Mary Kenny
Joined at the Hip
The Rule of the Land: Walking Ireland’s Border
By Garrett Carr
Faber & Faber 312pp £13.99
We have become aware that once Brexit is completed the land border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland will also be one that separates the United Kingdom from the European Union. It’s an exceptionally winding border, sometimes along country lanes. On occasions the only sign that you have changed states may be the sight of a red or green postbox, or, on a main road, the switch from miles to kilometres and the addition of place names in Irish. Personally, I rather like this diversity – it makes life interesting when, all of a sudden, you are under another jurisdiction – but the border has also been a cause of headaches ever since it was formally established in 1923.
There are many anomalies, as Garrett Carr points out on this essentially topographical journey. For example, the town of Clones in County Monaghan is in the Republic, but its links with Northern Ireland run deep; the erection of the border did Clones great economic damage back in the 1920s and
Sign Up to our newsletter
Receive free articles, highlights from the archive, news, details of prizes, and much more.@Lit_Review
Follow Literary Review on Twitter
Twitter Feed
Knowledge of Sufism increased markedly with the publication in 1964 of The Sufis, by Idries Shah. Nowadays his writings, much like his father’s, are dismissed for their Orientalism and inaccuracy.
@fitzmorrissey investigates who the Shahs really were.
Fitzroy Morrissey - Sufism Goes West
Fitzroy Morrissey: Sufism Goes West - Empire’s Son, Empire’s Orphan: The Fantastical Lives of Ikbal and Idries Shah by Nile Green
literaryreview.co.uk
Rats have plagued cities for centuries. But in Baltimore, researchers alighted on one surprising solution to the problem of rat infestation: more rats.
@WillWiles looks at what lessons can be learned from rat ecosystems – for both rats and humans.
Will Wiles - Puss Gets the Boot
Will Wiles: Puss Gets the Boot - Rat City: Overcrowding and Urban Derangement in the Rodent Universes of John B ...
literaryreview.co.uk
Twisters features destructive tempests and blockbuster action sequences.
@JonathanRomney asks what the real danger is in Lee Isaac Chung's disaster movie.
https://literaryreview.co.uk/eyes-of-the-storm