Alex McCrory šŸ”– answers thirteen questions in a Booker's Dozen.

TPQ: What are you currently reading?

AM: I’m not reading a book because of poor concentration. My last read was at Christmas: Anatomy Of A Killing by Ian Cobain.

TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

AM: A difficult one to answer. If pushed, I would say Ernie O’Malley’s duo of books: On Another Man’s Wound and The Singing Flame. Both are autobiographical accounts of the Irish Revolution 1916-1923. The Shankill Butchers by Martin Dillon was the worst book I ever read. Not because it is badly written, but the bestiality and brutality it highlighted throughout made it the most difficult book to get through. 

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child?

AM: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn along with Treasure Island by Mark Twain and RLS respectively. My father came across hardbacked versions of each when working for the Corporation. 

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

AM: Would have to be Mark Twain based on the above. I also read the Tom Sawyer adventure which overlaps Huckleberry Finn although they are separate books. 

TPQ: First book to really own you? 

AM: I find this easier to answer. My first novel as an adult was Trinity by Leon Uris which I read in jail. It is an Irish saga over three generations of families with opposing loyalties and histories.


TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

AM: I spent many nights in the cell reading the Jason Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum, a master story-teller. At the risk of appearing sexist, I have read few female authors. A couple that spring to mind are Dorothy McArdle, an Irish non-academic historian and Republican, and Marilyn French, feminist author of The Women’s Room. 

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

AM: Fact.

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you?

AM: The Autobiography Of Malcom X coauthored by Alex Haley. Malcom’s evolution from street hustler to Black Muslim to nascent revolutionary secularist was an enthralling story. Spike Lee’s screen adaption of the book is worth a watch too. 

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

AM: Mein Kampf

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

AM: I usually receive books as presents. On one occasion, I bought my wife a gilt edged copy of Kamasutra. I must admit though, she was unimpressed by my personal interpretations. 



TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you?

AM: I have not read that book myself. Perhaps you could suggest one being a close friend. 

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

AM: A big budget production of the Northern Bank Robbery based on Richard O’Rawe’s book Heist. If only just for the pure entertainment value. 

TPQ: The just must - select one book you simply have to read before you close the last page on life.

AM: A full account of what happened during the H-Block hunger strikes. History demands it.

Alec McCrory 
is a former blanketman.

Booker's Dozen @ Alex McCrory

Alex McCrory šŸ”– answers thirteen questions in a Booker's Dozen.

TPQ: What are you currently reading?

AM: I’m not reading a book because of poor concentration. My last read was at Christmas: Anatomy Of A Killing by Ian Cobain.

TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

AM: A difficult one to answer. If pushed, I would say Ernie O’Malley’s duo of books: On Another Man’s Wound and The Singing Flame. Both are autobiographical accounts of the Irish Revolution 1916-1923. The Shankill Butchers by Martin Dillon was the worst book I ever read. Not because it is badly written, but the bestiality and brutality it highlighted throughout made it the most difficult book to get through. 

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child?

AM: The Adventures Of Huckleberry Finn along with Treasure Island by Mark Twain and RLS respectively. My father came across hardbacked versions of each when working for the Corporation. 

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

AM: Would have to be Mark Twain based on the above. I also read the Tom Sawyer adventure which overlaps Huckleberry Finn although they are separate books. 

TPQ: First book to really own you? 

AM: I find this easier to answer. My first novel as an adult was Trinity by Leon Uris which I read in jail. It is an Irish saga over three generations of families with opposing loyalties and histories.


TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

AM: I spent many nights in the cell reading the Jason Bourne Trilogy by Robert Ludlum, a master story-teller. At the risk of appearing sexist, I have read few female authors. A couple that spring to mind are Dorothy McArdle, an Irish non-academic historian and Republican, and Marilyn French, feminist author of The Women’s Room. 

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

AM: Fact.

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you?

AM: The Autobiography Of Malcom X coauthored by Alex Haley. Malcom’s evolution from street hustler to Black Muslim to nascent revolutionary secularist was an enthralling story. Spike Lee’s screen adaption of the book is worth a watch too. 

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

AM: Mein Kampf

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

AM: I usually receive books as presents. On one occasion, I bought my wife a gilt edged copy of Kamasutra. I must admit though, she was unimpressed by my personal interpretations. 



TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you?

AM: I have not read that book myself. Perhaps you could suggest one being a close friend. 

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

AM: A big budget production of the Northern Bank Robbery based on Richard O’Rawe’s book Heist. If only just for the pure entertainment value. 

TPQ: The just must - select one book you simply have to read before you close the last page on life.

AM: A full account of what happened during the H-Block hunger strikes. History demands it.

Alec McCrory 
is a former blanketman.

4 comments:

  1. No Paul Brickhill's The Great Escape ? lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I agree with Alex on question nine. Having read parts of Mein Kampf it is plainly written by a madman. It is a diatribe of, at best, exagerations at worst lies, and evil lies at that. The author was a mass murderer therefore anything logical should not be expected. I supposse a concerning thought of mine would be: at the time of the book being wtitten, when Hitler was in prison, the sales were poor. With time and the rise of the Nazi party to power sales of this rubbish went through the roof. Germany was suppossedly an advanced country, with an educated population therefore the question should be asked; what were an educated population doing buying and reading such rubbish? An insult to the least agile minded mentality.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Caoimhin,

      Germany post 1920 was an economic basketcase of hyperinflation and mass unemployment. Coupled with a returning military whose rank and file never believed they lost the war but rather were humiliatingly surrendered by the elites and capitalists it's unsurprising they were looking for a messiah. Enter the megalomaniac Austrian who was a master orator, who easily tapped into the undercurrent of anti-Semitism that has existed in Christendom since the death of JC. His ramblings in Mein Kampf became more of a show of loyalty in a household when the SA were rampaging rather than an intellectuals choice of review or reference.

      Delete
  3. Regarding this response:

    "A full account of what happened during the H-Block hunger strikes. History demands it."

    What do you feel has come closest? Ten Men Dead was an excellent overview, but of its time, and untouched by later revelations/controversies. Richard O'Rawe's book was compelling.

    Dillon's book on the Shankill Butchers was a gruesome read. Some credible criticism of it has emerged, particularly in recent years.

    ReplyDelete