Book of the month

Power to the People: The Hot Press Years by Michael D. Higgins.

Published by Hot Press, €28.95/€15.95

For Michael D. Higgins, this is his final year as President of Ireland and there is no question that he has made a global impact during his two terms in Áras an Uachtaráin. At times outspoken, he has certainly continued the legacy of both his predecessors in terms of making the role more relevant, and giving it a profile that it perhaps had previously lacked.

Last year I had the honour of attending one of the President’s garden parties in the Phoenix Park, at which he spoke. As a lover of words and language, I can truly say that there are few public speakers to match his eloquence.

This quality is also captured in his writings, and for most of his life he has demonstrated this skill. Whether it is commentary or poetry, he brings to all he does a great mind, and whether you agree with him or not, he is always worth reading and hearing.

For people of a certain age, Hot Press was a phenomenon in publishing, read from cover to cover by people who loved music in the first instance, but the glossy magazine pushed boundaries too, and moved into the area of covering current affairs, the aim doubtless being to broaden its scope and its readership. In so doing, they hired Michael D. Higgins as a columnist.

Until he was appointed a government minister, Higgins spent a decade writing for Hot Press, on a broad range of topics, and he was a man with his finger on the pulse. With hindsight, that is even more apparent, and this collection of his contributions from 1983 to 1993 is evidence that he was a man with an acute awareness of what was happening in Ireland, socially and politically. His views expressed were not confined to local matters either.

Michael D. was not a man to court fashion or indeed popularity, and three and four decades later it is clear that he has remained steadfast in his beliefs. Many of his left-wing views during the time of his writings were certainly not populist, but his values remain strong, and many will now read his columns in a new light.

His views on Gaza are a particular example of this.

The columns are introduced by Hot Press’s iconic editor Niall Stokes, a necessary inclusion given that many readers of the pieces now might not even have been born at the time.

The strength of this book is that it is not a look back with rose-tinted glasses of a period in Irish history, but rather a telling critique.

All of the book’s royalties go to Trócaire.

The Book Corner’s trio of treasures...

To enjoy

This Boy’s Heart: Scenes From an Irish Childhood by John Creedon.

Published by Gill Books, €22.99

If you did not receive a copy of this book at Christmas, I am sorry. The good news is that you can go and treat yourself to it now, and there will be no better way to brighten up the dark evenings of winter.

While Michael D. Higgins is often referred to as a national treasure, there are many who would say the same about John Creedon and rightly so.

The proud Corkonian with the velvet voice has been a loved figure in the world of broadcasting for four decades, and he comes on air every time with the enthusiasm of a young man about to realise his dream.

Creedon doesn’t sugarcoat his upbringing, balancing joy with the reality of poverty and more, but his love of life is evident, and especially his happiness on farm visits.

This is a book to lift the spirits.

The classic

Persuasion by Jane Austen.

Published by Penguin, €9.27

At the age of 19, the high-born Anne Elliott was set to marry her true love, the handsome but poor naval officer, Captain Frederick Wentworth. Following the advice of her domineering godmother, she broke off the engagement.

Eight years later, resigned to being a spinster and at a time when her father has to rent out the family estate due to debt, Wentworth comes back into her life, and she realises her love has lasted. Here is a story of second chances, and Persuasion is a captivating tale. Anne Elliott is one of Jane Austen’s most likeable and enduring creations.

This novel, written in 1818, was Austen’s last work, and came at a time when, as Virginia Woolf would say a century later, that the author “is beginning to discover that the world is larger, more mysterious, and more romantic than she had supposed”. This is a discovery that readers are happy to share.

To cherish

Prose & Cons: The English Language in Just A Minute by Gyles Brandreth.

Published by BBC Books, €24.65

Here is the perfect bedside book, one that you can read for a few minutes, and dip in and out of, always finding something new and interesting. Gyles Brandreth is a man for whom words are very important, but he can have fun with them too. I have been a fan of his since my youth, and he has a new audience now thanks to television’s This Morning.

In short pieces that take not much more than 60 seconds to read, Brandreth provides 300 pages of a tour of the English language, from the origins of words, correct grammar and punctuation to similes, euphemisms and amazing tongue twisters.

Do you know which language has the longest word to appear in literature? How about the meaning of quop, or squibble? Please don’t search the internet – instead, buy this gem.