Thursday, January 17, 2008

“As God Is My Witness, They’re Not Going To Lick Me.”

The Times recently made Tana French’s (right) IN THE WOODS a readers’ book-group pick, with Alyson Rudd mediating, and the verdict – or mixed verdicts – are coming in thick and fast over here. As part of the piece, Rudd had a quick Q&A with Tana, to wit:
AR: Knocknaree – is this an imaginary place?
TF: “Imaginary, but unfortunately there are a lot of places in Ireland that fit the general description: hugely important archaeological sites destroyed by development. Ireland’s at a very strange point – over the past ten years the economic boom has hit us with decades’ worth of changes, and we’re still trying to assimilate them and find a way to balance past, present and future.”
In a nutshell, Ireland today could be summarised by a couple of news stories that just won’t quit rumbling on: the impending demolition of the 5,000-year-old Tara, seat of the ancient Irish high kings, to make way for a motorway (‘Knocknaree’ translates from the Irish as ‘the Hill of the Kings’); and the (totally unrelated) appalling vista of an taoiseach Bertie Ahern’s regular attempts to explain to the Mahon Tribunal where all the cash payments came from way back when, the Mahon Tribunal concerning itself with the possibility of improper influence exerted on politicians in matters of planning and development. Sure isn’t it all great craic all the same?

1 comment:

  1. I finished reading In The Woods yesterday and I am still a bit drained. I felt like I wanted to shout at Ryan to get his brain in order and get together with Cassie. But I suppose real life and good crime fiction doesn't give you neat endings.

    ReplyDelete

Declan Burke has published a number of novels, the most recent of which is ABSOLUTE ZERO COOL. As a journalist and critic, he writes and broadcasts on books and film for a variety of media outlets, including the Irish Times, RTE, the Irish Examiner and the Sunday Independent. He has an unfortunate habit of speaking about himself in the third person. All views expressed here are his own and are very likely to be contrary.