TransAtlantic by Colum McCann
Starting/Ending the year with a bit of literature. At first I thought, TransAtlantic was just a series of vignettes about people with an Irish experience. The first Vignette was about Brown and Alcock who made the the first Transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Clifden. The second sequence was about Frederick Douglass and his experiences in Ireland. The third was from the viewpoint of Senator George Mitchell and his time putting the the peace process together in Northern Ireland. Gradually, I caught on that the peripheral characters from one appeared in on story crossed over into another until later in the book I received the full background on these people. Transatlantic served to give a full experience in Ireland and North America from about 1850 to 2013. Some of it was moving but eventually it was quite sad, which I guess is the point of literature.
I was especially interested in the Alcock and Brown story and the Frederick Douglass bits and the reason I picked up the book. I saw a couple of the Alcock/Brown memorials in Clifden on the latest Ireland visit. I also came across a lot of plaques to Douglass in several cities in Ireland where he spoke, including one in Dublin which also happened to be next door to the meeting place of the United Irishman who started the 1798 rebellion. It gave me those old history feels to get some background.
A good primer on some Irish history, past and present.
Starting/Ending the year with a bit of literature. At first I thought, TransAtlantic was just a series of vignettes about people with an Irish experience. The first Vignette was about Brown and Alcock who made the the first Transatlantic flight from Newfoundland to Clifden. The second sequence was about Frederick Douglass and his experiences in Ireland. The third was from the viewpoint of Senator George Mitchell and his time putting the the peace process together in Northern Ireland. Gradually, I caught on that the peripheral characters from one appeared in on story crossed over into another until later in the book I received the full background on these people. Transatlantic served to give a full experience in Ireland and North America from about 1850 to 2013. Some of it was moving but eventually it was quite sad, which I guess is the point of literature.
I was especially interested in the Alcock and Brown story and the Frederick Douglass bits and the reason I picked up the book. I saw a couple of the Alcock/Brown memorials in Clifden on the latest Ireland visit. I also came across a lot of plaques to Douglass in several cities in Ireland where he spoke, including one in Dublin which also happened to be next door to the meeting place of the United Irishman who started the 1798 rebellion. It gave me those old history feels to get some background.
A good primer on some Irish history, past and present.
As a matter of fact, my anger does keep me warm