Writer. Contributing Editor at The Discarded Image. Digital Content Strategist. Here's where I publicly explore the books I'm reading, the projects I'm working on, and other current interests. Ireland, the Booker, and reader response
Forget shamrocks and Guinness; the Irish portion of my DNA prefers to celebrate St. Patty’s day with literature. A few days ago Brandon emailed me (yes, from across the house) this link to Diane Rehm’s recent interview with Irish novelist Anne Enright, who won the Booker prize for The Gathering.
The title refers to the wake, in Dublin, of a brother in a large family who has committed suicide, an act which reveals a terrible secret in the family’s past. In the clip, just under an hour long, Enright reads several passages from the book in addition to talking about: winning the Booker, the “idea†of Ireland and aspects of the real Ireland’s social history, and the visceral reactions of readers to her difficult subject matter and her female narrator’s anger.
Listening to the interview, I am struck by a couple questions (not least of which is, must I wait until I have published four novels and won a major prize before I consider myself an “emerging writer,†as Enright does? Yikes!):
Why do some people love a piece and others hate it?
Do our backgrounds dictate what kind of literature we will appreciate? That is, must we identify with either the author or the narrator (or both) in some important way in order to “get†the book?
What does that mean for the novelist? Should he or she try to write for everyone, for a select group that can be expected to appreciate a particular book, or just for him/herself and let the pieces fall where they may?
Your comments, please. And if you’ve read the book (I have not—yet), do mention your response to it.
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