No comments about Collins Tartan Map of Scotland (Collins British Isles and Ireland Maps).

No comments about Times Past: The Story Of Glasgow.

No comments about Sailing for Home.

No comments about Journeys to England and Ireland (European Political Thought Series).

1 comments about Outside Is America: U2 in the U.S..

1. Non-Bostonians who have seen the "Live in Boston" U2 DVD were probably a bit puzzled, when halfway through one of the songs Bono sings out "Paradise...20 Years ago....A Club called Paradise". The line is a reference to a Boston club called "The Paradise" where they played one of their first shows in the US sometime in late December, 1980.

   There is much discussion among casual U2 fans I know as to where they played their very first gig in the US. (Some say New York, some say Boston.) I decided to get this book and settle the argument.

   Both sides are somewhat right. Although U2 played their first concert in New York, WBCN in Boston was the first radio station in the US to play their music. Carter Allen details how he picked up a import single of their first record and was able to get the station music director to ok him putting it on.

   And such did greatness get its' start.

1 comments about Literary Tour of Ireland.

1. 'A most beguiling, glittering book that offers riches of information and the pleasures both of recognition and discovery.' That is Elizabeth Healy's subtitle, and very aptly chosen it is.
   
   Ireland is an endlessly rocking cradle of culture and the source of much that is great in literature written in the English and the Irish languages.
   
   There is no better way to appreciate and understand this noble and great country than to take Healy's volume in hand and traverse her green hillsides and rocky promontories overlooking the wild North Atlantic. En route you'll see the homes and favorite haunts of the greats and the lesser known writers.
   
   It is still something of a miracle that such a small place can have produced such literary wealth: Swift, Sheridan, Goldsmith, Burke, Wilde, Joyce, Yeats, Shaw, and Beckett have made a major contribution to world literature over the past 300 years. Ireland's four Nobel prizes for literature have gone to Yeats, Shaw, Beckett and Seamus Heaney.
   
   Ireland is especially blessed with a glorious language of its own: Irish. Healey does not stint in giving us many Irish passages, both from the storied past and present-day writiers, such as Nuala Ní Dhomhnaill, whose verses, according to Healy, capture something of the fierce tenderness of Kerry's rocky acres.
   
   Healy is especially good in her maps and illustrations. She literally shows you the way there. I took this book with me to the Aran Isles, County Galway and Connemara. I walked the Bloomsday walk in Dublin, paused for coffee at Davey Byrne's, and also journeyed to Swift's tomb in Dublin.
   
   SWIFT has sailed into his rest;
   Savage indignation there
   Cannot lacerate his breast.
   Imitate him if you dare,
   World-besotted traveller; he
   Served human liberty.
   
   Perhaps my favorite spot of all: Yeats' rebuilt Norman tower of Thoor Ballylee, set in a glen by a flowing stream and overlooking cow pastures near Gort, Galway. And just up the road, Coole Park, with its evocation of the patroness of Irish literature Lady Augusta Gregory:
   
   Here, traveller, scholar, poet, take your stand
   When all those rooms and passages are gone,
   When nettles wave upon a shapeless mound
   And saplings root among the broken stone,
   And dedicate--eyes bent upon the ground,
   Back turned upon the brightness of the sun
   And all the sensuality of the shade --
   a moment's memory to that laurelled head.
   
   William Butler Yeats "Coole Park, 1929"

No comments about New Irish Walks & Scrambles5.

1 comments about An Irishman by Now: An American Boy's Tale of Passion and Discovery in Rural Ireland.

1. Rarely does a book like this keep me up at night! Let me start out by saying I am not usually a fan of this type of story. However, after the first few pages I could not put it down. The characters are realistic, the dialogue both heartfelt and gritty, and you cannot help but be caught up in the emotions of the characters.
   This is a book of self discovery, of conflicting emotions, and a book of insight into the human soul. Warning: you may find yourself turning page after page at 2 in the morning even though it's a work day . . .

No comments about Britain and Ireland (Rough Guide 25s).

1 comments about Literary Landscapes: Walking Tours in Great Britain and Ireland.

