Land of Saints and Squalors

It's frightening how easy it is to settle back into old ways. I am home less than a week, having arrived last Monday (02/10/06), but already Europe is far behind me and I have done nothing. The week is a wasteland of "I'll rest a few days". Time's too short and my mind too easily sleeps.

Antarctica, a destination I have been thinking of, is looking even further away than its distance might suggest, though I am still awaiting an email from one tour company. A world tour plane ticket is also problematic as for some reason almost all flights to South America for this time of year are taken (seems crazy to me). I have even been considering just flying to Europe again and taking my chances on a non-Interrail tramp. We shall see.

I just know that Ireland is toxic to me.

Just yesterday I was looking at overpriced apartments, the day before that I was stuck in a traffic jam at 8 in the evening, and the days before that I watched a corrupt politician slip unscathe through a national scandal. Poor public transport, traffic jams (spot the connection anyone?), rain, expensive housing, corruption, bad beer (oh, how it is bad!) and the general Irish-ness of it all is getting me down. I have had this discussion with more than one person, though poor Phil was the last to hear my tripe, but I feel Ireland could be so much more. As a committed European (possibly one who should be committed), I long for a united Europe, strong enough to engage properly in the economic and cultural world and give America a run for its money. I feel Ireland could have a strong role to play in this, specifically a moral and cultural role, guaranteeing a valuable quality of life for Europe while the stronger (industrially speaking) countries ensure the capital. What worth is economic strength if we as people have to sacrifice the social and artistic aspects of our lives to achieve it. Obviously the real benefactors of economic strength are our leaders of industry. Ireland has a strong artistic tradition, and, as native English speakers, a key advantage in dealing with the competition. We could become a locus for European cultural endeavour, if only we had the vision and commitment to do it.

Of course, I am not for one moment proposing Irish culture as European culture, I simply put forward the notion of this island being a sort of latter day Alexandria. After all Ireland once was this, protecting the flame of Western civilisation during the Dark Ages; we could become such again. Contemporary Capitalism threatens nothing if not darkness.

Anyhow I'm off the soap-box now. See what a week in Ireland does to you! The irony is I must harbour some affection for this country given that I defend it frequently abroad, but any time here starts the disillusionment off again. It's like watching a loved member of the family soil their pants.

I started reading Pynchon's, "Gravity's Rainbow", while abroad, but I find it very hard to get anywhere with it. It's full of ideas, it has some interesting characters and an emotional warmth I'm not used to in his writing; but it is so determinedly anti-reader. Employing stream of consciousness does not excuse sloppy writing, and surprising the reader with twenty pages of surrealism before explaining it as a laboratory experiment is just cheeky. I feel obliged to continue, but in the meantime I had to get something I could enjoy, so I bought Peter Biskind's, "Gods and Monsters", a collection of his writings on film over three decades. I loved "Seeing is Believing", and "Easy Riders, Raging Bulls", so I knew I'd be in relatively safe territory, and so it's proving. Of course, his cheeky dissection of "Badlands" is a little too much, but any quibbles I have are more in the style of a friendly pub disagreement than any major problem. He writes well, loves his subject and frequently throws a clear light on a topic.

Off to see "Children of Men" now. I'll see "The Departed" tomorrow morning when there's no one in the cinema.