A Room Above A Shop by Anthony Shapland Published by Granta, €19.50
Rarely does a book grab you by the throat, and demands that you finish it. This was the case with a volume I purchased while on a recent visit to the Margate Bookshop in Kent, and what a joy it was to read. I did so in a single sitting.
This is a debut novel, and such is its genius that I am in no doubt that the author will become a household name.
The story is one of forbidden love, set in south Wales in the late 1980s, between two unnamed men, identified only as M and B. It is a little disconcerting at first to get used to this format, but it is also quite appropriate given that people in this mining village refer to gays as ‘men like that’, and not in a kind way. The story covers three years in the lives of the pair, M, a shopkeeper and B, who is slightly younger.
The book is crafted in such a way that the reader is forced to read it slowly, and to savour not pages or paragraphs, but single lines. Within a matter of nine words, writer Anthony Shapland can paint a picture rich with multiple images. In our fast-moving world, what bliss it is to find text that slows us down, and yet provides such enrichment.
The language may be sparse, but what a tale the story tells of a love that the two men cannot show in public. The sadness one feels when reading that they do their weekly shops singularly and never at the same time, and how they are careful when out drinking to never appear as a couple, is palpable. It was a time also when governments were warning about the health of gay men, marginalising them even more. M is described as being “ashamed of his own shame”.
While this might point to a book that is dark and sad, don’t fear. It is also beautiful, showing the depth of love that exists between M and B, how their lives, while only fully exercised in private, fit together perfectly. The syntax is striking and takes the reader along memorably, but then – bam. You’re stopped in your tracks, most unexpectedly, and life changes forever.
The way the story ends will leave you feeling gutted, not for the book or the tale it tells, but rather for how life can change, change utterly, in a moment.
Gay or straight, old or young, this is an amazing first book by a man who is not only a writer, but an artist too. He knows how to paint a picture in our minds.
The Book Corner’s trio of treasures...
Sport
More Than A Shirt, Joey D’Urso. Published by Seven Dials. €25
More Than A Shirt by Joey D’Urso.
Published by Seven Dials, €18.99
A huge percentage of the population follow a British or European soccer team. Coverage of that sport is at saturation point on television, and the amounts of money generated, paid in transfer fees, and made and lost by clubs is mind-blowing. In the most recent season in England, all 20 of the premiership teams earned at least €117m in prize money.
Most visible when we watch any game are the logos on the player’s shirts, and behind many of these lie stories of political ideologies, social values and financial struggles.
Investigative journalist and award-winning football writer Joey D’Urso has travelled the world to research this valuable insight into how the shirts worn and seen worldwide explain global politics, money and power.
This is a fascinating and well-analysed read.
Enjoyment
Camarade by Theo Dorgan. Published by Mercier Press. €16.99
Camarade by Theo Dorgan.
Published by Mercier Press, €16.99
Theo Dorgan needs no introduction, being one of Ireland’s greatest poets and with a worldwide reputation for his work. He is a member of Aosdána and a proud native of Cork.
However, his literary output has transcended poetry, and he is equally well-recognised for his prose. His latest work, Camarade, is a powerful novel which will bring his beautiful writing to a wider audience. Set against backdrops in Paris and Cork, the book asks questions of who we are. In the case of the central character, Joseph, it asks did a single act of violence, killing a policeman, make him who he is, or was this always his destiny?
Readers move easily between two timelines, Joseph’s youth in 1960s Ireland where he grew up with his grandfather’s stories of revolution and the flying column, and present-day Paris where he is exiled.
Classic
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou. Published by Virago, €21.75
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
Published by Virago, €21.75
The title of this autobiography, regarded as a modern classic, is taken from the first line of a poem by the Harlem Renaissance poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Maya Angelou’s sixth volume of her life story – which in totality covers just half of her life – is also the final line of the same poem, Sympathy.
Angelou’s life is truly fascinating, with time spent as a night club dancer and madam, long before being named as International Woman of the Year. During a long period of silence after she was raped at the age of eight, she immersed herself in literature, and was at a young age enthralled by the works of Shakespeare and Dickens.
They inspired her love for words, and she writes with great affection for the women who encouraged her to speak again. Her words are a gift that is to be treasured.
