Léirmheas Leabhair- Madame Lazare!

Book Review - Madame Lazare!

by | 2024/05/08 | Reviews, Literature

Book Review - Madame Lazare!

Some time ago, when I read that the book 'Madame Lazare' won the European Union literature prize in 2022, as well as an award for 'Irish Book of the Year' at the 'An Post Irish Book Awards' in 2021, it amazed me and awakened my interest in reading it. After that, I read a few reviews. The more I read, the more my interest grew regarding this book and its author Tadhg Ó Dhonnagáin. But would the book be as good as it was said to be?

The author

It would be appropriate to write a few words about the author himself, Tadhg Ó Dhonnagáin. Although this is his first novel, this is not his first 'rodeo' as they say in the United States. He was a teacher from 1982 -1987 at Gaelscoil Uí Dálaigh in Léim an Brádáin. He got a part-time job with RTÉ from 1984-1987 as a presenter on the children's show called 'Dilín Ó Deamhas'. He retired from teaching in 1987 and got a full-time job with RTÉ as a presenter on the show 'Cúrsáí' and then in 1995 on the show 'Cúrsáí Eálae'. Also, he was moonlighting as a Celtic rock star, and released two albums: 'Solas Gorm' in 1983, and 'Raftiríir San Underground' in 1993.

Tadhg and his family moved to An Spidéal in 2000, and he started working on various projects - including a presenter for TG4. He released a book and CD called 'Gugalaí Gug: Traditional Rhymes in Irish' in 2006. When he was working on Gugalaí Gug, it occurred to Tadhg that he would be able to start his own company (Futa Fata) to publish Irish books for children. He attended the 'Bologna Book Fair' in 2006, and was encouraged to translate books into Irish, and his company did so, publishing books such as 'Frog sa Spéir', 'Eileanór an Elifint Éagsúil', 'Mac Tíre na Draíochta', 'Neilín and the Cat', 'Béiríní ag Troid' and the series 'Cathal'. Futa Fata is also very strong on picture books. A few of them achieved places on the shortlist for the KPMG Children's Books Ireland Award: 'Míp', a picture book written by Máire Zepf and illustrated by Paddy Donnelly, and 'Scúnc agus Smúirín', a picture book about a skunk and his toy written illustrated by Muireann Ní Cíobháin and illustrated by Paddy Donnelly. In 2021, Tadhg started a new brand – Barzaz, to publish novels for adults. The first books he published under the brand were 'Khalil' written by Yasminda Khadra and translated into Irish by Máirín Nic Con Iomaire, and 'Madame Lazare'. Undoubtedly, Tadhg Mac Donnagáin is a polymath, with an excellent and long CV. In my opinion, he excelled with 'Madame Lazare'. Tadhg has also written other books, and a couple of them - 'Bliain na nAmhrán' and 'Mise Raftearaí an Fiodóir Focal' won awards. However, we will now turn our attention to 'Madame Lazare'.

Madame Lazare – plot

According to the author himself, his father's mother had a neighbor in the 1920s who only ever spoke English to everyone. As he grew older, he began to speak Irish. No one knew that he had a word of Irish, but he had excellent Irish, because he was brought up with Irish. That was the seed of the book, and Tadhg created his story based on that.

In the story, we follow Hana Lazare through the last days of her life – Madame Lazare of the title. She fled Estonia when the Nazis were persecuting the Jews. She ended up in Paris, and started a new life for herself and her daughter there. Like many Jews, she never spoke about her life in her motherland, before the Nazi attack. But things are not as they seem, and bit by bit, little things leak that open up questions that cast doubt on the story of her life before reaching Paris.

As Hana gets older, it becomes clear that she is competent in a language other than French or Estonian. This confuses her granddaughter, Levana. The young woman goes on a language journey, trying to find out what the language is, what her mother is saying, and what the truth is about her grandmother's life. It is detective work, and we follow that work from Paris to Brussels and even to the west of the Ireland, to discover the truth, and to reveal the secret of the old woman. There are many twists and turns in this thriller that would keep you on edge, and you would not be satisfied until you had read the last word.

Recommendations

I have only one suggestion for you – read this book. All the elements of this novel come together beautifully, and it constantly keeps us in suspense. It is not difficult to understand the Irish in the book, and at the same time the writing style is wonderful. This book is as good as any English book I have ever read, without a doubt. Tadhg also has a special skill with metaphors, and the similarities between the story of Hana Lazare and the story of Ireland are obvious, and especially the story of our own culture and language. They have been suppressed for a long time, but you also see signs of recovery from time to time. It is important for us to always keep our hope, regarding our culture and our language. So, there is depth in this book, and food for thought for all of us. 'Madame Lazare' is a serious work of art that I would recommend to you without hesitation.

