THE ARAN ISLANDS

In 1897 Synge took seriously Yeats's command to quit Paris and "Go to the Aran Islands," and it's well that he did. For he found there a rough, beautiful people living close to the sea, speaking the native Irish and steeped in its stories, all of which became the backbone of this work. Four visits are recounted here. But mostly it is stories! And how Donal Donnelly brings them to a lilting life! Though Irish isn't spoken in the book, the rhythm and feel of the native tongue are conveyed by Donnelly's reading and Synge's lyrical renderings. As each one tells his story, the "little people" take life, the Irish takes hold, and the reader is transported to these harsh islands, struggling for life just beyond Galway Bay. P.E.F. ©AudioFile, Portland, Maine [Published: SEPT 97]