Dec 11 2009
Ba-ruch
Joseph O’Connor’s book reading
Rating: 3.5 stars
Reasons:
1) Likes:
He is really Irish and he doesn’t mind showing it in his writing. His knowledge is so immense that I have to look up his references. His accent is beautiful. The man is great at writing poetry (how many middle-age men can actually put Eminem into their poems?) And his jokes are hilarious.
2) Dislikes:
There are too many Irish writers who write about the solemnness and sadness of Ireland that having Joseph O’Connor as another player in the game doesn’t really make a difference. And for me, I personally didn’t like the love letter that he was reading out. It’s too slow, too dense, and too out of a-cookie-cutter format.
If you want to see what Joseph O’Connor is all about straight from the horse’s mouth, check out his interview at Indentitytheory.com.
I don’t know if it’s fair to dislike O’Connor for having experiences similar to those of other Irish writers, simply because they all went through a lot of harshness in the suffering of the Irish people. I do see why you bring it up though.