Road to Brightcity

By Máirtín Ó Cadhain and Mairtin O'Cadhain

Book Overview

No Synopsis Available.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0905169476
• ISBN13: 9780905169477
• Release Date: January 1981
• Publisher: Dufour Editions
• Length: 111 Pages
• Weight: 0.25 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Beauty and pain

I am from the west of Ireland. My husband bought me a copy of this book when we were dating and I had never heard of it. I studied O'Caidhn in school, but knew there was very little of his stuff translated to English. It is definitely, the most precious collection of stories one could ever read. It is so beautiful but at the same time so painful to read through the very vivid descriptions of country life at its simplest level, and it brings a yearning to one's heart to have simple beauty without the heartache. O'Caidhn takes you through the fields in the fierce wind, by the roads, barefoot, in the cold, through that savage wind and rain of the West of Ireland that rips through your skin and makes your soul cold. He takes you through the rocky roads and winding hills, in pain or desperation, and when you see a baby smile with joy or find the heather blooming under a ray of sunshine or your shopping bag doesn't break while you are carrying a few maums of flour for bread for your hungry husband, you experience that 30 seconds of pure pleasure that makes the journey so worthwhile. O'Caidhn knows, he knows, that the simplest gifts are the best. He knows that life is beautiful, even if the journey is painful sometimes. Whereever O'Caidhn takes you, you are there completely, as you read through his pages. O'Caidhn is this good to read after being translated. Imagine what his work is like if you read it in the native tongue....

The Road To BrightCity

I cannot understand why this book has not been reviewed by anyone to date. I treasure this book of short stories so much that I bought a second copy a few years back as I was disturbed about lending it out and never getting it back. The stories in this book are dated between 1900 and 1920 and placed in the western part of Ireland. Each story compounds a double view, at once harsh and bitter in the need of its characters to survive but within a landscape and lyricism alive with beauty. Life is grim but neither tragic nor absurd. It is centered on action amongst the commonplace. I am still enchanted by the visions these tales create and yet ashamed of the part that the English must have played in setting up the social conditions for these to be more than just tales. As far as I am aware, this book represents the only English translation of his body of works. If you have ever read and enjoyed works by Irish authors then this book is a must for you. This will educate the mind, create a longing for travel and move you still further.