New Year, New Challenges- A Reading List....

Okay, don't all cheer at once, but I'm back to resurrect the blog from it's long overdue winter slumber.


The reason for this burst of new energy? A lack of direction in my reading matter. I'm willing to admit that I'm a list-a-holic. I make lists for movies to watch on Netflix, lists of holiday destinations to check out, lists of recipes to try, lists lists lists. And of course, lists of books to read. For several years Six to be precise) these consisted of academic reading matter for a literature and history degree. When that finished I frequently had the lists of book award longlists or shortlists on regular order at the library.

I've had various stabs at the 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die list but the mere size is so overwhelming that you end up having to take a specific approach to the list (reading modern books first i.e. from the back forwards, reading chronologically by date, reading the 20th century list only are all approaches I've tried) but with such a huge challenge you are setting yourself up to fail. And then of course they keep bringing out new versions with revisions of more books. To add them to the list? To remove those from your book that they have removed? Oh, these are the questions that keep me awake at night :)
 2006 version

Well today I have devised a new reading list/challenge for myself based on my birth year (cough, hum 1966 shush I know, I don't look it, you sweet talkers you) and you can tailor it to your own birth year and your own version of the 1001 books.

So this is the new approach and I think it makes it achievable. My first list is solely made up of the books published in 1966 in the 2006 version of 1001 books, and as I finish that I will start on the 1967 list. Each time I complete a year I will have a sense of achievement and can stop at the end of any year and pick up again with a sense of direction.

So, the reading list of books published in 1966 looks like this, a beautifully easy to manage list of just five books:

1. The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
2. Giles Goat Boy by John Barth
(-. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys) - already read. Highly recommended if you have not read this.
3. The Vice-Consul by Marguerite Duras
(-. The Magus by John Fowles)-already read. Recommended but don't expect to know what is going on                                                    half of the time- this is a very confusing novel.
4. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote- I have started this in the past and not finished it. I will give it                                                                    another go.
5. Trawl by B.S. Johnson

  

 

"I'm On A Break!" Follow @dublinduchess

As the Christmas season nears and work pressure mounts I'm taking a break.



Expecting to return late in the New Year but Twitter feeds on Dublin happenings and foodie news to continue @dublinduchess

The Circus of Perseverance- Gonzo Theatre Co. at Smock Alley Theatre

A small number is gathering in a very large space for a little reception but there is no doubting the beauty of the upstairs space in the Smock Alley Theatre in Dublin's Temple Bar. We're here tonight to see the preview of Philip Doherty's play The Circus of Perseverance which premiered in the Dublin Fringe in 2012 and is resurrected here for a short run.

 
The Gonzo Theatre was founded by Cavan born Doherty in 2009 and since that time he has written, directed or produced twenty plays.

Running from the 25th of November , tonight (30th) is the last night. It's a find-your-own seat theatre of the hard wooden bench variety but its warmth and friendly environment and smaller size makes it a perfect venue for these smaller runs.

Thirty-something arty-farties abound, no doubt friends of the playwright here to support him on the preview night. These are the country's up-and-coming arty crew and they are bonkers! Soon the rest of the audience is assembling, a mix of characters on a Tuesday work night.

The concept of the play is a ringmaster as narrator with seven interwoven stories "in a mesmerising disco of scenes." Roll on The Circus of Perseverance ..."where life is more absurd than art." The stage is set with a drum set, draped curtaining like a big top and red lights, the ring of the circus delineated by curved blocks and cut traffic cones.

It's a play that highlights today's battles-some of them new, some of them ever present; bills, unprotected sex, emigration, D4ers, junkies, the rugby crowd, tourists, Dublin taxi drivers, religion, bunking the fare on the Dart, hipsters, negative equity, investment apartments in Bulgaria. You get the picture. Is it a play? It's certainly a series of vignettes that start to come together as the first half starts to come to a close. Characters start to cross over into the others story. It's not a new idea but it does deal with today's issues.
 Philip Doherty

It is always exciting to see theatre from young writers. This is writing from someone still polishing his craft- it has high points of humour but does not quite keep the level high enough to maintain attention.