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09:47 am
nwhyte
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May Books 10) The Great O'Neill, by Sean O'Faolain
Like most kids growing up in Catholic Ireland, I "did" some of O'Faolain's short stories at school. I guess I hadn't appreciated how big a figure he was in the (admittedly small) world of the arts in mid-century Ireland, constructing the literary self-image of the new state as it found its way to becoming the Republic. This book was his third history book in five years, coming after his edition of Wolfe Tone's autobiography in 1937 and his biography of Daniel O'Connell in 1938; he claims not to be attempting a serious academic history, but this is disingenuous; he must have realised that a book on such a subject by a writer of his profile would establish received wisdom for decades to come.
I'm more interested in the subject than the writer. O'Neill was the leader of the Irish side in the last struggle between the old Gaelic order and the London government; surrendering after nine years of war in 1603, he slipped away to exile in Rome and died there. For O'Faolain's purposes, he is of course a hero in that he tried but failed to establish an independent Irish state. But there were a couple of interesting slants which prevent it from being a hagiography.
Hiram Morgan has disproved one of the key planks of O'Faolain's narrative, that the young O'Neill was fostered in England, and Morgan is rather better on the overall politics and culture of the era. It's a bit of a shame, actually, because O'Faolain is big on the importance of communication and even compromise with the English, and O'Neill's (fictional) early life in England equips him to be the right man for this job. Where O'Faolain does better than Morgan is on the human level. His sixteenth-century Ireland is a rather sexy place (certainly in comparison to the repressed de Valera / McQuaid state). O'Neill's marital history is explained in great detail, including the elopement with Mabel Bagenal, the daughter of one of his regional English rivals. O'Faolain is fairly neutral rather than scandalised about this; I guess that he hoped his readers would draw their own conclusions.
And his account of the end of the war is rather good, though here he does slip into moral lessons from history a bit. Though a proud Cork man himself, O'Faolain admits that Kinsale was practically the worst place for the Spanish to land; had they come anywhere in the north or northwest coast, O'Faolain reckons they would have won the war fairly quickly. As it was, a less good English leader than Mountjoy could easily have screwed up the siege. But it's impossible to find a positive description of the way the arriving Irish soldiers blundered into a catastrophic and decisive defeat, and O'Faolain goes into splendid descriptive detail about it. O'Neill is in the end the victim of a bad Spanish decision, unusually good English command, and a lack of discipline among his own supporters and allies. My memory is that Cyril Falls, writing only a few years later and as an avowed Unionist, is actually a bit more even-handed in his assessment.
Anyway, not an essential book for historical understanding of the period, but an important book for understanding more recent perceptions of the events. And quite a good read.
Tags: bookblog 2012, tudor history, world: ireland
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08:53 am
nwhyte
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May Books 9) Invasion of the Cat-People, by Gary Russell
Russell is generally one of the better writers of Who spinoff fiction (the novelisation of the TV movie, the Torchwood novel The Twilight Streets, the Tenth Doctor / Wilf novel Beautiful Chaos) but this early Missing Adventure is not a hit. Aliens who look exactly like cats plan to tear the earth in half, as you do, but are stymied by the fact that continental drift has moved crucial equipment out of alignment over a few dozen millennia (when continents would only have drifted by about a kilometre). Some nice descriptive passages, especially about Cumbria and Polly, admitted by the author to be particular interests in the foreword, but otherwise the narrative is confused and cluttered. You can skip this and I did not really need to reread it.
Tags: bookblog 2012, doctor who, doctor who: 02, writer: gary russell
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10:56 pm
kristine_smith
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Signal Boost: Project Save Annabelle
I've had some scary moments with my two pups, and I'm lucky to have insurance for them. Even so, the bills mount so quickly. But you'll pay anything, because you just want them to be okay again.
Originally posted by ![[info]](http://l-files.livejournal.net/userhead/567?v=1322424142) harnessphoto at Signal Boost: Project Save AnnabelleI don't normally re-post these things, but I'm seeing this one everywhere and I would hope people would help me out if it ever came to life or death with Herbie or Ozzy. I donated and just $5 from everyone would go a long way. Help if you can. Re-post if you think other people you know might be inclined to do the same. ( Great Dane in need )Current Mood:  poor puppy
Tags: animal planet
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10:44 pm
marycatelli
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and the history of that is
Oral history is unreliable in real life. More than a century -- or a century and a half at best, with trained bards or other transmitters, and it gets muddled.
