If the past is another country xe2x80x93 what happens when we revisit it, one day a year?
Carlo Gxc3xa9bler has done just that. Here is the story of Ireland xe2x80x93 from the tail end of the Troubles to the Good Friday agreement, to the glory days of the Celtic Tiger to the recession to Brexit and on to the present, where, it appears, everything we thought we could take for granted is no longer a given.
Drawing from journals he has kept for over four decades, Gxc3xa9bler stitches together days of his life into something bigger than his own lived experiences xe2x80x93 a vivid patchwork history of the island over thirty-five years, capturing those sweeping changes in sharp, funny, slantwise pieces that will prompt readers to reflect on the strange process of how we got here.
This intelligent and affectionate compilation, written in Gxc3xa9blerxe2x80x99s sparkling prose, is a joy. Whether read from beginning to end or dipped into, it will appeal to anyone with even a passing interest in the astonishing evolution of our island.
