Connemara: A Little Gaelic Kingdom

New
Paperback
2012
$12.61

The triumphant conclusion to Tim Robinson's extraordinary Connemara trilogy, which Robert Macfarlane has called 'one of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English'. Robinson writes about the people, places and history of south Connemara - one of Ireland's last Gaelic-speaking enclaves - with the encyclopaedic knowledge of a cartographer and the grace of a born writer. From the man who has been praised in the highest terms by Joseph O'Connor ('One of contemporary Ireland's finest literary stylists''), John Burnside ('one of the finest of contemporary prose stylists'), Fintan O'Toole ('Simply one of the best non-fiction prose writers currently at work') and Giles Foden ('an indubitable classic'), among many others, this is one of the publishing events of 2011 and the conclusion of one of the great literary projects of our time. 'He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights.' John Banville, Guardian 'A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing, and an incomparable and enthralling meditation on times past ... This perfectly pitched work opens readers up to the world around them' Sunday Times 'Will endure into the far future ... He knows this world as no one else does, and writes about it with awe and love, but also with measured grace, an artist's eye and a scientist's sensibility' Colm Toibin, Sunday Business Post Books of the Year 'Robinson is a marvel ... the supreme practitioner of geo-graphy, the writing of places' Fintan O'Toole, Observer Books of the Year 'Anyone willing to get lost in this book will be left with indelible mental images of places they may never have visited but will now never forget' Dermot Bolger, Irish Mail on Sunday

Synopsis

The triumphant conclusion to Tim Robinson's extraordinary Connemara trilogy, which Robert Macfarlane has called 'one of the most remarkable non-fiction projects undertaken in English'. Robinson writes about the people, places and history of south Connemara - one of Ireland's last Gaelic-speaking enclaves - with the encyclopaedic knowledge of a cartographer and the grace of a born writer. From the man who has been praised in the highest terms by Joseph O'Connor ('One of contemporary Ireland's finest literary stylists''), John Burnside ('one of the finest of contemporary prose stylists'), Fintan O'Toole ('Simply one of the best non-fiction prose writers currently at work') and Giles Foden ('an indubitable classic'), among many others, this is one of the publishing events of 2011 and the conclusion of one of the great literary projects of our time. 'He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights.' John Banville, Guardian 'A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing, and an incomparable and enthralling meditation on times past ... This perfectly pitched work opens readers up to the world around them' Sunday Times 'Will endure into the far future ... He knows this world as no one else does, and writes about it with awe and love, but also with measured grace, an artist's eye and a scientist's sensibility' Colm Toibin, Sunday Business Post Books of the Year 'Robinson is a marvel ... the supreme practitioner of geo-graphy, the writing of places' Fintan O'Toole, Observer Books of the Year 'Anyone willing to get lost in this book will be left with indelible mental images of places they may never have visited but will now never forget' Dermot Bolger, Irish Mail on Sunday

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More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 432
Publisher: Penguin
Published: 31 May 2012
ISBN 10: 0141049596
ISBN 13: 9780141049595

Media Reviews

A masterpiece of travel and topographical writing, and an incomparable and enthralling meditation on times past ... This perfectly pitched work opens readers up to the world around them * Sunday Times *
Robinson is a marvel ... the supreme practitioner of geo-graphy, the writing of places -- Fintan O'Toole * Observer (Books of the Year) *
He is that rarest of phenomena, a scientist and an artist, and his method is to combine scientific rigour with artistic reverie in a seamless blend that both informs and delights. -- John Banville * Guardian *
Remarkable * The Times *
He is the nearest thing we have to a living legend, this side of Famous Seamus - one of the few people from our world whose name will still be known a century on * Irish Times *
Tim Robinson is the Proust of the western seaboard, a Ruskin of the isles * New Statesman *
Will endure into the far future ... He knows this world as no one else does, and writes about it with awe and love, but also with measured grace, an artist's eye and a scientist's sensibility -- Colm Toibin * Sunday Business Post (Books of the Year) *
An extraordinary monument * Irish Independent *
Anyone willing to get lost in this book will be left with many indelible mental images of places they may never have visited but will now never forget -- Dermot Bolger * Irish Mail on Sunday *
Captivating * Independent *
Breathtaking ... the West of Ireland has found its ultimate laureate -- Patricia Craig * TLS *

Author Bio

A native of Yorkshire, Tim Robinson moved to the Aran Islands in 1972. He is the author of the two-volume Stones of Aran and ofcollections of essays, and maps of the Aran Islands, the Burren and Connemara. Connemara: Listening to the Wind, published in 2006, won the Irish Book Award for Non-fiction. Connemara: The Last Pool of Darkness followed in 2008. Since 1984 Tim Robinson has lived in Roundstone, Connemara.