Silver Linings: Travels Around Northern Ireland - Hardcover

Fletcher, Martin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0316853461 ISBN 13: 9780316853460

Publisher: Little, Brown, 2000

Synopsis

Northern Ireland has made headlines around the world for three decades. The province has become synonymous with conflict, terrorism and tortuous efforts to forge peace. But what is life there really like? In this enchanting and highly original book Martin Fletcher presents a portrait of Northern Ireland utterly at odds with its dire international image. He paints a compelling picture of a place caught in a time warp since the 1960s, of a land of mountains, lakes and rivers where customs, traditions and old-world charm survive, of an incredibly resourceful province that has given the world not just bombs and bullets but the Titanic, the tyre and the tractor, a dozen American presidents, two prime ministers of New Zealand and a Hindu god. He meets an intelligent, fun-loving, God-fearing people who may do terrible things to each other but who could not be more welcoming to outsiders. He describes a land of awful beauty, a battleground of good and evil, a province populated by saints and sinners that has yet to be rendered bland by the forces of modernity.

About this title

Review:

Silver Linings isn't just another book about Northern Ireland's history. Martin Fletcher's book is about the people of Ireland, their community spirit (built out of adversity, and perhaps all the stronger for it), traditional pastimes and old-fashioned names. "In the course of my work," the author tells us, "I met some of the most chilling people I have ever come across in 18 years of journalism: paramilitary leaders, terrorists, bigots consumed by mindless hatred. But I also met some of the most inspiring: former bombers and gunmen striving to make amends for past misdeeds, victims of terrorism who have managed to forgive, women who have stoically endured the most crushing losses, clergymen and community workers battling the evil in their midst." The book is also about the country itself; its lush green farmland, and the city of Belfast at the head of the Belfast Lough, "straddling the Lagan River valley and ringed by high hills".

Martin Fletcher tells his story in clear, precise prose that never falters, never resorts to sentiment or hyperbole. He was initially sent to Northern Ireland as a reporter for The Times, but while reporting on the tortuous peace negotiations his wife was meeting the ordinary people, finding "a charming and delightful side of the place that outsiders never hear about". Although essentially a tour of the country, the real story is told in endless digressions, with the author hunting rats on an island in the middle of the Strangford Lough ("My wife, Katy, was strangely reluctant to come") and participating in the ancient game of road-bowling, in which players compete to hurl iron balls along two or three miles of country lane. "If the ball hits a grate, or a signpost, or someone's leg, that's tough."--Daren King

Review:

Charming (summer round up, DAILY TELEGRAPH)

If you read his previous book, ALMOST HEAVEN, you will know Fletcher's qualities include insight and eloquence...his compassionate, witty book is rich with insight into a place of cockfights, witchcraft, eccentricity and magic (SUNDAY TIMES)

When it comes to Northern Ireland, we have not so much switched off as forgotten to change channels. Fletcher hands us the remote (INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY)

About this edition

• Publisher: Little, Brown
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0316853461
• ISBN 13: 9780316853460
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320