"The Raptures" by Jan Carson

 Jan Carson is a writer from Northern Ireland, currently living in Belfast.  She published several collections of short stories and three novels before The Raptures, which was published in 2022.  Her next novel, Few And Far Between will be published shortly.

The Raptures is set in rural Northern Ireland, in a village called Ballylack.  Set in 1993, against the background of what we in Northern Ireland called the Troubles, the story revolves around eleven year old Hannah Adger.  Her classmates begin to die, one by one, so the hunt begins for the source of  the mysterious illness which is killing them,

Ballylack is a village populated only by Protestants - apart from the family who run the Chinese takeaway - which means this could be any one of many such villages in Northern Ireland.

As I was brought up near a village like this, I feel that I know these people - so perhaps I can't be as objective as I should be in my assessment of the novel.  

My youth may have been thirty years earlier, but little changed in the Northern Irish countryside between 1963 and 1993 - apart from the Troubles beginning in 1969.  Even now, over thirty years after the setting of the book, many ingrained attitudes haven't changed, as change comes slowly to stubborn Ulster Protestants.

It's my familiarity with the setting of the story which makes me biased in assessing the novel, so I'd love to hear from a reader who isn't from Northern Ireland.  As I want someone else to read the book I deliberately haven't mentioned much about how the story progresses.

From my perspective I enjoyed the story and would definitely recommend it...so, if you haven't read The Raptures, please read it and let me have your opinion!

"Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha" by Roddy Doyle

 Born in Dublin in 1958, Roddy Doyle has written a number of novels, books for children, plays and screenplays and lots of short stories.

His novel, The Van was a finalist for the Booker Prize and then Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha won the Booker in 1993.

Paddy Clarke Ha Ha Ha is a story told by a ten year old boy who is living in Barrytown, North Dublin in 1968.

It doesn't follow the usual rules of a novel as there are no chapters, just a series of Paddy's thoughts which don't follow in chronological order.  In spite of this you do sense the passage of time as the book progresses.

Like any ten year old, Paddy's thoughts jump quickly from one subject to another, with the subjects often seeming unrelated.

The book describes a lost world where children roam freely around the area where they live, constantly getting into mischief.

The early part of the book focuses on this fun and mischief before real life begins to intrude.

I won't give any more detail as I don't want to spoil the story for any potential reader.

Highly recommended!!

"Let's Twist Again" by Leo Cullen

 Some months ago I decided it was time to re-read some of the books I've owned for years.  I began with this one...

Let's Twist Again was published by the Blackstaff Press in Belfast back in 2001, so I must have bought is at least twenty years ago.

The novel is currently out of print, so is only available second-hand - but it can be found for sale online.

Leo Cullen is better known as a short story writer, having published Clocking 90 on the Road to Cloughjordan back in 1994 (this is also out of print but available second-hand online - and I've just ordered a copy).

Let's Twist Again is Cullen's only novel and is largely based on his own childhood and youth.  The story follows young Larry Connaughton through his mother's death, his father's re-marriage and, subsequently, his stepmother's death.

This is a story of loss which is full of life and love.

Highly recommended - if you're lucky enough to find a copy.

Procrastination

 Procrastination (n) The action of delaying or postponing something.

Perhaps it isn't really procrastination that's bothering me, it's just indecision.

I set up my Bluesky account and this blog without really deciding what I wanted to do or say, apart from knowing I wanted it to be about books, which is a bit vague given that there are millions of books out there.

Now I've decided my focus should be Irish literature. In recent years a great many new Irish writers have made their presence felt with some terrific novels.

So I want to read, review and promote those writers as best I can.

Now let's see how I get on...

The image above was taken at Portrush, a seaside town on the North Coast of Northern Ireland.

Walking.

 This photo was taken on a walk yesterday afternoon.  The path shown is one I often walk along - mainly because it's quite close to my home but it's also a pleasant walk.

As I'm in my mid-seventies, I need to keep active - so I walk most days, usually for around an hour.

This helps keep me fit, gets me out in the fresh air and is good for my mental health.

Of course I could spend that hour reading - that would keep me mentally active but wouldn't do much for my physical fitness.

I do see people reading while they walk although that wouldn't work for me.  I couldn't concentrate on a book because I'd be too busy looking around.

The vast majority of people I meet on a walk are listening to music - I don't do that either because I like to hear the sound of the wind, the birds singing, the flow of the river or the sound of the waves splashing against rocks.

I almost always walk by myself because I can't be bothered with conversation either,

Does that mean I'm an antisocial loner?  Not a bit of it - I just like peace and quiet to really enjoy my walk.

New Beginnings...and Origins.

 The snowdrop is often regarded as a symbol of new beginnings, signalling the end of winter.

I'm always delighted to see the flowers because I detest the dull, dark days of the winter months and now, in February, the days are getting longer and I feel full of renewed enthusiasm.

Perhaps I'm letting myself get carried away with this new enthusiasm - I've set up a new Bluesky account and started this blog to run alongside it.  Will I be able to post on a regular basis - a good question, with no definite answer.

This account really began five years ago on Twitter.  We were in a Covid lockdown at the time and I was rather bored, so I started the account to post some photos of the view from "Behind My Fence".

I soon realised that the name suggested hiding behind the fence - a siege mentality - when, in fact, I was looking beyond it.  That meant a quick change of name to "Beyond My Fence".

I continued to post photos but never really engaged with any other Twitter users and then, gradually, I posted less until it reached the point where Twitter became X.  Getting swamped with ads and pro-Trump propaganda, I stopped bothering to post.

Then I discovered Bluesky.  I started an account and began posting photos - and discovered a friendly, welcoming group of people.  I am well past retirement age but I still work on an irregular basis, which meant I didn't engage with people as often as I would have liked.

This year I have reduced my workload, so I hope to have more time to devote to Bluesky.  The original account will stay in place for posting photos and the new account will focus on books - both reading and writing.  The idea of the blog is to allow me to expand on some Bluesky posts beyond the limitations of 300 characters or what can be included in Alt text.

So, here's to new beginnings...