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Frampton!

Frampton!

by | 2024/05/01 | Reviews

Frampton!

Long, long ago in the Stone Age, in the golden age of rock music, when the great guitarists were at their peak, there were many superhuman heroes. It is impossible to mention them all, but among them were: Jimi Hendrix, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Eddie Van Halen, Eric Clapton, Jimi Page, Rory Gallagher, Eric Bell, Gary Moore and Johnny Fean. Another guitarist named Peter Frampton, who is from England, was also doing well up to the mid-seventies, but he had not yet achieved international fame. Everything changed for him in 1975. But I'm getting a little ahead of myself.

Early Days

Peter Frampton attended the same secondary school as David Bowie, and Bowie was three years his senior. They both had bands, and often played together between classes. In 1966 at the age of 16, Frampton started as guitarist and singer for the band 'The Herd', and three of their songs topped the charts in the UK. In 1969, he left 'The Herd' and joined another band called 'Humble Pie'. After a few years and four albums, he left that band to go out on his own.

Frampton Comes Alive!

His first efforts, with the albums 'Wind of Change', 'Frampton's Camel' and Somethin's Happening', had little success. His next album, 'Frampton', released in 1975, went up the charts to number 32. In June 1975, Frampton performed a concert at the 'Winterland Arena' in San Fransisco, and it was recorded. That was the basis for the double album 'Frampton Comes Alive', released in 1976. That album was in the 'Billboard 200' charts for two years, and then spent ten weeks at the top of the charts. Three songs from the album also did very well as singles - Show Me the Way', 'Baby, I Love Your Way' and 'Do You Feel Like We Do'.

Frampton released his next album 'I'm in You' in 1977, and although it did quite well, it was not on par with 'Frampton Comes Alive'. Just two years after the release of his 'Frampton Comes Alive' album, he was seriously injured in a car accident. After that, he struggled with drug abuse. Although Frampton continued to play music up to the present day, his era was over and he gradually fell into oblivion.

Resurrection

When I recently heard that Frampton would be performing in San Diego, I immediately bought a couple of tickets. Although I remembered 'Frampton Comes Alive' well, like almost everyone else my age, I had no clue what happened to it in the interim. Then, my wife read an article about Frampton in the local newspaper. He was diagnosed with a rare degenerative disease in 2019, which would gradually weaken the muscles in his hands. Although you'd imagine that would be the death knell for Frampton, you'd be wrong. He refused to succumb to that disease, and almost as an act of defiance, he announced some new dates for his world tour. He had to make changes in the way he used his fingers because they weren't as strong as they used to be, and he also had to do a lot of practice. After completing that tour, he organized another tour - 'Never Ever Say Never Tour', because his fingers were still pretty good.

Concert

My wife and I had great seats at the 'Rady Shell' in San Diego. The concert started at 7:30 p.m. and the music stopped until almost 10 p.m. All members of the band were seated, as Frampton had to be seated due to illness. But once we got used to that, we soon forgot about it – the music was that good. They played all the big songs, and they were great. Frampton still has a great voice, as the disease has not damaged his voice. His son, Julian Frampton, came on stage to sing 'Rebel Rebel', David Bowie's famous song, and he was outstanding as a singer. He praised his father saying that he is an inspiring man and a courageous fighter, of whom he is very proud. I completely agree with that point of view, and Peter Frampton is an indomitable spirit, who lifts up our hearts, not only as a great musician, but as a role model for us all!

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O.J. Simpson imithe ar shlí na fírinne

O.J. Simpson has died

by | 2024/04/24 | Obituary

O.J. Simpson has died

Almost 30 years ago, people all over the world were glued to their televisions, watching the 'slow speed chase' on the freeways of Southern California, and O.J. Simpson trying to escape from the police. It was the beginning of a great story that would enchant the people of the USA for at least a year and a half. This famous and infamous man died of cancer on April 10th. Who was that man, and why did he attract so much attention?

O.J.

Orenthal James Simpson was born on July 9, 1947 in San Francisco. His aunt gave him the name Orenthal, which was the name of a French actress she liked. At the age of two, he developed rickets, which left him lame, with his feet turned inwards. His mother could not afford to buy him leg braces. She tied a pair of shoes together with an iron bar, and O.J. had to wear them for a few hours almost every day, until he was five years old. His mother raised him and three other children by herself, where they lived in a rough area (Potrero Hill) in San Francisco. He was a troubled child, and joined a street gang when he was only thirteen years old.

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"I never infringed ón people," he said in an interview with Playboy in 1976. "I only beat up the dudes who deserved it - at least once a week, usually on a Friday or Saturday night. If there wasn’t a fight going ón, it wasn't a weekend."

