Tag Archives: John McGahern

2023 Books Read

I think I might have read more books by non-American authors than American this year. Countries represented below: Austria, Hungary, Poland, Germany, Czechoslovakia, Croatia, Ireland, France, Russia, Colombia. I revisited some old favorites, which I will continue to do in … Continue reading

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Recommended Books: Fiction

I’ve added to this list. I still want to do a Non-Fiction one, eventually, but … you know … time permitting. Some authors are represented multiple times here. Other authors aren’t represented at all. For no real reason. Don’t read … Continue reading

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2014 Books Read

2014 was a good reading year. I re-read a lot of favorites, including Rebecca West’s 1200 page Black Lamb and Grey Falcon. There was a fun mix of re-reads and new stuff, of fiction and non-fiction. My year of being … Continue reading

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2010 Books Read

Round-up of the books I read this year, in the order in which I read them. I am nearly finished with one last book (a collection of stories by Miranda July, given to me by my sister Siobhan for my … Continue reading

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The Barracks, by John McGahern

John McGahern, who died in 2006, wrote six novels, and a memoir. He was clearly meticulous about his writing (to quote my father: “There’s no fat in his books”), and his evocation of the quickly-disappearing rural life in Ireland is … Continue reading

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Book Questionnaire Full of Shame, Loathing and Lying

I can’t remember where I initially found this questionnaire, but in re-doing my Categories I found the questions saved in Drafts. I had obviously seen them somewhere, and wanted to answer them eventually. Thought I’d bring it out now. Haven’t … Continue reading

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Dad On John McGahern: “There’s no fat in his books.”

Me: “He didn’t write many books, did he?” Dad: “No. He spent all his time paring them down, cutting out everything that didn’t fit. There’s no fat in his books.” Finished The Pornographer today in a rowdy Irish pub, got … Continue reading

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The Pornographer, by John McGahern

I’m tearing through The Pornographer, a novel by John McGahern. I posted about it yesterday. I am mortified by the book. Not the frank sex scenes, which I love – he writes them quite well (not to mention the interesting … Continue reading

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The Pornographer, by John McGahern

I’m reading The Pornographer, a novel by John McGahern. I read his By the Lake last year (excerpt here), and his Amongst Women is one of my favorite books (excerpt here) – so I decided to go back and fill … Continue reading

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The Books: “By The Lake” (John McGahern)

Daily Book Excerpt: Adult fiction: By the Lake by John McGahern I read By the Lake last year (here’s my post on it) – John McGahern just passed away, and while his reputation was already stellar (although not perhaps internationally) … Continue reading

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