Saturday, April 25, 2009

At the Annual Trinity Book Sale

I picked up the following books for a tenner at the Trinity book sale on Thursday.
1. An Apology for Roses by John Broderick: an Irish writer I read about recently. Blurb on the back is amusing - "Marie Fogarty is very much alive, very much aware of her need for men. In a small Irish village, Marie spurns guilt and gossip for the damp-warm odours of the flesh".
2.The Organization Man by William H Whyte: a study of the American white collar worker from the 1950's which was referred to in an article in the Atlantic Monthly I read about ten years ago called 'The Organization Kid', a survey of the conformist business like approach university students were then taking to their study and personal lives. 'Revolutionary Road' by Richard Yates is perhaps a fictional expression of the same subject.
3.Dam-Burst of Dreams by Christopher Nolan:As a thirteen year old in 1987, I vividly remember Nolan winning the Whitbread prize and from that point on developed the idea that his work was extremely complex, almost impenetrable and hence I never read it.
4.One-Dimensional Man by Hebert Marcuse : I watched the Baader Meinhof film last week and that no doubt influenced the purchase of this 1960's indictment of the repressive character of modern society by a Frankfurt School critical theorist. Apparently it was the book to have under one's oxter in the 60s and 70s but is now seen as somewhat dated by today's critics, none of whom of course I can identify.
5. Notes from a Turkish Whorehouse by Philip O'Ceallaigh: The first collection of short stories by this critically acclaimed Irish writer who lives in Bucharest, a fact that for some reason resonates.
6. Articles on Britain by Karl Marx and Friederick Engels: After this week's Budget in the UK, the right wing press claimed Labour had started a 'class war' against the rich, one paper superimposed Darling's head on Lenin's battlng the bourgeoise. Seemed like an apposite time to flick through these articles.
Irish Blogs Blogarama - The Blog Directory