O.J. played American football in middle school, and when he broke a few records, he caught the attention of talent spotters. From there, O.J. went from strength to strength. He was one of the best running backs ever in the National Football League (NFL) in the United States, and won the Most Valued Player (MVP) in 1973. He played for the 'Buffalo Bills' and the 'San Francisco 49ers'.

O.J. was also a movie star, even when he was playing for the NFL. He had a major role in the trilogy 'The Naked Gun' (1988,1991,1994), as a detective.

Murderer?

Despite being as famous as a footballer and an actor, he is remembered today as the prime suspect in a court case. If you're over a certain age, it's more likely than not that you've seen the police manhunt for O.J. on television, while he was in a car driven by his friend, Al Cowlings. O.J. had a gun, aimed at himself. The police arrested him when they arrived at his home. O.J. was accused of the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown and her friend Ron Goldman.

Trial of the Century

O.J. had a team of lawyers. who were so strong that they were called 'The Dream Team'. Robert Kardasian, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran were the members of that team. Although there was irrefutable forensic evidence that O.J. was present at the crime scene, a prosecutor named Christopher Darden made a catastrophic error in the court case. The murders took place at Nicole Brown's apartment, and the police found bloodstained footprints at that location that were the same size as O.J.'sown footprints. DNA evidence on a few drops of blood from the crime scene also placed O.J. at the scene. And one glove was found at the scene and the other glove of the pair at O.J.'s house, smeared with his blood and the blood of the two victims.

Despite that compelling evidence, the case fell apart when Darden asked O.J. put the gloves on. O.J. had only three words to say. during the trial, and he said them then – "they're too small!" When Johnnie Cochrane was making his closing statement at the end of the trial, he said: "If it doesn't fit, you must acquit!" O.J. was found innocent ón all counts.

Karma?

But three years later in 1998, in civil court, Simpson was found responsible for the deaths of Brown and Goodman. He was fined $33.5 million. O.J. said that he did not have the money and only paid about $300,000 of the fine in total.

There was another chapter left in O.J.'s story, however, when he was accused of armed robbery and kidnapping in Las Vegas in 2007. He was sentenced to 33 years in prison. But he was released in 2017 on parole, after serving nine years in prison.

O.J. Simpson died as a fallen hero who was no longer loved by the public, and that is a sad ending - may his soul rest in peace.

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Léirmheas Scannáin: American Fiction

Film Review: American Fiction

by | 2024/04/17 | Reviews

The film 'American Fiction' received an Oscar award in the category of 'Best Adapted Screenplay.' It's a bit ironic, because the film itself is a film about a writer. The film's script is based on a novel published in 2001, entitled 'Erasure', written by Percival Everett. It is a scathing satire, describing the literary world's pressure on non-whites to conform to racial stereotypes that portray them unfavorably.

Erroll McDonald, vice president and executive editor, is one of the few prominent black editors in the publishing industry. He said many of the themes in Everett's book are just as fresh today as they were in 2001. He also said he was all too aware of the way white editors and publishers choose stories that reinforce stereotypes about black people, rather than stories which would show them as ordinary people, like everyone else.

The Plot

Thelonious 'Monk' Ellison (Jeffrey Wright) is an academic writer and Professor of Humanities. But he is not happy in the role and openly expresses his controversial views to his students, regardless of the consequences. Complaints are made to the University authorities about the ugly things Monk said in class, and his managers decide to give him an unpaid leave of absence. Monk goes home to Boston, and as he is a writer, he attends a book festival held there. A couple of things occur to Monk as he attends the festival. First of all, his writings are not in line with what the book market is looking for from black writers like him. And what is the book market looking for? Black people in stereotypical roles speaking vulgar street talk in their vernacular. This is evident from the novel 'We's Lives in Da Ghetto,' a novel written by superstar Sintara Golden (Issa Rae). When Sintara reads out an excerpt from her book, Monk sees the middle-aged white women in the audience nod in agreement.

Monk also understands that, despite his reluctance to contact his family, they are struggling in many ways and that it is important for him to be there and help them in their time of need - especially since his mother, Agnes (Leslie Uggams), has Alzheimer's disease.

To express his dissatisfaction and frustration, Monk sits down one night and begins to write a book. The title of the book is 'My Pafology', a story about gangs and guns, and bad black people. He writes the book under the pseudonym 'Stagg R. Leigh.'As Monk is unable to show his face as Stagg when dealing with various publishers, he pretends to be a criminal on the run from the law, who cannot there attend meetings in person. Then, something happens that he did not expect at all. When the manuscript is sent out, one of the major publishers makes him an offer that is hard to refuse - $750,000! Although he does not want to take it, he has no choice, as his mother needs medical care. Then his book is nominated for a major award and huge success follows for him.

