St. Patrick's Cathedral and Marsh's Library

If you're a writer, and happen to visit Dublin, there are two places that you should not miss because of the literary history behind it. One is St. Patrick's Cathedral, and the other, Marsh's Library. They are next to each other, and you only have to pay once to see both.

Saint Patrick's Cathedral in Dublin has been around since the late 12th century, and is where the Irish writer, Johnathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver's Travels, is buried. I remember reading Swift's book in Farsi when I was a kid, and getting lost in his story.

 

Swift's companion, an Englishwoman named Esther Johnson aka Stella, who died before he did, was the first to be buried at the cathedral. Swift had a difficult time handling her death, and asked to be buried next to her upon his death. So, was it a love story, or a friendship? There have been speculations that the two were married secretly, but no one can verify it. History just refers to the two as being "close friends," or having a "deep friendship."

There was a wedding going on, and the staff had roped off a section. Everyone had to wait before they were allowed in. 

Ireland's first public library, Marsh's Library, was built in the early 1700s, and carries rare, and unusual books dating back to the 16th century. Before this library, access to libraries usually belonged to scholars, clergymen, and the upper class. For more than 100 years, this was the only public library in Ireland. The picture on the wall is Arch Bishop Narcissus Marsh who founded the library.

Legend has it that the ghost of Marsh walks around at night, looking for a letter that his niece left him. His niece fell in love, and eloped with a sea captain, because Marsh didn't approve of him. She wrote a letter to her uncle, asking for his forgiveness, and left it in a book that he never found.

The librarians also serve as custodians who work hard to preserve the library, and the books. The books are located in the same location where they were hundreds of years ago.

It's a small Library. People were allowed to use it, but due to theft, researchers must now make an appointment to use the reading room. Bram Stoker, James Joyce, and Oliver Swift visited the library for literary research. There are library cages where readers were locked in to prevent theft. Some books have bullet holes from the 1916 Easter Rising when the Irish rose against British rule. In the late 18th century, an Egyptian mummy—a man with a missing head and partial arm—was found in a cupboard. The staff named him Maurice.

Stories Books & Café

Finding a bookstore is a rarity these days. Before their disappearance, I used to spend hours in bookstores, sometimes sitting on the floor cross-legged, reading a book, and then going up to the register, and paying for it. So, when my friend pointed out the Stories Books & Café, I was excited to check it out.

This bookshop does have a place where you can sit, and read, or work, but it is small, and fills up fast. It sells both new and used books. Best to get there in the morning, get a cup of tea, and claim your seat.

I had a chance to speak to one of their employees, and asked how do they choose their books. She said that the owner of the store told everyone who works there to order books for the store based on what they would read if they had a library at home. I found that interesting because they are invested in their books whereas when you go to a large bookstore, salespersons give suggestions based on books published by large publishing houses, and bestsellers.

So, if you live in L.A, do check out this store, and spend some time there. They have various author events that you can attend. And if you're a writer, you may ask them if you can put together a book event for your book.

I ended up buying Death in her hands by Ottessa Moshfegh. It's about a woman who lives alone in the woods with her dog. The girl working behind the cash register suggested the book when I asked her for a mystery. Unfortunately though, I have misplaced it, as I have the tendency to do so often. But I'm sure that it'll turn up somewhere as my books always do.

 

Copycat

 

A lot of people have no imagination and just copy what someone else does. It takes thinking and creativity to be original. I’d rather be an original than a fake. Even if this means that I may fail a lot before I succeed.

I have noticed lately that some people look at the photos on my blog, and then go and post similar photos. My posts are all original. I don’t go around looking to see what others do and then copy them. And if I do this, I make it a point to be obvious about it and say I got this idea from someone on the internet, twitter, Facebook or something to that effect.

Even my books are original. And I know that gets me into trouble oftentimes because reviewers don’t know where to place me. When I enter contests, there is often no specific category where my book could be placed. Even my first book is not just a “romance book.” But I don’t care. I don’t want to fit in. Fitting in is boring. As Gloria Gaynor says: "I am what I am, I am my own special creation." And I like to keep it that way. How sad it is for those who just copy.

I mean, it’s okay to research and see what others are doing to get ideas and to make your creativity flow, but to copy exactly what someone does is not cool. Anyway, that’s my rant for today. I’m just tired and am going to reduce my activity on social media and focus on my book.  

My Review of The Sitting Swing

This weekend I finished reading The Sitting Swing which I liked very much. Here are some thoughts and reflection on the book:

Each one of us is shaped by our past – our strengths and our weaknesses, our likes and dislikes, our attitudes and our indifference toward life. This in turn impacts our present and future. Of course, there is a way to rewrite it all and to reprogram ourselves. In Irene Watson’s Memoir, The Sitting Swing, Irene searches for her identity and her purpose in life.

Her journey starts at a center for people with addiction and co-dependence and as she evolves for the next 28 days, the reader learns about her difficult childhood years, her strange controlling mother, her cool indifferent father and her extended family and cousins who mistreat her. Along the way, Irene makes a great friend named Margie who looks out for her, is supportive and helps her survive a life in a small community where everyone is in everyone’s business. Years later, as she loses touch with Margie, Irene meets yet another wonderful friend named Jean who helps her in her search to find herself. Ms. Watson learns that there is an entire world out there, different than the world she has known and different than the world she has envisioned.

What I enjoyed most about The Sitting Swing was that the writer wants to help readers see that they too can change their lives by asking the hard questions, who am I? What is it that I want? How has negative past events influenced me? And how can I make the small everyday changes in order to live a more fulfilled life. And although the story ends with references to “God” and “The Higher Power” which may not be palatable to those who are not religious, I still do believe that even they can benefit from this book by learning how to analyze their situation in life, by looking within and by being honest with their answers in order to figure out their own path.

I highly recommend The Sitting Swing. The story moves along smoothly, the characters are vivid and the plot interesting. Irene weaves her past and her present in a tale that is sure to touch everyone.

Good Reads

Photographer: Francesco Marino

I found out today that goodreads, a place where reviewers post their reviews, has kicked out Reader Views. This is what they had told them: "Subject to the terms and conditions of this agreement, goodreads grants you permission to use the Service for your personal, non-commercial purposes only."

But for the life of me, I have no idea why they would kick out ReaderViews and not the many other reviewers who are “commercial” and post their reviews on their site. And what about some of those publishing houses that send hundreds and hundreds of their employees under the disguise of "readers" to post favorable reviews about their clients’ books - they do this on amazon and thousands of other websites. At least Reader Views only gives a positive review if the book deserves it.

What’s interesting is after ReaderViews told them that other reviewers are doing the same thing, goodreads replied, “give us their names and we will look into it.” Now I don’t know about you, but when I was a kid, my mama told me never to snitch on your peers. So, Irene Watson of Reader Views followed suit and said: “It is not my intention to be the gatekeeper for goodreads, and as reviewers we support each other and are not out to destroy each other.” Ironically, ReaderViews does exactly what its name represents – it gives the book to randomly selected readers and readers write up a review. Once the reader reviews it, ReaderViews has no control over the outcome of the review be it good or bad.