World of Books Do Chrstians, and especially Catholic Christians, really understand and appreciate the true nature of Judaism today? I ask this question, which has some importance to the world today, because I have been looking into a book I casually acquired but which has turned out to be quite fascinating. It is called A…
The Land of Far Beyond, The First Christmas and other Stories, Noah’s Ark and other Stories from the Old Testament by Enid Blyton (Hodder Children’s Books, £10.99 each) One has to feel some sympathy with the ghost of Enid Blyton if she were to return to see what has been done to her children’s books,…
I Believe: The Promise of the Creed by Pope Francis (Orbis Books / Alban Books, £14.99) This is the American translation of a book which originally appeared in German in 2015. It has been edited by Stephan von Kempis, who has picked out from a wide range of the Pope’s writings and talks, passages that…
Thomás Flynn, Thomas J. Devine (1862 -1941), and The Election of the Snows: The North Roscommon By-Election of 1917 Published by the author; copes from Trinity Books, Carrick-on-Shannon and The Reading Room, Carrick-on-Shannon, €12. For further information: ring 086 067 5283 On February 6, the result of the North Roscommon Bye-Election of 1917 was announced…
The Harbour Within: A Book of Simple Spirituality by Sister Consilio (Hachette Books Ireland, €14.99 hb / €8.99pb) While working as a young nun in Athy Sr Consilio came in contact, through the local hospital, with “the men of the road”. These were men, often from a farming background, some ex-soldiers, who had been rendered…
Migraine: Not Just Another Headache ed. by Dr Marie Murray, compiled by Patrick Little & Audrey Craven (Currach Press, €12.99) In my time I have suffered from migraines. They are a very unlovely thing indeed, debilitating a person for days, or even weeks, on end. Recurrent and painful though they are, they are not fatal.…
Gregory O’Connor Rebellion and Revolution in Dublin: Voices from a Suburb, Rathfarnham, 1913-23 (South Dublin County Council, €15; available also from any South Dublin Library, or online from www.southdublinlibraries.ie/bookstore) This book consists of 13 essays by different authors on various aspects of the momentous events which occurred in the 10 years between the founding of…
The World of Books The old adage tells us we are what we eat. Whatever about that, it is certainly true that, intellectually at least, we are what we read. This being the case, I was not unnaturally curious about how books might have shaped the mind and imagination of the new president of the…
Séan Ryan The Silent Books: A Deaf Family and the Disappearing Australian-Irish Sign Language by Bernadette T. Wallis (Missionary Sisters of Service; available on Amazon.co.uk at £17.86 / Aus$30.00; www.missionarysisters.org.au) Ahearing child of parents who were both profoundly deaf, Sr Wallis has written an insightful history of her parents’ childhood, education and family life, and…
A Field Guide to Lies and Statistics: A Neuroscientist on How to Make Sense of a Complex World by Daniel Levitin (Viking. £12.99 / €17) Exposure to misinformation is part of the human condition. Some – Levitin calls them ‘lying weasels’ – will bend the truth in order to persuade us to buy something or…
Peter Costello