In store now! The Dirty Dust, by Máirtín Ó Cadhain
Hailed as a masterpiece of Modern Irish writing when it was released in 1949, this hilarious, poignant, and very strange novel, went unpublished in English until 2015. Finally widely available, The Dirty Dust asks, can the dead speak? And if they can, what would they say to one another?
Everyone in the novel is dead by the time the novel begins, and as it happens, they say rather a lot! They complain about the texture of the soil, the price of the grave, lament lives not lived and lives poorly spent. Alan Titley’s wonderful translation captures the rhythm of Irish conversation, but more importantly, highlights the connections between people that exist even long after they are gone.
In the vein of Flann O’Brien and with a hint of Terry Pratchett, The Dirty Dust is a riotously funny, deeply profound meditation on death, love, and storytelling that may finally, 65 years after it was written, have achieved the recognition it always deserved.
Order your copy today directly through October Books or buy online through our bookshop store and we’ll get a commission on your purchase.
The Dirty Dust by Máirtín Ó Cadhain
Paperback £8.99
In The Dirty Dust all characters lie dead in their graves. This, however, does not impair their banter or their appetite for news of aboveground happenings from the recently arrived. Told entirely in dialogue, O Cadhain's daring novel listens in on the gossip, rumors, backbiting, complaining, and obsessing of the local community.
In the afterlife, it seems, the same old life goes on beneath the sod. Only nothing can be done about it-apart from talk. In this merciless yet comical portrayal of a closely bound community, O Cadhain remains keenly attuned to the absurdity of human behavior, the lilt of Irish gab, and the nasty, deceptive magic of human connection.
Blurb lifted from publisher.
Order your copy today directly from October Books or buy online through our bookshop store and we’ll get commission on your purchase.
We are open:
Monday - Saturday
10am - 5.30 pm
We are back open six days a week, with the whole store open for browsing. We will still of course be taking customer orders and you will still be able to buy food and cleaning products online through our online store.
We are able to be open 6 days a week again because of your consideration and care whilst in the shop. Though things are opening up, covid cases are still high and a lot of our staff have only received one jab. So we are asking customers to continue to leave that extra space, sanitise their hands and pull on their mask. We really appreciate it.
