A Confederacy of Dunces (1981)

A Confederacy of Dunces is arguably one of the funniest books ever written. Unfortunately it has a very sad story attached to it. It’s author, John Kennedy Toole, killed himself before the book was even published, depressed at the fact that no publisher considered it good enough. It wasn’t until 1980, 11 years after his death that the book was finally published after his mother read the manuscript and managed to convince a publishing company how good it was.. Ironicly, one year after publication it won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, sold millions of copies and has gone on to achieve cult status.

Set in New Orlean’s in the early 60’s, ‘A Confederacy of Dunces’ tells the story of the obese, proud, self-proclaimed genius, Ignatius J Reilly, a 30 year old man still living with his mother whose personal circumstances force him to get a job for the first time even though he firmly believes that employment is truly beneath him. This leads to a whole strings of colourful and hilarious incidents and really will make you laugh out loud.

The book takes it’s name from the Jonathon Swift quotation “When a true genius appears in the world, you may know him by this sign, that the dunces are all in confederacy against him” and it’s not hard to see how appropriate this title is for the novel. What is hard to believe, on the other hand, is that it took so long and such unfortunate circumstances for this book to be published. You only need to read a few pages before you are absolutely hooked.

This book is crammed full of laugh out loud moments, which is a pretty good achievement for a book which is firmly rooted in the realm of literature. I can’t think of any other character in literature that is as large and colourfully and as well written as Ignatius J. Reilly. Over the years there have been many attempts at making a film version of ‘confederacy’ with various actor’s vying for the role of Ignatious including John Candy, John Belushi, and most recently, Will Ferrell. But none of these attempts have ever come to fruition. No doubt there will be further attempts as Confederacy continues to be popular amongst famous people and the general public alike. It’s hard to imagine it as a film; it would be difficult to pull off as the characters are all larger than life and the storylines so over- the-top and ridiculous. But if the day ever comes when ‘Confederacy of Dunces: The Movie’ is released, I’ll be first in the queue to see it.

The Wrong Boy – Willie Russell (Black Swan:2001)

Willie Russell is a well known playwright and screen writer, famous for penning such classics as ‘Educating Rita’, ‘Blood Brothers’ and ‘Shirley Valentine’. He isn’t so well known as a novelist, but ‘The Wrong Boy’ proves that his talent isn’t confined to writing for stage and screen. Chronicling the life of Raymond Marks, a young boy growing up in Manchester in the 80’s, whose life is ruined by false accusations that spiral out of control following a schoolboy prank, ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a poignant and touching look at the difficulties of growing up and standing apart from the crowd.

Written entirely as letters to Morrissey, the novel is funny, quirky and intensely emotional. You don’t have to be a Morrissey fan to like this book. There is enough humour, detail, anecdote, plot and emotion to carry it as just an ordinary novel with themes of mass hysteria, family life, idol worship and rites of passage. But if you are a Morrissey fan, you will absolutely love it. Littered with Smiths lyrics, Morrissey quotes and anecdotes about what it’s like to be a Morrissey fan, it will make you laugh at yourself whilst defending your adoration of Morrissey to the core. ‘The Wrong Boy’ is a highly original and well written novel which combines a serious plot with plenty of humour and characters that you will fall in love with. It is definitely a very rewarding read.

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A True Story Based On Lies– Jennifer Clement (2002)

How I came to own this book is a mystery in itself. It was one of those things that seemed to happen of its own accord, yet to happen for a reason. I was browsing around Waterstones one day, and a book fell off the shelf and landed at my feet without me being aware of having knocked into anything. I took it as an omen and bought it instantly, and I am so glad that I did.

‘A True Story Based on Lies” follows in the tradition of novels such as Alice Walker’s ‘The Colour Purple’, and Toni Morrisson’s ‘The Bluest Eye’, as Clement analyses themes of sexual oppression, racism, and class discrimination. Set in contemporary Mexico, the novel tells the story of a female servant and her sexual relationship with the master of the house, which results in the birth of a baby. Clement employs a dual narrative, using both the voice of mother and daughter. The reader must sift through the lies, the differing opinions and the prejudices to get to the truth of what really happened. Writing in a beautifully fluid style, the entire novel is poetry in prose. This novel can be seen as a wonderful example of ‘Ecriture Feminine’at its most beautiful as Clement writes the body, giving a platform to the voices and opinions that otherwise would not be heard. It truly is a wonderful book, highly original both in style and content, and is a book that definitely deserves to be read.

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The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald (1925)

There is currently a search on in the U.K to discover the nations favourite book with the general public being able to vote online and a programme running on a Saturday evening with celebrities giving their views on their favourite books. On first hearing about this, I wanted to jump straight on to the internet and vote for The Great Gatsby one hundred zillion times. I first read it when I was 16, and it was the first book to really affect me emotionally.

‘The Great Gatsby’ is Fitzgerald’s masterpiece of life in 1920’s America. Set on Long Island, it explores themes of wealth, corruption and the American Dream. The storyline centres around Jay Gatsby, a wealthy stranger who lives in the biggest house in town and throws lavish parties inviting anyone who wishes to attend. Rumours abound as to his identity. Who is Gatsby? A spy, a murderer? Or just someone with a dream? Someone who set up his entire life around the memory of a girl he fell in love with many years ago. Building the biggest house in long island, turning himself into the ideal man, his entire life was based on a fantasy. In a book with so many dislikeable characters it is Gatsby “who represented everything for which I had an unaffected scorn” who remains the only one who is essentially good. It’s difficult not to identity with Gatsby, someone who believes so wholeheartedly that he can make his dreams come true.

