After reading this book for a while (it was pretty long) I finished Ireland by Frank Delaney. As I mentioned on my last book review (which was also fun) I wasn’t too sure about this book from the beginning. Well, it began to grow on me and it was a riveting tale of Ireland with a good dose of history about Ireland also. I’m not Irish nor do I know of any Irish blood in me but it was still a great book.
I’m still not in love with the way it was formatted for e-reading, or rather not formatted at all. The book was one giant chapter with absolutely no breaks and no chapter divisions. It was written all the way through and that was also translated into the electronic version. The book has clear breaks and divisions but the author for some reason decided not to pay attention to that and instead write straight through.
I definitely got beyond the no distinguishable breaking point between topics or parts of the book. While I would have like to have some order to the book it was still worth the read for sure. It’s hard to tell most of the time what parts of the book are real Irish history and what was myth. Though sometimes it was definitely myth.
The main character of the book is Ronan O’Mara who was just a young lad (yup lad) at the age of nine. He experienced his first story about Ireland from a traveling storyteller who shares the history of Ireland by telling tales all around Ireland. That’s how he makes his living if you can call it that. He’d tell some stories and people would put him up with food and board.
That in itself is a crazy thought because if I tried knocking on someone’s door to tell them a story I’m pretty sure I’d get some odd looks. It either wouldn’t work in the United States or we’re just beyond those ages of trust. I’m not sure how things work in Ireland these days but maybe they’re just a trusting people. I know I’d give an odd look and say no thanks then shut the door.
Because I would do that then I may miss out on some pretty amazing tales of history, myth, and just all around interesting stuff. I’m ok with that, though.
Back to the traveling storyteller and Ronan. After Ronan’s first experience hearing the storyteller he becomes fixated on him. His life suddenly becomes enveloped by finding this traveling storyteller (who has no name) and hearing more stories. He documents the stories and hears third party experiences hearing of the storyteller. Because the storyteller walks the lands of Ireland he’s a hard fella to find.
The book has lots of twists and turns, tells many stories of Ireland all the way back to Newgrange, and plenty of surprises in the present day too. The present day being when the book takes place which is mostly in the 1960’s.
I love learning about history while also having a tale woven within it. History in itself is often boring so this book was just the ticket. It meets all the things I love about reading and I’m glad to have a basic knowledge of some things Ireland now. I’d love to visit some day and Newgrange is high up on my list.
Reading Up Next
I’m back to reading a business book next but I definitely stretched this one. While it was categories in the Business & Personal Finance category of Apple Books, I’m not sure yet how it fits into that. Either way it’s so far a great interesting book as it follows some interesting philosophers and perhaps how it applies to a Stoic lifestyle?
The book is Lives of the Stoics by Ryan Holiday & Stephen Hanselman. I’m excited for this book because I love reading about philosophers. I think they have a lot to teach us even today. Many of their lessons can be applied forever, even in our modern society. If you learn about history then you are well equipped to deal with present and future.
Lives of the Stoics is a relatively short book (compared to the one I just read) so it won’t take more than a week or so to finish. It’s going to be a good book, though, I can already tell. Oh, and I promise I’m going to blog about something other than books. I have one planned about my drone (which I love) but I just haven’t got around to writing it yet. Stay tuned.