The new policeman - Kate Thompson

Yet another one of those books that have been waiting on the shelf for years and that I enjoyed more than I expected I would. I wasn’t even sure what it was about, just that once someone told me it was good. And yet, the right time for it only came now. I devoured this in less than two days. It was that good. It’s also about everything I love. Ireland, for starters. It’s set in a delightful little village I’ve visited more than once, in county Galway. It’s about traditional Irish music, and even though I’m not the biggest fan of trad, or diddly aye as my friends from the wesht call it, I do enjoy a session every now and then. It really shows the true heart of Ireland. And finally, it’s about magic, folklore and mythology. About the Tuatha de Danann and the great Irish heroes of the old sagas.Only, not like you’ve read them before.
Life in Kinvara seems to go as usual, except it isn’t. Time is slipping away too fast and people never seem to have enough of it. There is a new policeman in town, but he’s not so sure he’s right for the job and he’d rather play his fiddle in the pub than investigate crimes. Then there’s 15-year-old JJ Liddy who bears his mother’s family name with pride (The Liddys have been for their music and their ceili for years), until one day his friend tells him his great-grandfather murdered a priest, and he’s not sure about being a Liddy anymore. He doesn’t know anything about his family’s past and now his mother realises it’s time to tell him the truth. But soon JJ realises there’s more at stake than his family pride. His determination to buy more time for his mother, as she asked for her birthday present, brings him to the edge of reality in a quest to fix time and fulfil his mother’s wishes.
This was a multi-layered story that was satisfying on many levels. It was filled with humour, with characters instantly easy to love, with an almost tangible love for music and for dancing and for communal traditions carried forward for generations with love and pride. And then there was a not-so-subtle criticism towards the present times, or the present at the time of the novel, when Ireland was at the height of its economic boom, which happened so sudden and so fast that it had earned the name Celtic tiger. No one had time for anything anymore, except making money, buying houses and cars and climbing the career ladder. This was not a huge part of the story but it did linger there, understated, until the ending, when it becomes more obvious.
 But what I loved the most was the new take on the Irish “Gods”. I especially loved Angus and the Dagda, and Bran the dog, and everything that had to do with them. I was slightly concerned about JJ, because unlike him, I did remembered what happened to Oisin in the legends. But still, you don’t need to know too much about old Irish sagas to enjoy this. If anything, it’d make you want to read more about them. But even if this was the only book you’d ever read about them, I think it’d be a good one.
The ending was the cherry on the cake. You find out who the new policeman really is and even though I had an inkling, I hadn’t guessed the full story, and it’s brilliant!

The Art of P. J. Lynch

Especially for this month’s Bookworms Carnival hosted by Nymeth, this post is all about one of my favourite artist: P. J. Lynch.
Lynch is one of Ireland’s most accomplished and known illustrators. Probably *the* most. Ha has been honoured The Kate Greenaway medal twice, for When Jessie Came across the Sea (1997) and The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey (1995), which are part of his more “realistic” works and are without a doubt remarkable.
But what I love about him is how he represents the world of fairy tales, myths and folklore. He puts so much passion and care and love into them, you can almost feel it. His illustrations are so stunning and skilful that they instantly makes you feel they belong to a higher level. They are the stuff classics are made of. That’s why they go so well with subjects related to myths and legends.
Lynch has an extensive gallery on his website. If you want to have a better idea of what I'm talking about, take a look. I'm just going to post some examples of my favourites (click on them to enlarge).

From Melisande:



From The Names upon the harp:



His work is so easy to love, so easy to feel comfortable with. Probably because it evokes the feel of those loved (and feared) fairy tales of everyone’s childhood. Only, I think I would have loved those stories even more if they had his illustrations.

The first P. J. Lynch’s book I came across was Catkin. As always, I was attracted by its cover. It reminded me of an art nouveau painting, a style I’m very fond of. When I looked inside I knew I had found a new favourite. The more of his work I see, the more I fall in love with it. The story itself draws on British folklore and mythology, reinventing them to create a tale which reads as though it had been told for centuries.



The next one I came across was Ignis. A story of an adorable young dragon and his quest of self-discovery. Another instant favourite.





The I discovered East o' the Sun and West o' the Moon, the Bee-man of Orn and the Name upon the Harp… All masterpieces.




I was lucky enough to be able to hear P.J. Lynch himself talking about his work and how every illustrations came to be, when he came into our shop for a public event. He had a projector and I assure you that those paintings shown on a wide screen are even more breathtaking. He told us that he doesn’t just love doing portraits of beautiful ladies, or cats or cute dragons. He has a great sense of horrid and creepy, which he likes to express in his images of witches, globlins and the like.



