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Ag Léamh Leabhair Sula Faighim Bás.

Scríobhann muid as Gaeilge faoi bás ach an méidin seo de dhifear. Gheobhaidh muid bás. Sin é, faigheann muid bás le cuidiú bás ag fáil chugainn. D'fhoglaim mé an leabhar mór ó chianaibh, "1001 leabhair go caitheamh tú léigh sula faigheann tú bás." Inniu, inseoidh mé faoi ag dul teidil beagán de a chuardach ar an leabharlann ina Pasadena inné.

Bhí scór rogha go raibh maith agam ann atá ag scríofa ar an mír páipéir liom. Níor fuair mé gach uile acu ar an áit ansin. Féach mé roinnt ar na seilfeannaí finscéaliochtai gceann cúpla nóiméad.

Iarraidh mé a lorg na úrscealta le Séamas Mac Mhuirneachain Ó Fearghail le gairid. Areir, thosaigh mé "An Léigear Khrishnapur" faoi an India Victeoiriach. Bhainim leis orm féin de: "Béim síos" le J. M Coetzee faoi An Afraic Theas agus "Meath agus Titim" le Evelyn Waugh faoi na fichidí ina Sasana.

Bhailigh mé ar Léna ceann eile. Chruinnigh mé uirthí trí leabhair. B'fhéidir, beidh maith léi "Urchóid Fiafar" le Esther Freud, faoi ionnarbaidhí (?) ina Maracó na seascidí. Ar mhaith léi "Na Deireadh Scéil," leis Lidia ní Dhaithí, faoi banscribneoir chur a cuimhne grá aici ar na mallaibh? Ar oscailt mo bhean a tí an teacs mhór faoi Londain coiriúil, "Gabhann Méire" le Sarah ní Thuarisc, ar feadh an naoú céad deag.

Rachaidh sí féin ag tiomaint go dtí gContae An Chros Naofa go luath. Eistfidh Léna ar an dluthdioscannaí ag labhairt de ghuth ard leis úrsceal eile. Tá sé is faide, mar sin féin. Is maith liom nuair ag leite mé seo go leor! Cloisfidh sí "An Piotal Cocardhearg agus An Bán," leis Mícheál Faber. Tá sé faoi Londain ina naoú haois deag fós.

Léifidh mé leabhair eile ar an liosta go deireanach. Béarfaidh mé orthu "Germinal," le Emile Zola agus "Amhrán Éin," le Sebastian Faulks. Léifinn scéalta eile. Ní mbeadh sin ar an liosta na 1001 ann. Mar shampla, bheinn go dtóga mé "Túr Baibéil," le A.S. Byatt, "Coirp Suarach" le Waugh, agus "An Tiarna na Domhain," le R. F. Benson.

Nílim ábalta teacht suas le eile ar an leabharlann seo go raibh mian liom. Ach, tá siad i gcuntas amárach anseo: "Samhas," le Seán-Pól Sartre; "Agus Eagla d'anama ort," le Amalie Nathoub; "Cursa Londan," le Iain Sinclair; "Jack Miggs," le Peadar Ó Ciardha; "An Seomra Ábhalmhór," le E.E. Cummings; "Shikasta" le Doris Lessing; "G" leis Seán Berger; "Aer Marbh," le Iain Banks; "Atlás Néil," le Daithí Mistéil; "Teach Dhoctuir Deigh," le Peadar Ackroyd; "Cé deanach go bhfuil sé, cé deanach," le Séamas Kelman-- agus "An Droichead ar an Drina," le Ivo Andric. Go críochnúil, tabhairfaidh mé Léna an úrsceal de Alban, "Gach Rud go teastaíonn tú," le A. L. ní Cheinneide. Sin é faoi láthair.

Reading Books Before I Find Death.

We write in Irish about death but this with a slight difference. Death will get us. That is, we find death by means of death getting to us. I studied a while ago a big book, "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die." Today, I will tell you about searching for a few titles from it in the library in Pasadena yesterday.

There were twenty choices in it that I liked which were written on a bit of paper with me. I did not find every one of them at the place there. I looked at a portion on the fiction shelves in a few minutes.

I wished to obtain the novels by J[ames] G[ordon] Farrell recently. Last night, I started "The Siege of Krishnapur" about Victorian India. I got out for myself from there: "Disgrace," {literally "Struck Down"!] by J. M Coetzee about South Africa and "Decline and Fall" by Evelyn Waugh about the Twenties in England.

I collected for Layne other ones. I gathered for her three books. Perhaps, she will be pleased by "Hideous Kinky" ("Twisted Perverseness"!) by Esther Freud, about expatriates in Morocco in the Sixties. Will she like "The End of the Story" {Story's End") by Lydia Davis, about a woman writer who's remembered a love of hers from late? Will the woman of the house (=wife in Irish!) open the big text about criminal London, "Fingersmith" ("Smith of the Finger") during the nineteen-hundreds?

She will go herself driving up to Santa Cruz County soon. Layne will listen to the compact discs reading out loud ("from a high voice") another novel. It's longest, all the same. She will hear "The Crimson Petal and the White," by Michel Faber. It is about London in the age of the nineteenth century also.

I will read other books on the list recently. I will catch up on them: "Germinal," by Emile Zola and "Birdsong," by Sebastian Faulks. I should read other stories. These are not on the 1001 list. Of course, I should take (up) "Babel Tower," by A.S. Byatt, "Vile Bodies" by Waugh, and "The Lord of the World," by R. F. Benson.

I'm unable to come to (assemble) the others at this library that I have a want for. But, here they are for the future record: "Nausea," by Jean-Paul Sartre; "Agus Eagla d'anama ort," "Fear & Trembling," "(="And fright out of your soul") by Amalie Nathoub; "London Orbital," by Iain Sinclair; "Jack Miggs," by Peter Carey; "The Enormous Room," by E.E. Cummings; "Shikasta" by Doris Lessing; "G" by John Berger; "Dead Air," by Iain Banks; "Cloud Atlas," by Daithí Mistéil; "The House of Doctor Dee," by Peter Ackroyd; "How Late It Was, How Late," by James Kelman-- and "The Bridge on the Drina," by Ivo Andric. Finally, I will get for Layne the novel from Scotland, "Everything You Need," by A. L. Kennedy. That's it for now.

Iómhá /Image: Signs by Brendan