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cassiecarola's review
reflective
fast-paced
4.25
perfectly executed peek inside the mind of a medievalist. portrays well how a historian's mind jumps from time to time, topic to topic, place to place. has there ever been a unique experience that won't remind us of another one? unlikely! but it's comforting nevertheless.
flightyrachel's review
informative
reflective
3.25
I read this as a 'read something out of your comfort zone' challenge, and it's certainly not like anything else I've ever read.
I know absolutely nothing about the subject but I really enjoyed the links that the author makes between her life, our times and early Irish thought and poetry. The chapter called Words opened my eyes to her line of research and study, and I thought it was wonderful. She makes etymology so exciting!
I was frustrated by her seeming lack of self knowledge and a definite lack of transparency. She keeps her emotions and any self reflection very private, whilst regaling the reader with stories of her sex life, drug use and alcoholism. So she gives the appearance of openness, but actually we have little idea how she really feels. However the last chapter, called Memory, deals with this contradiction head on, and explains why a lot is left unsaid. (It's just strange to decide to write such a personal story but then decide a lot of it is too personal to share.)
Overall this was a good read. I thought it was going to be one of those Eat Love Pray self help things but it's so much better.
I know absolutely nothing about the subject but I really enjoyed the links that the author makes between her life, our times and early Irish thought and poetry. The chapter called Words opened my eyes to her line of research and study, and I thought it was wonderful. She makes etymology so exciting!
I was frustrated by her seeming lack of self knowledge and a definite lack of transparency. She keeps her emotions and any self reflection very private, whilst regaling the reader with stories of her sex life, drug use and alcoholism. So she gives the appearance of openness, but actually we have little idea how she really feels. However the last chapter, called Memory, deals with this contradiction head on, and explains why a lot is left unsaid. (It's just strange to decide to write such a personal story but then decide a lot of it is too personal to share.)
Overall this was a good read. I thought it was going to be one of those Eat Love Pray self help things but it's so much better.
alicechris's review
4.25
Brilliant! That this book flows so well whilst exploring such a range of content (the author's life in 2020 month by month, her life up to 2020, and of course medieval Ireland) is a testament to her skills as a writer and communicator - I came out of the book feeling a little jealous of her students! A lot of historians I've met are very interesting people but it's very much part of the discipline to remove yourself from your work, so I really enjoyed this style of writing and I hope it catches on. As an ex-historian left wondering what it was all for post-degree this was a reminder of how much I love history and the good that can be done (and the art that can be made) with it.
cobhtachfan's review
5.0
I know I only finished uni a few months ago but reading this made me miss medieval Irish so much!
leoniepeonie's review
5.0
4.5/5. This is an absolutely superb book. Boyle writes in the afterword about how she's working on three different temporal planes at once: describing 2020 when she wrote the book; describing her own life since the 80s; and describing the medieval past, mainly around a thousand years ago. Her approach to using each month of 2020 as a means to discuss a different theme made for an incredibly rich, thought-provoking, relatable and moving read, weaving a history of herself in among a history of the contemporary world and the more distant past.
I really loved how she could write openly, in depth and detail about some issues in her life while obfuscating others - and there is so much to admire in this. At times I didn't feel as though the different ideas and periods were pulled together completely successfully, and think it could have done with a little bit more editing, but I adored the ride Boyle took me on. Its imperfections are in-keeping with the whole tone of the book and the humanity it explores with such sensitivity and creativity. It was super wide-ranging and ambitious, and I lapped it up.
I really loved how she could write openly, in depth and detail about some issues in her life while obfuscating others - and there is so much to admire in this. At times I didn't feel as though the different ideas and periods were pulled together completely successfully, and think it could have done with a little bit more editing, but I adored the ride Boyle took me on. Its imperfections are in-keeping with the whole tone of the book and the humanity it explores with such sensitivity and creativity. It was super wide-ranging and ambitious, and I lapped it up.
marthaos's review
3.0
This 3 stars is more for my personal response to the book than to the actual content and quality of the book. I am not overly interested in early medieval history, (5th to the 12th centuries) in myths and stories of old Ireland and while I found the way the author weaves her own life story into the stories of old, I found some of her own memoir pieces unnecessarily confessional, and struggled at times to see how they were linked to the stories of old.
Saying that, it is very clear how knowledgeable the author is about history and how passionate she is about scholarship, research and adding to the body of existing history by bringing untold stories and texts to life. It was this aspect I admired most, how she could use her area of expertise to understand and make sense of her own lived experiences.
The book is structured in the 12 months of the year, the year in question being 2020, the year of the pandemic when she wrote the book. She begins the book by telling of her fathers final words, “Happy New Year”, which begins January and how she dealt with his death later on that day, and ends also with her father’s words “Happy New Year”, as wishes to her readers, as she wraps up the year in the month of December. The use of the months, each with its own concern, ie Inheritance, offers a clear structure and is a clever structural device and helps to organise the content for the reader too.