A Room Above A Shop by Anthony Shapland Published by Granta, €19.50
Rarely does a book grab you by the throat, and demands that you finish it. This was the case with a volume I purchased while on a recent visit to the Margate Bookshop in Kent, and what a joy it was to read. I did so in a single sitting.
This is a debut novel, and such is its genius that I am in no doubt that the author will become a household name.
The story is one of forbidden love, set in south Wales in the late 1980s, between two unnamed men, identified only as M and B. It is a little disconcerting at first to get used to this format, but it is also quite appropriate given that people in this mining village refer to gays as ‘men like that’, and not in a kind way. The story covers three years in the lives of the pair, M, a shopkeeper and B, who is slightly younger.
The book is crafted in such a way that the reader is forced to read it slowly, and to savour not pages or paragraphs, but single lines. Within a matter of nine words, writer Anthony Shapland can paint a picture rich with multiple images. In our fast-moving world, what bliss it is to find text that slows us down, and yet provides such enrichment.
The language may be sparse, but what a tale the story tells of a love that the two men cannot show in public. The sadness one feels when reading that they do their weekly shops singularly and never at the same time, and how they are careful when out drinking to never appear as a couple, is palpable. It was a time also when governments were warning about the health of gay men, marginalising them even more. M is described as being “ashamed of his own shame”.
While this might point to a book that is dark and sad, don’t fear. It is also beautiful, showing the depth of love that exists between M and B, how their lives, while only fully exercised in private, fit together perfectly. The syntax is striking and takes the reader along memorably, but then – bam. You’re stopped in your tracks, most unexpectedly, and life changes forever.
The way the story ends will leave you feeling gutted, not for the book or the tale it tells, but rather for how life can change, change utterly, in a moment.
Gay or straight, old or young, this is an amazing first book by a man who is not only a writer, but an artist too. He knows how to paint a picture in our minds.
The Book Corner’s trio of treasures...
Sport
More Than A Shirt, Joey D’Urso. Published by Seven Dials. €25
More Than A Shirt by Joey D’Urso.
Published by Seven Dials, €18.99
A huge percentage of the population follow a British or European soccer team. Coverage of that sport is at saturation point on television, and the amounts of money generated, paid in transfer fees, and made and lost by clubs is mind-blowing. In the most recent season in England, all 20 of the premiership teams earned at least €117m in prize money.
Most visible when we watch any game are the logos on the player’s shirts, and behind many of these lie stories of political ideologies, social values and financial struggles.
Investigative journalist and award-winning football writer Joey D’Urso has travelled the world to research this valuable insight into how the shirts worn and seen worldwide explain global politics, money and power.
This is a fascinating and well-analysed read.
Enjoyment
Camarade by Theo Dorgan. Published by Mercier Press. €16.99
Camarade by Theo Dorgan.
Published by Mercier Press, €16.99
Theo Dorgan needs no introduction, being one of Ireland’s greatest poets and with a worldwide reputation for his work. He is a member of Aosdána and a proud native of Cork.
However, his literary output has transcended poetry, and he is equally well-recognised for his prose. His latest work, Camarade, is a powerful novel which will bring his beautiful writing to a wider audience. Set against backdrops in Paris and Cork, the book asks questions of who we are. In the case of the central character, Joseph, it asks did a single act of violence, killing a policeman, make him who he is, or was this always his destiny?
Readers move easily between two timelines, Joseph’s youth in 1960s Ireland where he grew up with his grandfather’s stories of revolution and the flying column, and present-day Paris where he is exiled.
Classic
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou. Published by Virago, €21.75
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings by Maya Angelou.
Published by Virago, €21.75
The title of this autobiography, regarded as a modern classic, is taken from the first line of a poem by the Harlem Renaissance poet Paul Laurence Dunbar.
Maya Angelou’s sixth volume of her life story – which in totality covers just half of her life – is also the final line of the same poem, Sympathy.
Angelou’s life is truly fascinating, with time spent as a night club dancer and madam, long before being named as International Woman of the Year. During a long period of silence after she was raped at the age of eight, she immersed herself in literature, and was at a young age enthralled by the works of Shakespeare and Dickens.
They inspired her love for words, and she writes with great affection for the women who encouraged her to speak again. Her words are a gift that is to be treasured.
This is a subscriber-only article
SHARING OPTIONS: