Most Popular Books by Sebastian Barry

The latest dramatic offering from one of Ireland''s master playwrights Johnny Silvester should be enjoying his retirement in his opulent home outside Dublin, but the past is catching up with him. Once lionized for ushering the Irish Republic into the modern world, Silvester has fallen out of favor not only with the public, but also with his family and friends. Rapidly aging and fed up with a barrage of criticism, he retreats to his study where he reassures himself of his inculpability and awaits a call from his doctor--a call he expects will bring news of a fatal affliction. As he hovers near the phone his family, friends, colleagues, journalists, and students come forth with their reproaches. Among these visitors is the Morleyesque ghost of Cornelius, an ex-colleague and one-time friend for whose mental breakdown and death Silvester is responsible. With Hinterland Sebastian Barry examines the personal and public risks involved in making political advances on a national scale. Weaving modern history in with the life story of a man and his family, Barry has created another searching drama of the uneasy balance between heroism and roguery in Irish politics. The latest dramatic offering from one of Ireland''s master playwrights Johnny Silvester should be enjoying his retirement in his opulent home outside Dublin, but the past is catching up with him. Once lionized for ushering the Irish Republic into the modern world, Silvester has fallen out of favor not only with the public, but also with his family and friends. Rapidly aging and fed up with a barrage of criticism, he retreats to his study where he reassures himself of his inculpability and awaits a call from his doctor--a call he expects will bring news of a fatal affliction. As he hovers near the phone his family, friends, colleagues, journalists, and students come forth with their reproaches. Among these visitors is the Morleyesque ghost of Cornelius, an ex-colleague and one-time friend for whose mental breakdown and death Silvester is responsible. With Hinterland Sebastian Barry examines the personal and public risks involved in making political advances on a national scale. Weaving modern history in with the life story of a man and his family, Barry has created another searching drama of the uneasy balance between heroism and roguery in Irish politics.

Hvordan lyder det, når et 89 år gammelt hjerte brister? Der vil måske ikke være meget mere end stilhed, og i hvert fald blot en ganske lille, sprød lyd. Hjertet tilhører Lilly Bere. Året er 1992, og Lillys elskede barnebarn, Bill, har begået selvmord efter at være vendt hjem fra den første Golfkrig. Derfor sidder den 89-årige dame og nedskriver tanker om sit liv, for også hun har besluttet at afslutte det. Tankerne er i kronologisk orden, men afbrydes af småfortællinger om Lillys dagligdag og starter, da hun og hendes forlovede Tagd ved slutningen af Første Verdenskrig, må flygte fra hjemlandet Irland til et nyt liv i det forjættede Amerika. DAGE MED LILLY er en knugende, barsk og på samme tid smuk roman om håb, familiebånd, krig og kærlighed og en flugt fra Irland til et nyt liv i det forjættede Amerika. Pressen skriver: »DAGE med Lilly er en fin og læseværdig roman om en kvindeskæbne i det 20. århundrede... « Rasmus Dahlberg, Weekendavisen

Eneas McNulty et ses tribulations : soixante-dix ans de la vie d''un homme. Né avec le siècle, en 1900, à Sligo en Irlande, il vit heureux avec ses parents avant l''arrivée de ses frères et de sa sœur. Très tôt, il prend le large. A douze ans, il traîne avec Tupenny Jane, une adolescente à la moralité douteuse ; à seize ans, il part défendre la France dans la Grande Guerre - et se retrouve à Galveston, Texas ; de retour au pays, il entre dans la police - ce qui lui vaut une sentence de mort des Républicains ; il s''échappe de Sligo, et commence une errance sans retour, sans rémission. La mer du Nord, la débâcle de Dunkerque, un vignoble français, l''asile psychiatrique, le Nigeria forment les toiles de fond de sa destinée. C''est en 1970, sur l''île des Chiens, à Londres, qu''aura lieu l''ultime confrontation avec ses traqueurs, venus d''Irlande l''exécuter, et la mort s''accomplira dans une apothéose prodigieuse. Les tribulations d''Eneas - telles les pérégrinations d''Enée, son ancêtre forment un univers où le poème est devenu prose et l''épopée roman ; et ses aventures, pour contées qu''elles soient à la troisième personne, le sont dans sa langue toute personnelle, drôle souvent, celle d''un éternel enfant, mais aussi âpre, rugueuse, lyrique et d''une prodigieuse puissance d''évocation digne d''un héritier direct des bardes irlandais.