1. In the mode of many engaging books, L.N. Franco's Literary Landscapes, Walking Tours in Great Britain and Ireland, unfolds with a humorous, casually written anecdote that demolishes any fear of dry, academic verbiage ruling the page. This sets the pace for a lively, analytical glimpse into how a diverse range of landscapes have helped sculpt the voices of long hallowed British and Irish authors. At the beginning of this unique and entertaining (if slightly whirl-wind paced) collection of easily accessible walking tours - spanning mountain terrain, city streets, wild moorland and village woods - we find ourselves seated beside the author in a legendary Dublin pub. As Franco becomes amusingly ensnared by a local barfly's literary yarns, (hinged on first hand knowledge of the area rather than James Joyce's novels), the concept of discovering one's own impressions when physically walking through contemporary Dublin and figuratively `walking' through historical Dublin, seems extremely alluring. Before I knew it, I was hooked into a vision. As I imagined myself caught up in the local's individual `amendments' to Ulysses, I found myself yearning to discover the places which breathed life into James Joyce's works and the works of numerous other literary masters; landscapes which have yet to loose their `yarn spinning,' as well as truly inspirational potential.
   
   Franco is sharp to point out that many people who presently inhabit James Joyce's, Charlotte Bronte's, or William Wordsworth's landscapes mention literary figures regularly in everyday conversation, and that pub chats often involve serious literary discussions. Typically, heralded literary terrains have not altered drastically thanks to British land laws and the National Trust's efforts to preserve historic spaces, while commemoratory plaques serve as lucid reminders of significant moments and places. Therefore, when traveling through Wordsworth's flourishing Lake District or Charlotte Bronte's stark mores, it is illuminating to realize that the literature and landscapes that molded their perceptions are still an integral part of present life. Interestingly, so called historic moments and places, however, are often derived from an authors' imaginings or are altered remarkably within their texts; thus, the philosophical question of `what makes history: events, perceptions of events, mis-stories lodged in a culture's psyche?' is also implicitly addressed by Franco, to be pondered if the mood strikes you.
   
   Although Franco stresses reading as an active process, both physically and mentally in this context, this compilation of treks can simply be enjoyed on a passive level-(while sitting the couch in Chicago, for instance)-due to fascinating, lesser known details which Franco has taken the time to include. I won't give away too many of his interesting morsels, but the opening scene in Ulysses, which depicts Stephen Dedalus grumbling about his temporary roommate who dreams of hunting a phantasmal panther, is actually based on real life, and Lewis Carroll's `Alice in Wonderland' rabbit has quantifiable roots on the banks of Oxford's Thames. Another of Franco's strong points is his ability to guide literary legends' chariots down from the heavens to well rounded, personally relatable heights; turns out Wordsworth was also an avid landscaper, Thomas Hardy an architect, and many of the discussed authors were also amateur guidebook writers, meticulous about charting the settings they embraced or disregarded, but rarely remained indifferent too.
   
   One of the drawbacks in this book stems from what is also one of Franco's strongest assets - his desire to be `reader friendly' to a wide range of audiences. Unfortunately, in this vein he create seamless, easily digested juxtapositions between authors to a point where a handful of severe overgeneralizations are introduced at the expense of historical fact. For example, Charlotte Bronte is painted as an extreme extrovert who embraced London life and relative fame, in opposition to Emily Bronte, her introverted, quiet sister who shunned the mere shadow of society. Anyone who has read Rebecca Fraser's or Lyndall Gordon's popular life histories of Charlotte Bronte, knows that Charlotte was also afflicted with problems adjusting to her boarding school beyond the moors, and was torn between the desire to study life in motion and her disassociation and dissatisfaction with London. Thus, she and her sister Emily were far from clear-cut opposites.
   
   Also, on a practical note, it would be helpful if Franco had jotted down precise distances within the body of each chapter, so readers could gauge approximately how far along each walk they had traveled. And periodically, the location of landmarks is not well defined. My fiancé and I spent a half hour searching for the `plain wooden cross' in St. Martin's Churchyard where Dylan Thomas was buried. If Franco had indicated what corner of the churchyard it was hidden in, our search would have been swifter. I suppose the lack of specifics spurred us to discover elements of the graveyard we would not have noticed if able to immediately find the marker, though I doubt this was the author's motivation for dismissing certain details!
   
   Minor issues aside, Literary Landscapes is a book worth reading, whether or not you are planning a trip across the pond. Quotes are integrated superbly into the text, for they ebb and flow to a point where the transitions between Franco's guiding hand and the authors' texts - illuminating the landscape at hand - are barely perceivable. This book is also helpful as an excellent bibliography of primary sources for studying the authors discussed. If you are hungry for a dazzling, and for the most part, accurate journey through famous literary geography, look no further, and prepare to find yourself gazing more carefully at your own, self-defining landscape.