My Life in Books: I feel that life is too short to read 'Don Quixote'
Dr. Aidan Doyle: Translates work from Irish and Polish. Picture: UCC
Aidan Doyle is a lecturer in the Irish Department at UCC and has translated work from Irish and Polish. Along with Ken Ó Donnchú, he has translated the recent publication , illustrated by Ellie Farr. Originally collected and edited by the scholar TF O’Rahilly in 1921, this new edition, published by Cork University Press, contains a fresh introduction alongside translations of the epigrams, giving new audiences access to a hidden gem of Irish literature.
, ed. Victor Gollancz. This is an anthology of spiritual and philosophical readings compiled by the famous publisher. For when you wake in the middle of the night in need of comfort.
Anything by Robert Harris.
. It’s regarded as a classic, God alone knows why. I’ve given up trying to read it, life is too short.
I’m a translator, so the influences are a bit different than for creative writers. I have to pay tribute to the unknown army who made world literature available to me in English, people who translated works like or . They rarely get any credit for what is extremely demanding labour. Frank O’Connor’s translations of Irish-language poetry made me want to translate.
by Niall Williams. A writer I discovered only recently. He doesn’t shy away from the pain of life, but this book leaves you feeling strangely exultant.
by Graham Greene. The ending is heart-wrenching. Don’t read it if you’re not feeling very robust.
by Richard Powers. It made me look at trees in a totally different way, as well as the eco-warriors who literally hang out in them.
by Abraham Verghese. It’s about intergenerational trauma. Although set in India, it helped me understand much about the heritage of family trauma in Ireland.
People, especially children, should be encouraged to write, no matter what the subject. Otherwise, we’ll have AI doing it for us.
I’d like to see more of the Irish-language canon being translated into English. Only a tiny fraction is available, and the translations are often out of date.
. My Cork bias is probably showing, but I still think these stories contain everything you need to know about the Second City.
The film version of by Stephen King. Thank God that translators don’t attract fans like the Kathy Bates character.
Hubert’s Bookbinding in Cork doesn’t sell books, but it will bind your old favourites in a way that will make them last forever. When I’m in Vermont, Bear Pond Books, Montpelier. One of the last independent shops in the region.
A bit haphazard. I think I know where everything is, but others are not so convinced.
No food, I’m inclined to end up with crumbs, jam and tomato sauce on the pages. Tea or alcohol are reasonably safe. I’m a bit careless with books, I’m better at handling cheap paperbacks than rare first editions.
Winnie the Pooh. I often find myself quoting him and his friends.
