Sleep No More: Six Murderous Tales by P. D. James (Faber & Faber, £10.00) There are critics who think that a tale of crime is often better told as a short story, with the models of Conan Doyle, and many writers of the golden age in the interwar years when there were magazine outlets. Now…
Sometimes a pro-gramme gives you an unexpected but emotional punch. The impact of last week’s Prime Time – Carers in Crisis (RTÉ 1, Tuesday) was immediate and heart rending, but it will have to go way beyond a passing discomfort for the viewer. At least one of the carers said she didn’t want pity or…
Pat O’Kelly Since 2012 the National Concert Hall has presented an annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Irish musicians of international renown. Not confined to what can be loosely termed ‘classical artists’, the award spreads its wings across a broader spectrum of musical genres. James Galway, Veronica Dunne, Paul Brady and the Vanbrugh Quartet followed the…
Anthony Redmond How We Killed God . . .and Other Tales of Modern Ireland by David Quinn (Currach Press, €16.99) Two guests who took part on the Ryan Tubridy Show on RTÉ radio back in October 2006 were the well-known atheist Richard Dawkins and the journalist David Quinn. Dawkins was there to discuss his book,…
At this time of the year publishers are particularly anxious to push their new wares. That is all very well for them, but many readers might also like to read something older, to return to the classics of all kinds that were the common rereading of yesteryear. Oddly enough as a result I suppose of…
by J. Anthony Gaughan Sometimes, especially at this time of the year, it is good to look back over the recent past, and perhaps to add a corrective note to what had been written and perhaps widely accepted. I have been reading lately a book that was given to me as present, but which was…
The low key arrival of Advent tends to impact mainly on religious programmes. Some of last week’s discussions on The Leap of Faith (RTÉ Radio 1) were particularly topical. Presenter Michael Comyn started with a beautiful Christmas piece by Mendelsohn, and then got into an exploration of attitudes to Advent and Christmas. Fr Desmond O’Donnell…
This week we present a selection of books available this Christmas time for smaller children and young adults. Younger children The President’s Glasses Peter Donnelly Gill Books, €14.99 This must be the delight of the season for both children and parents. It presents the president as slightly forgetful – well it comes to us all.…
Christmas brings out reactions in us that we might be too reserved to give vent to at other times of the year. Maybe that’s why films about the festive season, or those set in and around it, have such an emotional impact on us –and why they last down through the ages. I’m thinking of…
Science and Spiritual Practices: Transformative experiences and their effects on our bodies, brains, and health by Rupert Sheldrake (Coronet, £20.00) Christopher Moriarty Scientific evidence shows that humans have sought, for tens of thousands of years, to connect their activities with something outside their day-to-day activities. Since history began, written records of religious practices have…
Brendan O’Regan
Peter Costello
Aubrey Malone