
Dirty Pool
Book
To get what he wants, he’ll have to play a game of dirty pool. Michel Marcello never wanted to...

The Lock Up
Book
The Sunday Times bestselling author of Snow and April in Spain returns with Strafford and Quirke's...
Irish literature Historical fiction

ClareR (5824 KP) rated Glorious Exploits in Books
Feb 26, 2024
This is a story that shows the need for art even in a time of war and horror, and the importance of friendship, love, family and community.
Lampo, one of the two main characters leaps from the page in the way that he describes life in the city of Syracuse. He’s poor and uneducated, but he certainly has a lot to say! His venture with his best friend, Gelon, sees beyond the horrors that the Athenians must have committed - or perhaps he’s come to terms with what they’ve done - and he can see that their punishment doesn’t really fit their crime.
The Syracusans speak in the Irish vernacular, and what’s really strange, is that it doesn’t sound out of place (in my head, anyway!).
I laughed and cried whilst reading this. It really is a glorious read.

Kate Nash recommended track Black Is the Colour of My True Love's Hair by Christy Moore in Live in Dublin by Christy Moore in Music (curated)

Win or Learn: Mma, Conor Mcgregor and Me: A Trainer's Journey
Book
Conor McGregor's trainer tells the amazing story of his long road to success in the world's...

Happy Pear: Healthy, Easy, Delicious Food to Change Your Life
Book
The No 1 bestselling cookery book in Ireland - for two years running! 'These lovely boys always...

Austerlitz
James Wood, Anthea Bell and W.G. Sebald
Book
Austerlitz is W. G. Sebald's haunting novel of post-war Europe. In 1939, five-year-old Jacques...

Sarah (7799 KP) rated Philomena (2013) in Movies
Oct 26, 2017
Judi Dench is as fantastic as ever as Phil. She brings such warmth and a believability to the at times naive Irish woman. The script itself is clever and well written. I didn't think such a disturbing and horrible story could include some truly funny moments, but it pulls them off well. It also really highlights Phil's story without downplaying or making light of, and it's a story that really needs to be told. This isn't something that I was aware of, so it has really opened my eyes to what went on and did in fact make me quite angry.
My only criticism would be Steve Coogan. He seems to play a similar character in most films and other than towards the end of Philomena, you don't feel much ot care much for him.

Awix (3310 KP) rated The Eagle Has Landed (1976) in Movies
May 22, 2018 (Updated May 22, 2018)
Good performances, mostly, and some well-staged action in the closing sections of the film; what's curious about it is the way that the Germans are mostly presented sympathetically, at least as much as the British and American characters. It's a war movie without bad guys, but without much sense of moral or emotional investment either - as a result it's enjoyable as a piece of action cinema, but rather shallow. (It doesn't feel like the moral ambiguity is a deliberate creative choice: Caine thought the director was more interested in going fishing than in overseeing the final edit.) Fun in a disposable sort of way; you could be forgiven for expecting more, given the talent involved.