(This is supposed to be the Mission : Impossible music, for those of you who hadn't noticed.)
I finished Jaywalking with the Irish!! In my awful train ride from Strasbourg to Graz, I had more than enough time, thanks, once again to the DB. I would now like to launch into a terrible diatribe about travelling conditions, staff politeness, taxi music, smoking in trains, and why my asthma medicine always has to crawl all the way to the bottom of my suitcase when I need it in a crowded train, but I won't because it has nothing to do with JWI. So...
Let's talk about what really interests us: My opinion about JWI... (yeah, I know you're terribly interested about my opinion, reader, you always are. And if you're not, anyway, why are you even reading this?? Huh??)
So. I have mixed feelings about this book, and I'm being very honest. I liked some parts, found it funny, and interesting, and liked the characters that were described throughout the book, but I seem to have a little problem with Monagan himself, with whom I don't always agree. I mean, he's kind of two-faced about the whole Ireland business!
He seems to regret the "good old Ireland" of his past, the pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, which everybody loved, and stuff. And this is something that I have also heard a lot myself when I was in Dublin, by the way: "Oh, it was so much better before, when we actually knew what money was worth, and nature was open and beautiful, and we knew that generosity was a value, much more than coins and banknotes". I do agree with that. But then again, guys, and I'm talking to non-native Irish there, they were not going to stay country bumpkins all theirs life just to please you. I feel that it's not doing justice to how much people had to struggle at the time, to regret this "good old past" which was not all that good, really, looking back on it.
And when Irish try (however clumsily) to recover this lost past, they are mocked for building Disneyland around their historical monuments. Are we never ever to be content with what we have? It's funny, because I think that this is an ultimate sign of begrudgery amongst Irish people. They always say it is one of their main traits, and now, they are actually begrudging themselves. I mean:
"Couldn't they see the Dublin I used to know [says Monagan with a teary voice], with its characters from the country who cinched their pants with rope, and shawl cloaked vegetable-stall women who bawled into the morning, crude and carefree? [...] So much was gone."
Yeah. I'm really convinced those people regret having fitting blue jeans and jobs that allow them to wake up at 8 instead of 3 am.
In general, I understand what he means, I liked the book, and the style of writing, because it's nice to learn so many new words, and I felt for the characters in all the right places, and laughed in all the right places too, but it could not become my favourite book. Some of the anecdotes that were related were really interesting and nice, but in general, I think one of the reasons why I didn't like it so much was the lack of events in his life. But that's me, I'm just not used to autobiographies!
Well, I have mostly written about what I didn't like about JWI, even though I really enjoyed reading it, but I think it's more interesting to criticise than to praise, so there you go, reader. That was My Opinion About JWI. What do you think?
I finished Jaywalking with the Irish!! In my awful train ride from Strasbourg to Graz, I had more than enough time, thanks, once again to the DB. I would now like to launch into a terrible diatribe about travelling conditions, staff politeness, taxi music, smoking in trains, and why my asthma medicine always has to crawl all the way to the bottom of my suitcase when I need it in a crowded train, but I won't because it has nothing to do with JWI. So...
Let's talk about what really interests us: My opinion about JWI... (yeah, I know you're terribly interested about my opinion, reader, you always are. And if you're not, anyway, why are you even reading this?? Huh??)
So. I have mixed feelings about this book, and I'm being very honest. I liked some parts, found it funny, and interesting, and liked the characters that were described throughout the book, but I seem to have a little problem with Monagan himself, with whom I don't always agree. I mean, he's kind of two-faced about the whole Ireland business!He seems to regret the "good old Ireland" of his past, the pre-Celtic Tiger Ireland, which everybody loved, and stuff. And this is something that I have also heard a lot myself when I was in Dublin, by the way: "Oh, it was so much better before, when we actually knew what money was worth, and nature was open and beautiful, and we knew that generosity was a value, much more than coins and banknotes". I do agree with that. But then again, guys, and I'm talking to non-native Irish there, they were not going to stay country bumpkins all theirs life just to please you. I feel that it's not doing justice to how much people had to struggle at the time, to regret this "good old past" which was not all that good, really, looking back on it.
And when Irish try (however clumsily) to recover this lost past, they are mocked for building Disneyland around their historical monuments. Are we never ever to be content with what we have? It's funny, because I think that this is an ultimate sign of begrudgery amongst Irish people. They always say it is one of their main traits, and now, they are actually begrudging themselves. I mean:
"Couldn't they see the Dublin I used to know [says Monagan with a teary voice], with its characters from the country who cinched their pants with rope, and shawl cloaked vegetable-stall women who bawled into the morning, crude and carefree? [...] So much was gone."
Yeah. I'm really convinced those people regret having fitting blue jeans and jobs that allow them to wake up at 8 instead of 3 am.
In general, I understand what he means, I liked the book, and the style of writing, because it's nice to learn so many new words, and I felt for the characters in all the right places, and laughed in all the right places too, but it could not become my favourite book. Some of the anecdotes that were related were really interesting and nice, but in general, I think one of the reasons why I didn't like it so much was the lack of events in his life. But that's me, I'm just not used to autobiographies!
Well, I have mostly written about what I didn't like about JWI, even though I really enjoyed reading it, but I think it's more interesting to criticise than to praise, so there you go, reader. That was My Opinion About JWI. What do you think?
4 commentaires:
*vouculte*
Non, je ne sais pas ce que ça veut dire, et oui j'ai juste chopé l'expression sur le blog de Séverine, et non ce n'est pas l'opinion que tu demandais sur le bouquin vu que j'l'ai pas lu, mais euh, voilà, j'trouve ça bien alors .
Yeah!! J'ai trop du bol!! Merci!! Vive les compliments!!
Hahaha ! Mystery accent !
En fait... moi qui suis une insider de l'Oklahoma, désormais, je peux te dire qu'il parle... wait for it... comme un Français qui aurait vécu aux Etats-Unis pendant quelques années.
Ca t'aide, hein ?
Ouais, mystery accent, c'est Marion qui m'a donné l'idée! Pas mal, comme définition... Je vais essayer de me faire passer pour quelqu'un de l'ambassade, la prochaine fois que je l'appelle, histoire de tenter... Sauf que non, car je hais les blagues téléphoniques. C'est bas :-)
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