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Product Description
Product Description
Tomas O'Crohan was born on the Great Blasket Island in 1865 and died there in 1937, a great master of his native Irish. He shared to the full the perilous life of a primitive community, yet possessed a shrewd and humorous detachment that enabled him to observe and describe the world. His book is a valuable description of a new vanished way of life; his sole purpose in writing it was in his own words, 'to set down the character of the people about me so that some record of us might live after us, for the like of us will never be again'. The Blasket Islands are three miles off Irelands Dingle Peninsula. Until their evacuation just after the Second World War, the lives of the 150 or so Blasket Islanders had remained unchanged for centuries. A rich oral tradition of story-telling, poetry, and folktales kept alive the legends and history of the islands, and has made their literature famous throughout the world. The 7 Blasket Island books published by OUP contain memoirs and reminiscences from within this literary tradition, evoking a way of life which has now vanished.
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First Sentence
I WAS born on St. Thomas's day in the year 1856. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
I WAS born on St. Thomas's day in the year 1856. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is hard to categorise. It is a history book that reads like a novel, an autobiography that seems like it could easily be fiction. Even in translation from the Irish, the writing flows easily and it is difficult not to become totally immersed in it. I found it hard to put down.
The book is the story of Tomas O Criomthain's life, from his earliest memories as an infant through to his older days. His was a remarkable life, not just in terms of the harsh environment of the Blaskets in which he found himself, but in the tragedy of losing children and a wife, his own family and many of his siblings. The book shows how islanders faced a daily battle to survive, hunting the sea for all manner of food and existing on little more than bread, milk and various seafood. Throughout everything, O Criomthain somehow manages to rise above it all and there is much laughter and comedy throughout the book.
I cannot recommend it highly enough.
13 of 13 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I remember listening to this many, many years ago when it was broadcast by the BBC as one of their 'Books at Bedtime'. It's enormously charming and touching; possessing a sturdy and compelling grace. A healthy antidote to all that facile 'shamrocks and shenanigans' malarky, that seems to serve as the exemplar of Irish culture in the popular imagination these days.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This was the book that changed my life. I found my first copy Fifty years ago in the roof void of an old house and have bought three other copies since including this one .
Having read the original, I knew that I just had to visit the Great Blasket .Over the years I have revisited on many occasions ,always with my latest edition to hand .
The Author's descriptive style is better than any modern guide book. The reader must surely wonder what life was really like for the Islanders at the time the book was written.
Thanks to the splendid Blasket Centre at Dunquin it is possible to get some idea.
Any visitor who hasn't made the pilgrimage to the island should buy this book and book the ferry.
This is of course a world famous book and will not really need me to submit a review .This edition however does have pictures which were not in the original.
Any lover of all things Irish who hasn't read this book ,if possible,should buy it straight away .A real treat for the soul and quite humbling .
If you have a copy ,buy another and give it to a friend .Future generations need to know about ,and love ,this book.
Having read the original, I knew that I just had to visit the Great Blasket .Over the years I have revisited on many occasions ,always with my latest edition to hand .
The Author's descriptive style is better than any modern guide book. The reader must surely wonder what life was really like for the Islanders at the time the book was written.
Thanks to the splendid Blasket Centre at Dunquin it is possible to get some idea.
Any visitor who hasn't made the pilgrimage to the island should buy this book and book the ferry.
This is of course a world famous book and will not really need me to submit a review .This edition however does have pictures which were not in the original.
Any lover of all things Irish who hasn't read this book ,if possible,should buy it straight away .A real treat for the soul and quite humbling .
If you have a copy ,buy another and give it to a friend .Future generations need to know about ,and love ,this book.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beautifully told tales
An easy and interesting read. A set of very honestly described tales from islands off the West coast of Ireland. Recommended.
Published on 12 Aug 2009 by Richard Saint
"...for the like of us will never be again."
Intense, vigorous depiction of life in the Blasket Islands off the Dingle "Ryan's Daughter" Peninsula on the West Coast of Ireland. Read more
Published on 1 July 2006 by M. Williams
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