LIVING WITH HISTORY (BYTE SIZE)

Felix Larkin has produced a wonderful book called Living With History. It contains a selection of his writings over the years. Some of these have been articles, others reviews, and yet others talks. They cover a stunningly wide range of material and all with that quality finish we have come to expect from Felix.

Given the range, depth, and size of the book, it's going to take me a while to get through it before I put pen to paper on my general review, but I don't think you should be denied all of it for so long. So, what I am proposing to do in this blog post is to dip into some individual contributions and comment on them. I'll tweet the entries as they arise.

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CHARLIE HEBDO

Let's kick off with a bang. Scanning the contents my eye was drawn to Charlie Hebdo. This is an absolutely outrageous French version of Private Eye, compared with which the latter is more like the sermon on the mount.

In the French tradition, Charlie Hebdo knows no bounds, well, almost none. You will remember it was Charlie which published the caricature of Mohammed which ended up getting most of its staff shot to death in Paris in 2015.

So what is Felix's take on Charlie Hebdo?

Well, he's definitely with Charlie, and particularly in the Cartoon of Mohammed which provoke the fatal backlash. But he takes the opportunity in this piece to discuss a range of issues revolving around free speech and its limits. He surveys a number of cartoonists and offers a prescription for what is, and what is not, appropriate in the area of giving offence.

The piece is tightly drafted and well argued, so I am not going on any further about it. You'll have to read it for yourself, along with all the other excellent contributions in this book.

I can't leave the subject without commenting on my own favourite Charlie cover. It's all very well asking Muslims to be tolerant but when you see the sort of cover above taking the deepest swipe possible at the Catholic church and one of its hierarchy in particular, you might need to stretch your tolerance by another mile or two.

By way of explanation of the cover above (not referred to in Felix's piece) I should tell you that the Monsignor Vingt Trois referred to is actually a Cardinal and the cover is having a go at him for his opposition to same sex marriage. Charlie dishes up a same sex Trinity for the edification of the Cardinal and his church.

You can get the book in most good bookshops, from Kennys of Galway, or from the publisher.

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