The World of Books By the books editor Once again, thanks largely it seems to a very human impatience to be done, once and for all, with the pandemic, lockdown restrictions have returned because so many, especially in Dublin and Kildare, could not wait as calmly as we should for ‘normal life to return’. But…
At this time of the year, with the leaves changing colour and beginning to fall, the lines in the banner above from Sonnet LXXIII are always in my mind, especially with their hint of a Catholic outlook in Shakespeare (a much-discussed topic today, more so than it once was), through its allusion to the systematic…
Fearfully & Wonderfully: The Marvel of Bearing God’s Image by Dr Paul Brand & Philip Yancey (Hodder Books, £9.99; Kindle edition, £9.99) These days, with the daily news dominated by medical fears of all kinds and our inability to cope, many people all too conscious of the frailties of the human body and the effects that…
The Old Gunner and his Medals by Brendan Lynch (Mountjoy Publishing, €12.00; ISBN 978-0-9513668-3-7) Brendan Lynch’s novel, published at the age of 80, is (all going well) an Irish classic in the making. The novel never misses a step. From beginning to end it reads flawlessly as an account of a darker side of Irish history…
The Bible. A Story that makes sense of Life by Andrew Ollerton (Hodder & Stoughton, £14. 99; available in bookshops this month) The Bible, from Genesis to the Epistles, provides the common ground for belief for Christians of all tradition, East and West. And yet again, from East to West, they have drawn such varied notions…
Mainly About Books by the Books Editor While the country continues to struggle with the effects of the pandemic, the outcome of which is still unclear in its development, some are turning their thoughts to thinking about what needs to be done, especially in the Dublin region where the disease has been most dangerous. Planning…
Gerard Byrne is a Dublin-based artist with a studio in Ranelagh. A leading figure in the Irish art world, for some time he has been painting streetscapes in the Rathmines and Pembroke areas, which have already attracted a lot of attention. I met him at work recently, painting the oldest house in Wellington Place in…
Holistic Healing: A Christian Approach by Pat Collins CM (Columba Books, €16.99) This book is only partly about healing. As with all medical matters health in mind, body and spirit begins not in curing but preventing. Living a whole life in a healthy way is the essence of the matter. And, Fr Collins [pictured below] suggests,…
You Have the Words of Eternal Life by Martin Hogan (Messenger Publications, €14.95/£13.95) In these daily reflections for the liturgical year to come, Martin Hogan, who worked as a co-parish priest on the North side of Dublin, provides reflections on the Gospels of the day that arise directly out of the life and needs of the…
Digging Up Armageddon: The Search for the Lost City of Solomon by Eric H. Cline (Princeton University Press, £30.00/$35.00) ‘Armageddon’ is a word that puts the fear of God in many people today. It is all very well having fears about the end of the world, the now fashionable ‘End Times’, when one is 12 –…