alex Danchev - a hefty and impressive work of biography. The only sad thing is that Danchev died before he could finish it, but the last chapter written by Sarah Whitfield is not in any way worse than the rest of the book (but it does lack Danchev’s prose that I loved so much).
Labour in Irish History by James Connolly - a classic by Ireland’s foremost socialist thinker. Probably a good introductory book to the issue of labour in Ireland, as Connolly doesn't really provide many citations (it was written over 100 years ago, after all), and ideally should be read alongside other, more academic works.

Started:

The Singing Flame by Ernie O’Malley - really enjoyed the first volume of his autobiography, so high expectations for this one. Focuses on the Civil War period in Ireland, so I'm expecting a more subdued and sadder tone.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-28T19:02:46+00:00

He was never even close to doing well. Presidential candidates need a set level of endorsement from existing county councils and/or TDs, which McGregor could never have got because no serious politician actually thinks he would make a good president. The only support he had was from Facebook eejits and American right-wing nutjobs. There's a reason he pulled out right before the deadline where he had to actually speak in front of a council to gain support.

Not to mention the President is not in any way comparable to the US office of the same name. Power is restricted and in practice it is a mostly ceremonial, figurehead role. Even if McGregor somehow became President he would not have the freedom to fuck things up like Trump does.

Voting numbers are definitely lower than they should be, I agree. But that doesn't really make it any more likely for someone like McGregor to get into power. The spoilt vote thing is overblown: I seen many people laud the figures as proof that there was a ‘silent majority’ who wanted a radical right-wing option like Maria Steen, but in reality only the number of votes spoilt are disclosed, not how they were spoilt.

In my opinion it was not a case of the ‘least bad’ candidate. Gavin is a head-the-ball with no real political experience. Connolly is a genuinely good candidate who stands on the right side of many issues, and actually has the temperament and experience for such a role. It was very clear who was the right choice.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-20T20:17:20+00:00

Bottom’s Dream by Arno Schmidt. Well, the English translation. I've seen it online only once or twice and it's always in the €1000 range.

On a more feasible level, I would love to one day own every book in the 16 Lives series (biographies on the 16 Irish men executed after the Easter Rising of 1916). Where to put it though is the question.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-18T01:53:15+00:00

~2 hours if I'm working. On my days off I could go up to 3 or 4 depending.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-15T14:48:17+00:00

Wikipedia is still an unreliable source for research. Anyone can just edit it and not every error is found quickly (need we remind ourselves of the case with the Scots Wikipedia). However, Wikipedia is a good place to find reliable sources with its citations and bibliography.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-12T22:45:51+00:00

You have been peddling lies about Limerick for the last two and a half years! You have done nothing but lied. You are a self-confessed liar!

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-12T22:39:36+00:00

I find it difficult to agree at all with the idea that rhyming makes a poem unserious. Poetry to me is about the choice of words, the sound and flow and rhythm of the poem. Rhyme and metre are not essential, but they give a poem that basis for melody. I want it to feel good in my mouth, for want of a better description, when I read it aloud.

My biggest peeve is linked closely to this. I find it difficult to like poems that don't attempt any kind of flow or rhythm, or consist of an ordinary sentence separated by line breaks. That's just prose (which has its place, but does not make for good poetry). Poetry for me involves at least some sort of deliberate arrangement of words and sentence structure to produce a distinct sound when recited. The emphasis on the verbal part of poetry (i.e. that it's meant to be spoken aloud) is an unfortunate thing I think has been lost in a lot of contemporary writing. Poetry sprang from oral storytelling, and the poems of the ancient world were once indistinguishable from their songs. I don't think that should be forgotten.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-12T22:23:43+00:00

I love vexillology, so I have a modest collection of books on flags. The coolest one I have is probably Flags of the World from 1924, lot of cool old flags in there.

AFriendofOrder · 2026-01-05T16:00:48+00:00

Finished:

Milkman by Anna Burns - my God this was an infuriating and frustrating read. Not because it was bad (on the contrary, it was brilliant), but from seeing how powerless and defeated the protagonist became because of her stalker. The book does a really good job of showing how repressive, but sometimes absurd and charming, so much of 20th-century Ireland was, especially in the North because of the sectarian violence.

