STELLA|1SEPTEMBER 2019 57
Being brought upin
CountyWexfordwas
like being brought up
in the19thcentury.
No telephone, for ex-
ample. No television
until Iwas around nine.Becaus emy
father wasateacher and involved in
politics andtheCatho lic Church,peo-
plevisitedthe house. Once he died,
Ifeltmuchmoresolitary.
At schoolIwaswrittenoffby afew
teachers.IthinkIsat in class in a
kind of dream. WhenIwent on to
boardatStPeter’s College in Wex-
ford,theyhad agood libraryand I
read alot of poetry, especiallyYeats,
EliotandAuden.
After graduatingfromUniversity
CollegeDublinIwas ajournalist at an
Irish magazine,which held those
whohad powertoaccount.And pow-
er washeldfirmlybyanumber of
stubbornforce sthen ,includingthe
Cathol ic Church. Ouraim wasto
changeIreland,thoug hthat sounds
toograndiose. BythetimeIleft,aged
29,I’d written halfofmyfirst n ovel,
TheSouth,and afterthat Ikept work-
ingonnovelsun tilitb ecamemylife.
Irecall vividlythe momentIstart-
ed writingmy sixthnovel,Brook-
lyn.Ihadreturned to Ir eland after a
yearin theUS. Irereadthefirstchap-
terofanothernovel Iwas writ ing
andthoughtitwould makeastory
on itsown. Onenight ataconcertin
Barcelona,theentir estructurecame
to m eclear ly.Thatbookhad some
luck butit all happenedslowly. By
thetime thefilm cameout Iwas
workingonotherprojects.
WhenIworkIamreallyuntidy.
Thereare booksand pilesofpaper
Mybookshelf
Colm, 64, is the author of nine novels, including Brooklyn,which wasmade
into afilm starring SaoirseRonan. He livesbetw een NewYork and Dublin
Colm Tóibín
ever ywhere. Ontheother hand, I
tend tobe pretty organised in how
Iapproach anovel. Forexample, I
don’t needtowritedownaplan. The
structure is in my headand itis
precise. So Isupposethe untidiness
around meis asortofalibi for the
amountofc ontrolIexerci seoverthe
textIamworkingon.
Iwakeearlybutgetuparo und9am.
Iswim abit or play abit of tennis
and go to thegym sometimes–but
when IamworkingIwork, andlike
to keepgoing untilIgotobed,with
shortbreaks formeals orreading.
Sometimesmypartner[the writer
Hedi El Kholti] asks mewhat Iam
thinking about.Ihave to admitthat
Iamthinking aboutmynovel. I
wishIcould feelguilty aboutthis,
astheguiltmightbeproductive.But
Idon’t .It’sthe onlyway work can
getdone.
Colm Tóibín’snew
book,Mad,Badand
Dangerous to Know:
TheFathe rs of Wilde,
Yeatsand Joyce,
astudy of three of
Ireland’sgreatest
writersthrough their
fathers’ lives,iso ut
now(Penguin, £9.99)
Getty Images
COLM’S LIFE IN SIX BOOKS
TheGoodSoldier
by Ford MadoxFord
An tale of treachery and adultery,first published
in 1915.Fordmanagesto playwith concealment
and revelation withreal, sly skill.Technically,
it is one of the greatbooksofits time.
DeathandNightingales
by EugeneMcCabe
This masterpiece issetinIreland in the 1880s.
It is vivid with accounts of theFermanagh
landscape and the tribal divide in Ireland.
It alsohas amost convincing plottwist.
HowLateItW as,HowLate
by JamesKelman
This is as muchacelebration oftone in proseas
it is astory of hardship,misfortune and pain. It
is filled with comic energgy,but it is alsonot
afraidto explorethe darkestregions of the mind.
ThePast
by TessaHadley
The story of an Englishfamily havingareunion
aftermanyyears. Thewayemotions arehandled
and relationships dramatised makes this
one of the high points of contemporaryfiction.
ThePaaxBritannicatriloggy
by JanMorris
Morris has an acutesenseofthe damagedone
in thenameofprogres sand civilisa tion.
But thereisalsosomethingfond andforg iving
in this accountofthe British Empire.
ALegacy
by Sybille Bedford
It is writtenwith wit and panache. Ittells the
story oftwoGermanfamilies in theyearsbefore
the FirstWorldWar. Thereisnot asingle lazy
sentence. Instead, thereisexquisiteenerggy.
Document: 1057CC-STMMA-1-010919-A057C-XX.pdf;Format:(205.00
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