Graveyard Clay: Cre na Cille (The Margellos World Republic of Letters): Cré na Cille

by Liam Mac Con Iomaire (Author), Liam Mac Con Iomaire (Author), Tim Robinson (Author), Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Author), Máirtín Ó Cadhain (Author)

New
Paperback
2017
$15.40

A brilliant new translation of O Cadhain's modern Irish literature masterpiece, meant to spark debate and comparison with Alan Titley's Dirty Dust, now with bonus materials on its history, reception, interpretations, adaptations, and more In critical opinion and popular polls, Mairtin O Cadhain's Graveyard Clay is invariably ranked the most important prose work in modern Irish. This bold new translation of his radically original Cre na Cille is the shared project of two fluent speakers of the Irish of O Cadhain's native region, Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson. They have achieved a lofty goal: to convey O Cadhain's meaning accurately and to meet his towering literary standards. Graveyard Clay is a novel of black humor, reminiscent of the work of Synge and Beckett. The story unfolds entirely in dialogue as the newly dead arrive in the graveyard, bringing news of recent local happenings to those already confined in their coffins. Avalanches of gossip, backbiting, flirting, feuds, and scandal-mongering ensue, while the absurdity of human nature becomes ever clearer. This edition of O Cadhain's masterpiece is enriched with footnotes, bibliography, publication and reception history, and other materials that invite further study and deeper enjoyment of his most engaging and challenging work.

Synopsis

A brilliant new translation of O Cadhain's modern Irish literature masterpiece, meant to spark debate and comparison with Alan Titley's Dirty Dust, now with bonus materials on its history, reception, interpretations, adaptations, and more In critical opinion and popular polls, Mairtin O Cadhain's Graveyard Clay is invariably ranked the most important prose work in modern Irish. This bold new translation of his radically original Cre na Cille is the shared project of two fluent speakers of the Irish of O Cadhain's native region, Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson. They have achieved a lofty goal: to convey O Cadhain's meaning accurately and to meet his towering literary standards. Graveyard Clay is a novel of black humor, reminiscent of the work of Synge and Beckett. The story unfolds entirely in dialogue as the newly dead arrive in the graveyard, bringing news of recent local happenings to those already confined in their coffins. Avalanches of gossip, backbiting, flirting, feuds, and scandal-mongering ensue, while the absurdity of human nature becomes ever clearer. This edition of O Cadhain's masterpiece is enriched with footnotes, bibliography, publication and reception history, and other materials that invite further study and deeper enjoyment of his most engaging and challenging work.

$15.40

Quantity

20+ in stock

More Information

Format: Paperback
Pages: 368
Edition: Reprint
Publisher: Yale University Press
Published: 02 May 2017
ISBN 10: 030022706X
ISBN 13: 9780300227062

Media Reviews

A remarkable collaboration between two translators operating on the cusp between Irish and Hiberno-English, Graveyard Clay is true to the many different registers of O Cadhain's masterpiece. It is a version in which imaginative audacity is tempered only by sound textual scruple. --Declan Kiberd
This is a wonderful translation. Mac Con Ionmaire and Robinson provide a meticulously faithful rendering of O Cadhain's rich Conamara Irish while at the same time capturing the raucous, rabelaisian humor of his classic novel. --Philip O'Leary, Irish Studies Program, Boston College

[This] translation . . . is remarkably elegant. --William Brennan, New Yorker
A cause for celebration. --Jan Gardner, Boston Globe
Whatever their differences in tempo or phraseology, each of the current versions of O Cadhain's most famous book is gloriously attuned to the energy, copiousness, invective and ribaldry of the original Cre na Cille. --Patricia Craig, Times Literary Supplement
Corrosively satirical and darkly comic. . . . A tour de force of a gabfest. . . . Those who wish to get as close to the original as possible will undoubtedly favor Graveyard Clay. --Mark Harman, Los Angeles Review of Books
The bitingly sarcastic, and hilarious, drumbeat of dialogue . . . is counterpointed by lyrical sections . . . [A] great book. --Frank Freeman, University Bookman
Likely to be praised by readers who are familiar with the original Irish text . . . [and] to encourage readers to seek out Cr na Cille in Irish. --Margaret Kelleher, Breac
[This] raucously successful new translation . . . conveys the spirituous brio of Cadhain's original . . . Graveyard Clay is an unforgettably disconcerting work. --Killian Quigley, MAKE Literary Magazine
Liam Mac Con Iomaire and Tim Robinson are winners of the Modern Language Association's tenth Lois Roth Award for translation of a literary work.
A remarkable collaboration between two translators operating on the cusp between Irish and Hiberno-English, Graveyard Clay is true to the many different registers of Cadhain's masterpiece. It is a version in which imaginative audacity is tempered only by sound textual scruple. --Declan Kiberd
This is a wonderful translation. Mac Con Ionmaire and Robinson provide a meticulously faithful rendering of Cadhain's rich Conamara Irish while at the same time capturing the raucous, rabelaisian humor of his classic novel. --Philip O'Leary, Irish Studies Program, Boston College

Author Bio

Mairtin O Cadhain (1906-70) is widely acknowledged as one of the most significant writers in the Irish language and a giant among twentieth-century authors. Liam Mac Con Iomaire is a lecturer, broadcaster, translator, and biographer. He lives in Dublin, Ireland. Tim Robinson is a writer, artist, and cartographer. He lives in Roundstone, Ireland.