Pádraic Mac Coitir answers 13 questions in a Booker's Dozen.
 |
TPQ: What are you currently reading?
Pádraic: Say Nothing by Patrick Radden Keefe. Not a lot new in it but not bad.
TPQ: Best book you have ever read?
Pádraic: Bobby Sands: Nothing But An Unfinished Song by Denis O'Hearn. I read it in two days and when speaking with a few comrades they asked me what was the one thing that struck me about about the book. I had read a lot about the hunger strikers and knew some of them and also spoke with a lot of the lads who were in the Blocks during those terrible times so knew a fair bit about it. However, when I read about Bobby losing his fillings during the strike because his teeth were starting to decay it really hit me. I'm not a particularly emotional person but that got to me.
TPQ: Book most cherished as a child?
Pádraic: I read very few books as a child. My parents always encouraged us to read and the first I remember reading was Around the World in 80 Days. I enjoyed it.
TPQ: First book to really own you?
Pádraic: My nickname is Chopper and I got my nickname because I read the book of the same name. It was in a series we read as young teenagers such as Skinhead, Suedehead etc. All innocent stuff but I was nothing like the character in the book called Chopper.
TPQ: Favourite male author?
Pádraic: Fiction - John McGahern. Fact - Anthony Beevor. I'm not too fond of his politics but he has written some very good books on Stalingrad and the Spanish Civil War.
TPQ: Favourite female author?
Pádraic: Not being sexist but I've read very few books written by women. However, I met Liz Gillis a few months ago and she gave me a copy of her book called May 25 about the burning of The Custom House in 1921. I've dipped in and out of it for facts and figures.
 |
| A Berlin Book Tower in memory of the Nazi book burning. |
TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?
Pádraic: I prefer fact but since I got a kindle and got many novels on it I've read a lot of fiction.
TPQ: Any book you simply refuse to read?
Pádraic: The one book I refuse to read is that written about Pádraic Pearse by Ruth Dudley-Edwards. I have read books by very unsavoury characters such as Eamon Collins and Seán O'Callaghan but Dudley-Edwards is a no-no.
TPQ: Any author you point blank refuse to read?
Pádraic: Ruth Dudley Edwards.
Pádraic: I really don't know. It would be for others to pick that book!
TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?
Pádraic: Bob Doyle's Brigadista: An Irishman's Fight Against Fascism. He survived the Spanish Civil War and I met him a few times.
TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?
Pádraic: The Barracks by John McGahern.
TPQ: A "must read" you intend getting to before you die?
Pádraic: Not one in particular. Once I Really got into books people would talk about War and Peace or books by James Joyce. I tried but gave up and decided I've better things to do before I go …
 |
That part stood out for me too in Unfinished Song. Heartbreaking.
ReplyDeleteAnthony Beevor's book The Battle for Spain is the only one of his I have read. It is magnificent, I believe he explains, in the preface, that he rewrote it.
Bob Doyle's book reads like it was narrated rather than written. It is however, a fascinating story and he was a man apart.
I once made fun of a friend who bought Dudley Edwards' Triumph of Failure but I had no right to do so, having previously bought Mick by Peter Hart. Apparently Ruth's murder mystery books are meant to be quite good. She is reputedly good at 'fiction'.
We seem to have similar reading tastes.
Thanks for doing that Chopper. It is my favourite item each week on the blog.
ReplyDeleteOddly, while the slot pulls a lot of page views, there is not enough in terms of comments. That is the only thing that disappoints me about it.
The one on Bobby was the last book I bought for my mother not long before she died.
Beevor is great - I try to read him when abroad - Stalingrad, Berlin, Spain, Normandy, WW2 history - all good stuff.
I enjoyed this Pádraic thanks.
ReplyDeleteInteresting reading this as all of the weekly choices
ReplyDeleteRead most of Stalingrad, serious battle
Just as a matter of interest wondering what former blanketmen thought of the book Ten men Dead?
Peter - it was a worthwhile read when it came out. I found the chapter on Michael Devine disappointing although not as bad as Biting From The Grave in that respect.
DeleteOne thing it did achieve was revealing the role of Mountain Climber which later allowed us to build a framework for understanding how Morrison and Adams sent six volunteers to their graves.