Irish Journal

Not really a diary at all, but a collection of essays and stories bringing together Böll’s impressions of Ireland from a succession of different visits in the early fifties. Sometimes he seems to be on holiday with his family on the west coast, at other moments he is travelling as a writer on his own in Dublin or visiting unspecified friends.

There is a lot here about Ireland’s poverty and its long reliance on the export of people, as well as the effects that emigration has on those who remain, but there is also some very entertaining writing about the ways that Irish culture is startling and refreshing to a German observer. In particular, he is clearly charmed by the relaxed, pragmatic approach to rules and regulations, whilst at show more the same time shocked by the stranglehold the clergy still had on many aspects of Irish life.

One of the most memorable (and most often anthologised) chapters is a hilarious account of the effects of Sunday drinking laws — the “bona fide traveler” rule still applied, so anyone who wanted to drink on a Sunday afternoon had to get on his bike and cycle over the hill to the next village, stopping en route to chat to the men from that village who were headed in the opposite direction. And vice-versa a few hours later when they were all too drunk to ride home. show less

Most of the observations about Ireland and the Irish are still valid today, so much so that, reading the journal sixty years after, I had a couple of Aha! moments.

Small stories that relate how time goes on within the Irish society after the war. The daily "no problem" life of an easy-going people, that resigns to accetp its fate: from the invariably rainy weather to the emigration must. Böll describes with great accuracy in a delightful smooth way the landscapes, the houses, the farmer daily work, the rain, the pub, the arriving sailor, the society, the hours... slowly fighting against the clock. Böll also portrays often the Irish society and their optimistic doing against tragedy, as the opposite to the German folk. Nice reading.

One of my favourite books overall. And I liked the Russian translation more than the English one.

(And, interestingly, was not able to find a German version online, probably my Googling skillz are still weak in that language, or they care about copyright far more than other countries.)

Full of humour, observation and humanity. A great book by a great writer.

Eindrucksvolle Ansichtskarten aus Irland in den 50er Jahren. Wer Irland noch nicht kennt, wird an dieses Büchlein sicherlich ein besonderes Vergnügen finden. Immerhin Schade, daß Böll sich zum Thema Irland nur 144 Seiten gönnte. Lieber 400! Durch diese Sparsamkeit werden die gewaltigen Ereignisse der irländischen Geschichte bloß in Stichworten dargeboten: Hungersnot, Auswanderung, Entvölkerung. Für solche große Themen dürfte man viel mehr Zeit einräumen!

Negentien goed geschreven schetsen over de Ieren, vaak in het westen, door een buitenlander. Soms is de schrijver aanwezig, soms niet. Bijna een reisverhaal.