I read all the time. I was reading a book I admire very much by Alice McDermot called Charming Billy. John McGahern admirealicebilly Change image and share on social
I belong to the middle class that grew up very influenced by the Catholic church. The people of the novel are from a more pagan and practical world in which the Christianity is just a veneer. John McGahern belongcatholicchristianity Change image and share on social
Ireland is a peculiar society in the sense that it was a nineteenth century society up to about 1970 and then it almost bypassed the twentieth century. John McGahern bypasscenturyireland Change image and share on social
The rosary was said every evening. I always liked that sentence about the medieval Churches, that they were the Bibles of the poor. The Church was my first book and I would think it is still my most important book. John McGahern biblebookchurch share on social
Yes, though I have nothing but gratitude for my upbringing in the church. John McGahern churchgratitudeupbringing Change image and share on social
I think there's a great difference in consciousness in that same way in that when we're young we read books for the story, for the excitement of the story - and there comes a time when you realise that all stories are more or less the same story. John McGahern bookconsciousnessdifference share on social
I used to take five or six books away and bring five or six books back. Nobody gave me direction or advice and I read much in the way that a boy might watch television. John McGahern advicebackbook Change image and share on social
But that private world, once it's dramatised, doesn't live again until it finds a reader. John McGahern dramatisefindlive Change image and share on social
We absolutely believed in Heaven and Hell, Purgatory, and even Limbo. I mean, they were actually closer to us than Australia or Canada, that they were real places. John McGahern absolutelyaustraliabelieve Change image and share on social
I love the description of Gothic churches before the printed word, that they were the bibles of the poor. John McGahern biblechurchdescription Change image and share on social