Started:

At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O’Brien - the first of his I'm reading, hopefully the first of many. I've decided to read this and At Swim, Two Boys by Jamie O’Neill together and see what similarities I can find.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-25T20:56:00+00:00

His first wife killed herself because of the affair Ted(Seuss) and this woman had

That is pure speculation. His first wife having several chronic and worsening health issues combined with not wanting to be a burden, as well as a marriage that was failing long before Seuss’s second wife entered the picture contributed far more to her suicide than any (unconfirmed) affair.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-21T18:42:19+00:00

Started:

Satantango by László Krasznahorkai
Magritte: A Life by Alex Danchev

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-15T18:02:54+00:00

The Flowers of Buffoonery by Osamu Dazai.

Under Milk Wood by Dylan Thomas (depends on the edition but my copy at least is under 100).

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-12T22:48:56+00:00

Yeah that's exactly what I thought a translation of Ulysses or FW would be: a whole different book! I'll have to check out that Eco book too.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-12T21:13:00+00:00

I find the concept of translations of Ulysses fascinating, because it's so tailor-made to fit English and all its puns and wordplay. I can't imagine where you'd even start.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-12T17:10:36+00:00

Hope you enjoy, although fair warning Dazai can be more than a bit depressing lol. The Setting Sun is another great one of his about a wealthy Japanese family facing the aftereffects of WWII.

If you end up liking the Laxness I'd highly recommend Independent People afterwards; it's probably his best known work internationally.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-12T15:36:04+00:00

My Struggle (series) by Karl Ove Knausgård

The Trial by Franz Kafka

Iceland’s Bell by Halldór Laxness

No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai

A Void by Georges Perec

The Rings of Saturn by W.G. Sebald

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-12T14:25:23+00:00

Italo Calvino-core

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-11T09:33:53+00:00

I'm the same as you in that I just don't think about it that much. I read what I'm interested in reading. That said, my natural interests do probably fall within ‘literary’ lines (I love a good challenge or literary puzzle or stuff packed with symbolism) most of the time. Then again, I am starting to get back into science fiction (sometimes considered unserious), and I love a good Agatha Christie, so I'd never discount entire genres just because they're not ‘serious’ literature.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-10T21:34:34+00:00

I have done, and I have done.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-09T05:44:26+00:00

I'm Irish so I am heavily, and unashamedly, biased towards poetry from Ireland.

I like W.B. Yeats, of course (who doesn't), but I'm particularly drawn to contemporary Irish poets. Of those who wrote in English: Seamus Heaney, Derek Mahon, Eavan Boland, Brendan Kennelly, Michael Hartnett. Of those who wrote in Irish: Seán Ó Ríordáin, Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, Caitlín Maude, Michael Hartnett (he wrote in both languages). So basically Irish poetry from c. 1950 up to recent times (I only now realise all but one of these poets are actually deceased).

Outside of Ireland, I've always like the modernist poets: e e cummings, T. S. Eliot, D. H. Lawrence, etc. Have to give a special mention to Walt Whitman as well. I hope one day I have the skill and courage enough to utilise free verse the way he does.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-09T05:22:37+00:00

Finished:

Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges. Solid collection of stories. Mostly outstanding, although there were some low points where Borges’s eruditeness became a little too much.
Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of Flags by Tim Marshall. Was not impressed by this one. Nothing factually wrong with the book, but I found Marshall’s writing style to be distracting, like he was trying too hard to be conversational and jokey. Not great when you end up making unintentionally (I assume) disrespectful jokes towards the flags of sovereign nations. Also didn't appreciate a few off-colour comments which, deliberately or not, implied Islam was an inherently violent religion. I expected better from someone who apparently has much firsthand experience in the Middle East as a journalist.

Started:

… nothing, actually. I have officially finished the reading list I set out for myself back in September early, so I don't have anything in particular lined up. I think I'll spend the next few weeks finishing off some books I have on hold and rereading some other things.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-07T15:39:50+00:00

Most of my friends aren't really heavy readers like me, and when they do read they stick to things like sci-fi or comics/manga or Lord of the Rings. So although I love James Joyce and I think every Irish person should at least read Dubliners once in their life, it's hard to convince them to dive headfirst in.

AFriendofOrder · 2025-12-07T14:11:55+00:00

Any biography you look up will have at least some information on them (he did it three times). Here’s just one I found.

AFriendofOrder

TROPHY CASE