( Read more... )
Tags: exposition, fictional history, world-building: other
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06:39 pm
anghara
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/56140108/3395922) [Link] |
OH YES! new Simone's Cat!
Seriously, that move - holding down the frog with the one paw and watching it trying to struggle away - that could have been my lost beloved Murphy with his grasshoppers...
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07:17 pm
suricattus
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oy, cats.
Seeing me eat sauteed string beans, Boomer has decided that he too, must have sauteed string beans. In order to keep his nose out of my food, I gave him a piece. So far, he has sniiffed, licked, toothed, and otherwise pushed the bean around, but hasn't quite convinced himself to eat it.
But he is still quite interested in what's on MY plate. Because that's got to be better, right?
Tags: felines
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05:39 pm
msagara
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ASD and the importance of words & choice
I’ve said, in my previous post, that ASD children are afraid to make mistakes; they’re afraid to be wrong. They speak of the things that interest them because, in some ways, they feel secure in their knowledge - secure enough to talk. If they become comfortable enough about speaking - even if it is about their current obsession - they then develop confidence in the act of conversing, and since conversation itself is now familiar, it becomes a second comfort-zone from which they can then begin to tackle topics which are not as relevant to them.
I think this is true, on a vastly smaller scale, of anyone. Hold that point for a moment.
Two days ago, I wrote about communication, and this post, although it’s in theory about my son at age seven, ties in with comments made on that post, which was about two adults who were both working toward a goal of mutual understanding - when words alone were not enough of a bridge. The right words for me, in that post, were not the words that worked for my husband. He wanted to understand what I was saying, but the first several times, it didn’t happen.
I felt that I understood my son as well as - or better than - a raft of experts could. I lived with him. I observed him daily. But I’m also myself, and I come at things from the paradigm of my interests. Even the things I observe are coloured by me.
My son had a successful, if trying, grade one year. His teacher was a godsend. More. I can’t emphasize how much of a difference she made to my six year old. She had him for five and a half hours a day for ten months of the year - and everything she did during that time laid foundations for all of his school life thereafter. In my universe, she would be paid more than most CEOs. Sorry, that was a digression.
( Grade Two and the educational aid )
Tags: asperger child, grade two
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04:44 pm
elven_wolf
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Terra Paradox Cover Art
( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )
Current Mood:  cheerful
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09:36 pm
mizkit
![[User Picture]](http://l-userpic.livejournal.com/117001250/296044) [Link] |
my boring life
Apparently my life is sufficently boring that I can’t think of anything to blog about. I have to draw winners for the BYD contest, but since I already blew my first deadline on that and there’s a long weekend coming up in America, I think I’ll wait until next week.
In the meantime, random things:
I believe this is very much the sort of thing the phrase “Oh, snap!” was invented for: Back to back questions presented to Robert Downey Jr and Scarlett Johansson.
*laughs* My wallet died, so I found an old one I knew I had lying around. It has Sarah/![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.1) shadowhwk‘s work phone # ca 2001, a 1999 bank receipt, a photo of me & Ted from 1997, a 1994 pic of my sister, & the crowning glory, the thing that made me actually laugh out loud because it was so unexpected, an early 90s photo of the unrequited high school Love Of My Life. *laughs & laughs*
Speaking of pictures, this is probably the most awesome one I’ve seen this week. MIB-Avengers mashup FTW!
I believe I have got all the ducks in a row for launching ORIGINS next Friday. Having re-read the stories, I feel that the ORSSP patrons got their money’s worth, and that so too will the people buying it as an e-book. *waits impatiently for Friday next*
(x-posted from the essential kit)
Tags: e-books, friends, link salad, movies, old races, short stories
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04:03 pm
cucumberseed
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Through the Gate: Submissions Wanted! (SUBMISSIONS DO MATTER)
I sent them three poems this morning. AND SO CAN YOU! (Well, maybe not this morning, unless you are currently in the Alaska time zone). STILL. ---- Originally posted by mitchell_hart at Through the Gate: Submissions Wanted!Dear lovers of fantastical poetry, I am pleased to announce the unveiling of my new magazine, Through the Gate, a quarterly devoted to fantastical poetry. It is currently open to submissions. Please read the guidelines page if you are interested in submitting. Signal-boosting and submissions are both very much needed! Please spread the word!
Tags: submissions don't matter
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