Conclusion

The story works on two levels, firstly as an exposé of the pressures placed on black people working in the arts. At the same time, you see the life of Monk and his family clearly. He is a professor, his sister is a clinician and his brother is a plastic surgeon - defying the racial stereotypes spread by the media. Those two levels that are in opposition to each other create the great tension in the film. And it also clearly shows that the stereotypes that many people believe in are unfounded.

The acting in the film is superb, with Jeffrey Wright incredible in the role of Monk. You feel his frustration and pain all the time, even and perhaps especially, when he is very successful as an author.

I would recommend this movie without question. It shines a universal light on a serious topic, but the topic is discussed in a fun and entertaining way.

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Stoirm Pholaitíochta

Political Storm!

by | 2024/04/10 | Current Affairs, International News, National News, Politics

Political Storm!

It is a coincidence that I recently had a column entitled 'Unbridled Greed', discussing the abuse of power in various fields - including the political field. I read some news recently that shocked and appalled me - the leader of the DUP, Sir Jeffrey Donaldson, had resigned, accused of 'historical' sexual allegations. My first thought was 'unbelievable'! But then, the subject of my column came back to me, and then I thought maybe it wasn't so incredible after all. Things like that happen often in the United States, and usually, after politicians deny the charges, for the most part they end up being convicted. Although Jeffrey Donaldson's case doesn't look too good, let's leave it to the court to work out if he is guilty. Regardless, politicians in the North will soon have to contend with a new political landscape, and perhaps forge a new vision in the process. Political stability will be in the balance, and it is now quite difficult to predict what will happen. In the interim, who is Jeffrey Donaldson, and what are the implications of the new DUP leadership?

Jeffrey Donaldson

In 1968, as front bench spokesman in the British Government, Enoch Powell gave a controversial speech about 'Rivers of Blood', inciting his followers to hate people of color. As a result of his speech, he was sacked as speaker, but he remained an unwelcome member of the Conservative Party until 1974. In October 1974, Powell found refuge in the Ulster Unionist Party (UUP) with the loyalists describing him as a prophet, and then he was elected as an MP in Down South. Powell said in one speech that all political careers eventually fail – something he himself knew well.

Jeffrey's cousin, Samuel Donaldson, was killed in an IRA bombing in 1970, while working for the Royal Ulster Constabulary (RUC). That inspired Jeffrey Donaldson to political life.

Jeffrey Donaldson began his own political career some 40 years ago as a constituency agent for Enoch Powell from 1983 to 1985. In 1985, he began working as a personal assistant to former Ulster Unionist Party leader James Molyneaux.

In 1997, when Mr Molyneaux resigned, Jeffrey Donaldson succeeded in taking the Lagan Valley seat. In 2003, amid opposition to the Good Friday Agreement and David Trimble's leadership, he left the UUP and joined the DUP with Arlene Foster. He was appointed as DUP leader in 2021, after Edwin Poots resigned after just three weeks in the role.

As leader of the DUP, Jeffrey Donaldson led a two-year boycott of Northern Ireland's political institutions in Stormont, in protest at post-Brexit trade arrangements. After long negotiations, the DUP agreed to return to Stormont in February, 2024, having secured a new agreement and a series of declarations regarding the constitutional position of Northern Ireland within the United Kingdom. The serious allegations occurred when Jeffrey Donaldson was at the top of his game. As for what his mentor, Enoch Powell said – that all political careers eventually fail – the prophecy might well come true in the case of Jeffrey Donaldson.

What can be done now?

When the allegations came to light, DUP party officials suspended Jeffrey Donaldson from the party and unanimously appointed deputy leader Gavin Robinson as interim leader. Mr Robinson is the MP for East Belfast and became deputy leader of the DUP in June 2023. He is a former Lord Mayor of Belfast and was first elected to parliament in 2015. His political stance is almost identical to Jeffrey Donaldson's stance, and he ran a successful leadership campaign for him in 2021.

According to Sinn Féin and the DUP, there is no risk to the political stability of the North. Although I don't believe that to be true, I understand that that is the best thing for them to say. The political ecosystem is now fragile, and easy to break. The ink is not yet dry on Jeffrey Donaldson's decision to end the Stormont boycott, a decision for which he did not have strong support in the DUP. There is a good chance that those who are against that decision would take the opportunity to reopen it and take a step back. On the other side of the argument, there is a lot of pressure on the DUP not to go back to a dysfunctional system in the North, a system where everyone suffers, including their own supporters.

Let's all hope that all political parties in the North and especially the DUP will have a little sense and concern in this hour of decision, and in that way peace will prevail. As we all know, we can never take the political situation for granted, especially in the North!

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