J. M. Synge
3 books
- You get Synge's one-acts here, and Riders to the Sea alone earns it: old Maurya, who has lost sons to the ocean one by one, speaking grief in that strange Aran cadence. Read them aloud if you can; the language is the whole point.
- You get sharp, earthy comedy and wonderfully musical speech in the company of Christy Mahon, whose sudden celebrity in a remote Mayo pub exposes how badly people want a thrilling story. It’s brief, strange, and knowingly provocative, though its rough humor and shifting loyalties can catch you off guard.
- Two blind beggars, Martin and Mary Doul, get their sight back and quickly wish they hadn't, and Synge lets that cruel joke turn tender by the end. Short, salty Irish dialogue that reads best aloud, and kinder to illusion than you'd expect.