cover image THE IRISH WAY: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present

THE IRISH WAY: A Walk Through Ireland's Past and Present

Robert Emmett Ginna, . . Random, $24.95 (320pp) ISBN 978-0-375-50430-3

Seventy-four-year-old Ginna, who's produced films and written articles about Ireland and served as Little, Brown's editor-in-chief from 1977 to 1980, decided to take a walking tour of the country, from Malin Head (Donegal) south to Kinsale (Cork), to see what's changed in the last 30 years or so. This sounds like he might be interested in the impact of the European Union or reforms in the Church or even the high-tech revolution, but it boils down to something slightly more mundane: whether a site Ginna visited 30 years ago is still accessible, whether a particular tailor is still available to make him a new jacket, etc. He walks from one bed-and-breakfast to the next, buying his food in shops or eating in restaurants. He visits pubs most evenings. If he's near a ruin, a graveyard, a church or a historical marker, he will examine it and recount an anecdote culled from his collection of Irish history books. Passing a factory, he may call on the owner and make inquiries about what's being produced and how it's going. Mostly, he talks with b&b owners or other pub drinkers. Almost everyone Ginna meets and every place he sleeps is "cheerful," and many a landscape is "bosky." It makes for a monotonous, somewhat narrow view of a vibrant, culturally rich country. Readers looking for clues about life in modern Ireland—what people eat, how they shop and work, what home and school life are like and how the sexes relate—should look elsewhere. On the other hand, those with a taste for tales of ancient battles or castles might find Ginna's account tolerable. Illus., map. (July 8)