Laugh out loud moment in the Irish Times today

Snickers Man

Reading a piece on author John Boyne in today's paper. He is the author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas, a tale about two little boys and their unlikely friendship in the Auschwitz extermination camp during the war. It attracted some controversy as may his forthcoming novel, a sequel to the story.

Making the point that his earlier book would probably not be published today he railed against modern young authors playing it safe to ensure their books don't offend anyone.

"Young adult writers are writing for each other to earn, in effect, ‘woke points’: to be told they are wonderful champions. They are not thinking of young readers,....

Warming to his topic, he suggests that “young Irish writers today are all writing the same book, it bothers nobody, offends nobody, it’s a cover version of the same novel, over and over”.

And what is this novel? He sees it as a formulaic university novel of “self-involved students who think they are the first people in the world ever to have sex” and in which the authors, “terrified of offending anyone make sure they hit, in each book, all the right things: gay people, trans people, people of colour”.

“That’s not a novel, that’s just nonsense,”

Who COULD he be talking about??

Next sentence "Boyne gets in touch later to insist he is NOT referring to Sally Rooney"

Cue the guffaws!!

Do you believe him?

Snickers Man

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119601047#Comment_119601047

I don't believe him either 😉

Economics101

Another LOL moment to-day. They have acquired Justine McCarthy from the Sunday Times. Her first opinion piece (she does opinions, not real news reporting of course) is a complaint about Golden Circles (Denis O'Brien, Micheal Lowry, Davy stockbrokers). Somewhat ironic given McCarthy's move within the golden circle of leftist feminist journalism.

The heading of the piece is: "The Young Emigrate yet the Golden Circle endures". I would have thought that our huge housing crisis has something to do with our very rapid population growth over decades and that this is largely down to significant net immigration, especially of younger, more mobile people.

Not only Una Mullaly, but Justine McCarthy as well. (and I could add in a few more).

L1011

The Sunday Times Ireland recently went through a slashing so I'd say it may be the case that she was available, rather than recruited from the ST.

Economics101

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/119625753#Comment_119625753

Yes, but McCarthy is just another IT journalist with the same predictable views. And they bang on about Diversity!