I've just begun to re-read Are You Somebody by Nuala O'Faolain. I loved this book and was sad when I read that Ms. O'Faolain had died (obituary).It is a book of searing honesty and pathos, and I'm re-reading it partly as a result of a converstaion I had with the writer . He was telling me that, after a long run of writing science fiction which had attracted no real audience, he had decided to write a memoir. Well, I thought it would be a brilliant memoir as he has lead the most fantastic, not say bizarre, life. The gist, he explained, was how he had arrived at the place he is now, i.e. a tent on Loch Lomond-side.
Anyway, not to pre-empt The Writer's memoir, I loved Ms. Faolain's book because of her ability to bear her soul on the page. She was hurtful to no-one, except perhaps herself, although that would probably be inevitable, re-visiting as she was many painful memories. I believe it was, ultimately, cathartic and redeeming.
I hope The Writer reads the book and takes it to heart , like I did.
2 comments:
Nuala O'Faaolain has been recommended to me several times, but I have never got around to reading her. Maybe I should finally get off my lazy backside and rectify the situation... ?
Thank you for caring Kimbofo. I,ve been unusually absent for two reasons and one of them (the other is just too trite to speak of) is that it is now the height of the golf season and I'm practising obsessively in the hope that I might improve on my 16 handicap.
But you have spoken to me and my worls is the more wonderful for it. I am your humble acolyte.
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