Edward Rutherford
An epic novel that’s only one part of Rutherford’s Ireland saga. Starting in AD 430 and ending in AD1533, this book traces the story of Ireland using Dublin as a representative. From Dubh Linn to Dyflin to Dublin.
Through the interwoven stories of six fictional Irish families, we see the transformation of Ireland from the land of druids and Celtic High Kings up to the reign of Henry VIII. The fortunes of these families rise and fall during the Viking invasions, the campaign of Brian Boru, the English annexation of Ireland and the rebellion of Silken Thomas, and possibly serve as a good microcosmic reference point for the rest of their kinsmen too.
By juxtaposing actual historic events with the intrigues of fictional families, and by creating a set of very interesting and meticulously detailed characters, Rutherford helps us visualise what Eire must have been like in those times long ago.
PS. ‘Ireland Awakening’ has been on my shelf for almost 3 years now, because ‘Dublin’ was so difficult to get hold of.
By sheer coincidence, the only two Stephen King books I’ve read are “Under the Dome” and Needful Things. They’re separated by a decade and a half (publication) and so, I was surprised to see a massive similarity in the themes – strange things happening in a town and then the focus shifts to human transactions, motivations and the good/evil within us. In the earlier book, it was a new shop and its proprietor that played havoc, in the later one, it’s an indestructible dome.
When I discussed this with a few friends, I was told that this was not surprising and there were more books with that broad theme, and many authors repeated their themes regularly. These authors and their books are bestsellers too, which means a lot of people like this arrangement?
I have vaguely sensed this in music too – from MLTR to Bon Jovi to Bryan Adams to (even sometimes) Rahman, there seems to be a basic tune which is rendered differently at different times and released as a new track, and it sells. Which does make me wonder if even in these so-called hobbies, many of us have become creatures of habit, just like most other spheres of life – including food, people and so on. Comforts are easy that way, keeps the mind away from thinking. Of course, it could be subjective, and you could be on autopilot on some things, and not on others.
Meanwhile, all this is not to say that others, who are always pushing themselves out of the zone, can get all judgmental about it, but I do wonder whether its a conscious decision to stick to a comfort zone, an inability to break out of it, or not even realising you’re in one. Etymologically, ‘comfort’ means ‘make someone stronger’, but by building that fort around the self, do we become stronger or weaker in the face of life?
until next time, comfort knocks