I had dinner once with John Banville, Colm Tòibín, and Sebastian Barry. They were different from American writers. Colm was a little late and explained that he had just come from hosting a gathering of Irish poets. Sebastian looked up and said, “Well, they found the right gas bag for that job.” Utterly unoffended, Colm replied, “You’re damn straight they did.”
Sunday, September 05, 2021
The power of honesty …
… New book shows how writer John McGahern was brutally honest with friend Seamus Heaney - Independent.ie. (Hat tip, Dave Lull.)
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
McGahern's first book of short stories, "Nightlines," made a terrific impression on me. I came upon it unheralded among dozens of other "recent releases" on a bookshop table. You could tell from the first page that here was a writer who carried conviction. Of course I took it home with me. The story "Korea" in particular has stayed with me almost photographically; and I consider it still as I did then a masterpiece.
ReplyDelete