For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers [Paperback]

Susan Cahill (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 13, 2001

Welcome to the Ireland of its Writers

Walk the streets of Dublin with Jonathan Swift, James Joyce, Samuel Beckett, and Roddy Doyle. Contemplate the wild glens of Wicklow with John Millington Synge and Seamus Heaney. Wander the thrilling Cliffs of Moher with Wallace Stevens. Visit antic Limerick with Frank McCourt; mysterious Coole Park with Lady Gregory; breathtaking Sligo with William Butler Yeats; wild Donegal with Brien Friel; and hidden Clare with Edna O'Brien.

No place has inspired more great literature than Ireland, which in each new generation gives birth to an astonishing number of poets, storytellers, and dramatists. For the literary pilgrim to arrive, book in hand, at the pub where Joyce set a scene or the mountain where Yeats imagined a myth is to uncover fresh meaning in the works of writers in love with their native landscape.

In For the Love of Ireland, Susan Cahill offers the jewels of Irish literature. Each selection is followed by traveler's advice on how to find and fully experience the place that's about. Whether you take this book with you to Ireland or savor it in your armchair, you will be enriched, ennobled, and entertained by writers of remarkable range and at the top of their form.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers, Susan Cahill (editor of the anthology Desiring Italy) pairs more than 60 writings (by over 40 authors) with geographic, sociological, literary, cultural and practical information. Pieces by Joyce, Roddy Doyle, Yeats, Edna O'Brien, Seamus Heaney and others are followed by Cahill's explications of the works' diverse settings, references, characters and events. Cahill includes travel guide details, such as the current schedule for the ferry that Sean O'Faolain described 50 years ago in An Irish Journey. Driven by literary enthusiasm rather than travel needs, the book suggests jaunts in 16 counties.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

This combination anthology and travel guide uses excerpts from the works of many notable Irish writers, both classic and contemporary to set the scene for the traveler to Ireland. While reading this book, one may wander the streets of Dublin with Jonathan Swift, see Limerick through the eyes of Frank McCourt or experience Sligo alongside William Butler Yeats. Each literary selection is followed by practical tips for discovering the writer's subject. While this book will please lovers of Ireland and Irish writers, it should not be used as a primary travel planner. It is more suitable as a companion volume for the traveler to read while exploring the Emerald Isle or as a book for the armchair traveler. Cahill's other works include a similar guide to Italy (Desiring Italy, LJ 7/15/97) and several anthologies of women's literature. This book is appropriate for both academic and public libraries, but if your budget for travel books is limited, this may not be a necessary purchase. Sandy Knowles, Henderson Cty. P.L., NC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 480 pages
• Publisher: Ballantine Books; 1 edition (February 13, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0345434196
• ISBN-13: 978-0345434197
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.6 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #537,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars FOR THE LOVE OF IRELAND, March 27, 2010

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Robert J. Flynn "Jet fan" (Sarasota, FL.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: For the Love of Ireland: A Literary Companion for Readers and Travelers (Paperback)

This volume proves the old Irish adage that although the English invented the English language, only the Irish know how to use it. Whenever I travel, this is the first item in my bag and, no matter where I am, I can open it at any page and be overwhelmed by the beauty of words I read. There is something of joy and sadness by so many writers, that no reader can be disappointed.