We got the sense of how much work and time goes into the creation of just one book. And of how much his work is revered and sought for. He is already booked in for years.
Even though I said I love his fantastical works more, I do appreciate the more realistic subjects, as well. They all have a sort of fairytale touch anyway.
The gift of the Magi, his upcoming work which should be out by next Christmas, looks like it's going to be just wonderful. The story is a sad and touching one, and I’m sure the book will be a great hit with everyone.



I just found out he has a blog, so I think I’m going to visit it regularly now! There’s lots of interesting entries, including a video that shows the process in the creation of cover for The Bee-man of Orn. Enjoy!

Finally, I want to share some more of some of my favourite paintings:

From Melisande:



From The Snow Queen:



and from The Names Upon the Harp:



That's it! I hope you enjoyed it. I certainly did :)

Dream Angus - Alexander McCall Smith

When I started reading I thought this was going to be just a book about Angus the god of dreams. Then as I was reading, I realise that this wasn’t just that. This is also collection of short stories, set in the real world, that show all the different faces of the god Angus.
Probably because I wasn’t prepared for this, I found that some of the stories didn’t leave a great impression on me. They are all beautifully written, and I admire the inventiveness of finding a way of showing the god present within different kind of men in different places and time. It’s just that they didn’t stick with me at all. The only story that left an impression was the last one. About the kind-hearted pig keeper of a research centre, who tries to save one of the pigs from his deadly fate, and unexpectedly touches the heart of a young secretary. I thought it was a very moving and tender story.
I also liked reading about Angus the god, about his conception, his childhood, and about his love sickness. The writing really managed to evoke a mythological atmosphere, and it was truly beautiful.
It was a very quick and pleasant read, and it certainly made me want to read more about this author, but just the fact that after few weeks I can hardly remember what some of the stories were about, gives you the idea of why it wasn’t a great hit for me. So, I won't try and find some insightful things to say about it and I'll just leave it at this!

other blog reviews:
Marg at Reading Adventures
Nymeth at Things mean a lot

Odd and the Frost Giants - Neil Gaiman

Sometimes you have to be odd to save the world.

This is the story of the Viking boy Odd. Although his name meant “tip of a blade” and it was a lucky name, he was actually odd. Nobody in the village could understand his thoughts and his smile would drive them crazy. Even when his father died trying to save a pony from drowning, he only shrugged and smiled. Even when he broke his foot cutting a big tree with his father’s axe, and remained crippled for life, he just smiled.
After two years from his father’s death, his mother, a Scottish woman who used to sing beautiful ballads, re-married Fat Elfred, a big guy with too many kids of his own to care about a crippled stepson, so Odd spent most of his time in the woods.
One year, though, the spring failed to arrive. The frost didn’t thaw when it should have, and the people got more and more nervous in the great hall, after four months of staring at each other. They started fights and tell mean jokes, until Odd decided he had enough and ran away.
He packed some salmon and some embers from the fire, and went to his father’s cabin in the woods, with the firm intention of never coming back.

This is where he met a strange fox, a huge bear and an eagle, who seemed to need his help, and that’s how the adventures of a crippled and odd boy began.
He would go to Asgard, the land of Gods, he would confront a Frost Giant, meet the gods, and eventually save the world. All just by being himself.

I love this little tale. It’s funny and uplifting. Odd was a lovable character, with his infuriating smile and his calm matter-of-factly attitude. The gods, especially Thor and Loki, were hilarious, in their endless squabbles. The ending was perfect.

It also made me think about Gaiman’s choice of crippled characters. I’ve only read three stories by him, and in two of them, the main characters (Odd here and Yvaine in Stardust) limp throughout the story. These are fantasy books and you would expect that in the end, when the hero has saved the world, or when it’s time for a happily-ever-after, that these problems would be solved by magic of some sorts. Instead, magic can only ease their pain, but never restore their bones to complete health.
On one hand it shows the unchangeable consequences of accidents. On the other, it seems to say that these characters are hero not despite their disabilities, but because of them.

All in all this was extremely enjoyable, a perfect bedtime story and a great introduction to Norse mythology for kids. It is also a must read for any Neil Gaiman’s fan.

other blog reviews:
Nymeth at Things mean a lot
Chris at Stuff as dreams are made on
Alix at Not enough bookshelves