Search results for ""author mairtin o cadhain""

A collection of the finest stories from the Irish author of The Dirty Dust, published fifty years after his death “Every sentence is packed with explosive power, not a word wasted, and the whole is almost unbearably moving.”—Hilary Mantel These colorful tales from renowned Irish author Máirtín Ó Cadhain (1906–1970) whisk readers to the salty western shores of Ireland, where close‑knit farming communities follow the harsh rhythms of custom, family, and land, even as they dream together of a kinder world. In this collection, the resilient women and men of the Gaeltacht regions struggle toward self‑realization against the brutal pressures of rural poverty, and later, the hollowing demands of modern city life. Weaving together tradition and modernity, and preserving the earthy cadence of the original language, this rich and heart-rending collection by one of Ireland’s most acclaimed fiction writers is a composite portrait of a country poised at the edge of irreversible transformation.

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A riveting English translation the Irish classic tale of heartache, death, and loneliness by the beloved author of The Dirty Dust “Unique, funny and bursting with earthy language.”—Kevin Gildea, Irish Times The final published work by the renowned Máirtín Ó Cadhain, this novella follows a widower as he attempts to plan his wife’s funeral arrangements without money, direction, or whiskey. Thrown into a desert of unknowing, he knows not where to turn or what to do. In a poignant meditation on regret, possibilities, maybes, and avoidances, the author portrays a man hopelessly watching as the people in the world go about their lives around him. With black humor sprinkled throughout, the book, a profound look at psychic loss and puzzlement by a writer at the height of his powers, illustrates Ó Cadhain’s conviction that tragedy and comedy are inextricably connected. Bringing this work to an English-speaking audience for the first time, this volume includes an illuminating introduction by Alan Titley, whose skillful translation captures the spirit and tone of the original.

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