It was a very well researched book, and the passion of the author for her subject shines through. I found certain elements of her memoir writing interesting, and in no way do I feel she holds back. The way she dealt with anxiety for example and how she overcame it, insofar as one can, I found interesting and relatable. In another chapter which dealt with aging, I liked how she mentioned about growing more sturdy and substantial, and how she weaved this into depictions of aging from past sources. I found this reassuring, hopeful and hope that this is true of me also, like a tree, whose roots grow deeper with age.
She also looks at current politics, especially identity politics, ideas of racism and how she never previously would have classed herself a racism, with such a multicultural family and circle of friends, but how she came to learn that unless she actively refuted the status quo re race and race relations, and actively fought against any suggestion of white supremacy, she is a racist. I found this interesting, and admired her willingness to learn from those around her, by really listening, by hearing their story. She also talks about gender politics, how society is so quickly changing, her own views around this and uncovered a myth about a priest who became a woman and travelled to a high priest who fell in love with him, together marrying and having seven children, and living as normal until he was turned back into a man, and considered the whole thing a dream, except the children lived on. This is why some of the myths completely elude me…! I can’t seem to make any sense of them or how they can serve as allegories, although I know they do in most cases.
Another interesting question that stuck with me was when she was asked by one of her students what was the point in learning about history, it had already happened and was in the past. She offered him a response that also would have come to my mind, something along the lines of history informing the present and changing according to past mistakes etc. However, she wishes she had responded differently which was interesting to me. She wishes she said it’s important to study history to change history, by adding to the body of knowledge by uncovering and interpreting ancient texts, by researching subjects on a deeper level and creating new knowledge.
Overall it was an interesting, very well-written book, perhaps too revelatory about the author’s own story for my taste but who am I to say where the line is between revealing too much and holding back? The author is the agent of her own life and I also respect that as a reader. I found the historical content hard to follow at times, but that is true of all history for me…my brain seems to disengage at a certain point. The way the author wove her own story through the stories of the past did provide me with enough interest to keep reading and the structure of the book was clear and worked very well. It is a very fine work and for anyone interested in this period of history, I’m sure they would really enjoy this book.
Saying that, it is very clear how knowledgeable the author is about history and how passionate she is about scholarship, research and adding to the body of existing history by bringing untold stories and texts to life. It was this aspect I admired most, how she could use her area of expertise to understand and make sense of her own lived experiences.
The book is structured in the 12 months of the year, the year in question being 2020, the year of the pandemic when she wrote the book. She begins the book by telling of her fathers final words, “Happy New Year”, which begins January and how she dealt with his death later on that day, and ends also with her father’s words “Happy New Year”, as wishes to her readers, as she wraps up the year in the month of December. The use of the months, each with its own concern, ie Inheritance, offers a clear structure and is a clever structural device and helps to organise the content for the reader too.
It was a very well researched book, and the passion of the author for her subject shines through. I found certain elements of her memoir writing interesting, and in no way do I feel she holds back. The way she dealt with anxiety for example and how she overcame it, insofar as one can, I found interesting and relatable. In another chapter which dealt with aging, I liked how she mentioned about growing more sturdy and substantial, and how she weaved this into depictions of aging from past sources. I found this reassuring, hopeful and hope that this is true of me also, like a tree, whose roots grow deeper with age.
She also looks at current politics, especially identity politics, ideas of racism and how she never previously would have classed herself a racism, with such a multicultural family and circle of friends, but how she came to learn that unless she actively refuted the status quo re race and race relations, and actively fought against any suggestion of white supremacy, she is a racist. I found this interesting, and admired her willingness to learn from those around her, by really listening, by hearing their story. She also talks about gender politics, how society is so quickly changing, her own views around this and uncovered a myth about a priest who became a woman and travelled to a high priest who fell in love with him, together marrying and having seven children, and living as normal until he was turned back into a man, and considered the whole thing a dream, except the children lived on. This is why some of the myths completely elude me…! I can’t seem to make any sense of them or how they can serve as allegories, although I know they do in most cases.
Another interesting question that stuck with me was when she was asked by one of her students what was the point in learning about history, it had already happened and was in the past. She offered him a response that also would have come to my mind, something along the lines of history informing the present and changing according to past mistakes etc. However, she wishes she had responded differently which was interesting to me. She wishes she said it’s important to study history to change history, by adding to the body of knowledge by uncovering and interpreting ancient texts, by researching subjects on a deeper level and creating new knowledge.
Overall it was an interesting, very well-written book, perhaps too revelatory about the author’s own story for my taste but who am I to say where the line is between revealing too much and holding back? The author is the agent of her own life and I also respect that as a reader. I found the historical content hard to follow at times, but that is true of all history for me…my brain seems to disengage at a certain point. The way the author wove her own story through the stories of the past did provide me with enough interest to keep reading and the structure of the book was clear and worked very well. It is a very fine work and for anyone interested in this period of history, I’m sure they would really enjoy this book.