The Interview: Colm Toibin
MALCOLM KNOX
May 15, 2010http://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/the-interview-colm-toibin-20100514-v3m4.html
A few words from this interview - concerning Eilis the heroine of Brooklyn his latest much acclaimed book-- which is in our library - the whole interview is available at this link and Colm Toibin is a guest at the Sydney Writers Festival this week. http://www.swf.org.au/
''Eilis is someone who by her nature is a second daughter,'' Toibin says. ''She's not brave, and has always had everything important done for her. Everything about her is withheld. She is holding her breath, as if she's afraid that by breathing out she'll offend somebody.''
He calls her a character in a ''minor key'', not a traditional heroine but ''similar to Catherine Sloper in Washington Square and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park, the ones who are well-mannered, shy, hard-working, careful of what they say''.
One of his readers reacted to Eilis's passivity by saying, ''I would like to wring her neck.''
''I can see that reaction,'' Toibin says, ''because Eilis is different from the big Irish girl with five boyfriends. She's so isolated and solitary. But that was the person who ended up emigrating and becoming everybody's mother.''
From the Sydney Writers Festival Program - see the program for more detail-
http://www.swf.org.au/component/option,com_events/Itemid,124/agid,1880/task,view_detail/click on image to enlarge
Participants
Colm Tóibín, Caroline Baum (facilitator)
When
Friday, May 21 2010
20:00 - 21:00
Where
City Recital Hall
Angel Place
Sydney
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