From The Guardian: ““Money kills the imagination,” says the narrator of Claire Kilroy’s 2012 novel The Devil I Know, a fiendishly good satire of the moment the Irish boom went bust. “It makes us want the same thing.” The book is set in 2016 and takes the form of one man’s testimony to a tribunal intended to uncover the sleaze and short-termism that enabled a giant property bubble to inflate in the years leading up to the global financial crash of 2008. In the autumn of 2015, we have not yet caught up with Kilroy’s future setting, but as the real-world aftershocks of the Celtic Tiger’s downfall continue, one Irish sector is booming: with the rise of a new wave of writers, from Paul Murray, Kevin Barry and Donal Ryan to first-time authors such as Eimear McBride, Sara Baume, Lisa McInerney and Colin Barrett, there is a palpable energy to Irish fiction.”
2. Rediscover the classics by reading 30 great opening lines in literature
From The Telegraph: “If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you’ll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don’t feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.” – J.D Salinger: The Catcher In The Rye (1951)
From The Guardian: “It’s important for people to tell you what side they are on and why, and whether they might be biased. A declaration of members’ interests, of a sort. So, I am going to be talking to you about reading. I’m going to tell you that libraries are important. I’m going to suggest that reading fiction, that reading for pleasure, is one of the most important things one can do.”
From io9: “Do you ever outgrow the pleasure of having a story read to you? Not if you’re listening to these books. From A-list celebrities to talented voice actors with multiple pseudonyms, these voices will make you love literature, even if you’re listening to it instead of reading it.”
5. A short story on the cruelty of children by Ben Marcus: “Cold Little Bird”
From The New Yorker: ” It tarted with bedtime. A coldness. A formality.
Martin and Rachel tucked the boy in, as was their habit, then stooped to kiss him good night.
“Please don’t do that,” he said, turning to face the wall.
They took it as teasing, flopped onto his bed to nuzzle and tickle him.”
Book details
- The Devil I Know by Claire Kilroy
EAN: 9780571283439
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- The Catcher in the Rye by JD Salinger
EAN: 9780140237498
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- Trigger Warning: Short Fictions and Disturbances by Neil Gaiman
Book homepage
EAN: 9781472217691
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by JK Rowling
EAN: 9780590353427
Find this book with BOOK Finder!
- Leaving the Sea: Stories by Ben Marcus
EAN: 9780307379382
Find this book with BOOK Finder!