‘The Great Gatsby’ definitely sees Fitzgerald come of age as a writer. Written absolutely beautifully, like poetry in prose, with passages that you’ll want to learn off by heart and recite over and over again in your head. And even though it all went wrong for Gatsby, you’ll still believe that it’ll be different for you, and your dreams will be the ones that come true.

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Sudden Times – Dermot Healy (Harvill:1999)

Ollie Ewing hears voices in his head ,the timbres of guilt stalking him, never letting him rest. “If I hadn’t done that, none of this would have happened.” But he did do it, and so he must bear the consequences.

Haunted by memories of his life in London, he returns to Ireland, gets a job in a supermarket, takes a room in a student house, and tries to get on with his life. His days are taken up with mundane thoughts and activities – organising the trolleys at the supermarket, his Saturday night take-away, having a laugh with his housemates. But the nights are a time of terror, bringing with them dreams of Scots Bob and Silver John, protection rackets, the terrible London nights. Finally, Ollie realizes that he must return to London and face his ghosts, and re-live the nightmare that forced him to leave.

Sudden Times is at once a mystery, a comedy and a psychological thriller. Written entirely in first person narrative, Dermot Healy invites the reader inside the mind of his protagonist, allowing us to gain a deep understanding of the character’s motives, and to draw us intimately into the narrative. In places he uses stream of consciousness, allowing the narrative to take on the style of a free-for-all ramble as Ollie’s madness becomes more and more apparent. Fragmented in style yet vivid in description, Sudden Times is a highly original novel that will grip you from the moment you begin reading. Healy’s use of language throughout the book is original and refreshing. In what can be described as a celebration of everyday language, he keeps all his characters speech simple and direct, writing in an Irish dialect that flows easily. Yet, rather than being ‘ordinary’, Healy shows how this everyday speech can be just as poetic as the language as Shakespeare. Paradoxically, whilst the content of the novel is mostly taken up with murder and violence, it still remains a very beautiful and poetic read.

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Irish Nocturnes – Chris Arthur (The Davies Group:1999)

On first glancing at the cover and title, it would be easy to dismiss Irish Nocturnes as another in a long line of semi-autobiographical histories which you would expect to gather dusk in Waterstones without causing too much of a fuss. On closer inspection, however, it becomes apparent that Irish Nocturnes is an original and refreshing collection of stories that combine fact and fiction, history and personal monologue to produce an entertaining and touching read.

Irish Nocturnes is not a history book in the traditional sense of the word. It does not contain names or dates of battles and historical events, but instead chooses a more=personal route. Arthur breathes new life into the genre of Irish History, while at the same time breaking free from the boundaries of genre altogether, making it impossible to fit this book into any one single category. It is neither history nor memoir, short story nor essay collection, poetry nor prose; but instead all of these at once, creating a book that is breathtaking in its originality.

Irish Nocturnes contains 17 chapters or stories covering a diverse range of topics with each one standing on its own. Yet all complementing each other perfectly with shared themes. Arthur begin the collection by describing a photograph of his great grandmother making a Lenin carer, perhaps the same piece of linen that sits on the desk where he writes. He uses this as a spring board for exploring the history of his family, that of the Linen industry, and then Ireland itself in general. In other stories, Arthur remembers a shopping trip to Belfast as a child, and a notable adventure in a darkened tunnel and his first sighting of a kingfisher while on a visit to an aunt in a mental asylum. Arthur’s collection is full of descriptions of ordinary events from the past and present, using them to show how memories are evoked and how history weaves in and out of our present lives, waiting for our memories to be jogged by the seeming unimportant object or even.. Arthur tells us tales from his own childhood as well as from the childhoods of family members showing us the importance of telling stories to justify our existence and define ourselves.

In many ways, Irish Nocturnes can be seen as a vehicle for Arthur’s explorations of the concept of history itself, showing how it is impossible to differentiate between history and memory, the personal and the political, fact and fiction. In stories such as ‘Linen’, and ‘Ferrule’ Arthur shows how history is only as adequate as the language we use to describe it, and calls for a radical change both in our understanding of history and in the ways in which it is documented. In other stories he touches upon the theme of history being considered truth rather than a subjective entity open to a multitude of interpretations and explores the way in which individuals use their own version of history against each other as a weapon. One possible conclusion that may be drawn from the book as a whole is that there will be no peace in the world until people stop using history, tradition and language as reasons to keep hold of prejudices and hatred, and instead see history as a web of stories that we can untangle, and that have many possible interpretations.

In a book which in many ways can be seen as acting as a metaphor for itself, one chapter can be seen as achieving this in both a successful and poignant manner. In ‘Substitute Psychometric’ we see Arthur expressing a desire for the gift of psychometry, the ability to lay hands on an object and immediately be able to glean information about its origins. He muses on how history, and books just like the one being read, acts as a kind of substitute psychometry, filling in gaps, giving us explanations, telling us stories.

Using language that is deeply descriptive and poetic, Arthur maps out Ireland from his own personal perspective and encourages the reader to do the same. Entertaining, emotive, and deeply moving, Irish Nocturnes will make you Question your own views of the past, present and future.

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