In the bookshop the other day I saw a book called Hitler’s Piano Player. While I don’t doubt that the book is well researched etc., the title alone seemed like an unintentional satirical jibe at the Hitler industry. In a few years (unless they’ve already appeared of course), the barrel will doubtlessly be further scraped […]
Flying back to Bologna, after a week in Ireland, the day before Pope John Paul II’s funeral, I expected to be packed tight alongside pilgrims en-route to the Eternal City.
I was, and I wasn’t. That there were pilgrims on-board is certain. That there were unoccupied seats around me is also a fact. I overheard conversations between an Italian and Irish couple, both of which had decided on the spur of the moment to fly in to attend the funeral. At the same time, when they presumed that a nearby couple had similar intentions of going to the funeral they were disapointed. The young couple, with what I may have immagined to have been a slight hint of disdain, responded “no, we’re going to Firenze”.
It’s hard to make sense of Karol Wojtyla’s death. The public response has been beyond all expectations, or perhaps has been the fulfillment of years of expectation?* How much has the extraordinary arrival of millions of the faithful been provoked by the extraordinary media coverage?
Flying back to Bologna, after a week in Ireland, the day before Pope John Paul II’s funeral, I expected to be packed tight alongside pilgrims en-route to the Eternal City. I was, and I wasn’t. That there were pilgrims on-board is certain. That there were unoccupied seats around me is also a fact. I overheard […]
An article about the Chinese labour force, of all things, has not just made me further question the ambiguous legacy of John Paul II but the whole relationship between “goodness” on the individual level and well-being on the mass level. The article, which appeared earlier this week in the New York Times, suggested that: The […]
Twenty minutes ago I saw the headline “Author Saul Bellow Dies at 89.” Paradoxically, his age and the length of his career* made his demise all the more startling–he seemed like such a fixture in the literary firmament that the issue of his mortality somehow seemed beside the point. But in the days to come […]
In case you feel your accommodation lacks that dignified whiff of slowly decaying paper, the following event in Dublin may answer your needs: Trinity Secondhand BooksaleThe 16th Trinity Secondhand Booksale will commence on Thursday 7th April at 5.30pm in the Exam Hall, Front Square (Admission �3.00). An auction of rare books will be held that […]
Marilynne Robinson isn’t exactly a prolific author. Since 1981 she’s published four books: two novels, a book of nonfiction on the nuclear industry in the UK, and a collection of essays. However, her first novel, Housekeeping, is acknowledged as an “American classic.” (I’m not sure if that accolade is a guarantor of excellence–I’ve just finished […]
The extensive, some might say endless, coverage of the Pope’s passing has focused on the fortitude of the man facing pain and death. These discussions of the Pontiff’s suffering usually include reflections on how faith has provided solace, that the knowledge of an eternal afterlife makes the transient pain bearable. While there’s no gainsaying this […]
Way back in the mists of time (December 2004 actually), I was using this very space to bitch about the Department of Transport for failing to reply to a blustering e-mail I had sent two weeks previously.* At the time I thought it was a particularly futile demand, asking someone in authority to explain how […]