Two ministers and a revolutionary brother

Five years ago I and over 1,000 others crowded into two lecture halls in University College Dublin to hear a lecture followed by a question and answer session with the prolific political writer and linguist Noam Chomsky.

We packed two lecture halls because so many people turned up to hear him speak that there had to be a video link to the second hall. Chomsky spoke for over an hour with almost no notes. His topics covered the emergence of the US led New World Order, the ongoing manipulation of the mass media and the terrible experience of the people of East Timor.

As the lecture ended, and the crowds thronged the college concourse I was momentarily shuffling behind a now former minister for Arts and Culture and then again momentarily a former Taoiseach. The Taoiseach had been quite silent during the question and answer session. However now he was muttering to his companion ``He was quite wrong on the central issues you know''. I never heard the response of his companion, being distracted by the powerful urge to give the former Taoiseach the very necessary kick up the backside.

Afterwards I was struck by the comparison between Chomsky and his detractor. In many ways they were both similar people, university academics who were also deeply involved in the political life of their respective societies. Both were also political writers.

There the similarities ended. Noam Chomsky towered above his detractor. Chomsky is a prolific writer whose contribution to an understanding of the economic and political forces that shape the world we live in today is unrivalled. He is a Connolly, a Thomas Davis.

Two new publications by Chomsky provide an excellent introduction to his work. The first is not really a book written by Chomsky, rather a set of interviews conducted by David Barsamian. Titled Class Warfare it is very readable introduction to the work, philosophy and personality of Chomsky.

For those looking for a bit more meat there is second new book titled Power and Prospects. It covers a diverse range of topics through its chapters including pieces on language, writers and intellectual responsibility, democracy and the New World Order, the Middle East peace accords and the role of the UN and others in East Timor.

Maybe you should start on the last chapter which deals with East Timor and sets out clearly and concisely the role of the UN, the USA, Britain and others in actively denying the Timorese people their right to self determination. Then you can decide who was wrong on the central issues.

BY NEIL FORDE

Scribe of the tribes

Discovery of new texts by deceased authors is becoming such a frequent occurrence in the literary industry that it is now a definable trend. Already this year we have seen `new' versions of classics by T E Lawrence and James Joyce.

Now enter another literary find - a new collection of short stories by Walter Macken published for the first time under the title City of the Tribes. The stories owe their publication to Steve MacDonogh who, when still at Brandon, received typescripts of over 30 stories written in the 1940s by Macken.

The stories' themes and content are all hewn from the real Galway of the day that Macken lived and worked in . MacDonogh has edited 18 of the 30 stories for publication. There were two versions of some stories and some were incomplete.

The end result is an admirable collection of very readable accessible tales that give a fascinating snap shot of Galway, City of the Tribes, as the title suggests.

If like many Irish children you sped through Macken's historical trilogy Seek the Fair Land, The Silent People and The Scorching Wind you will as adults enjoy this new collection.

The strength and binding tie between all these stories is a dual one. At one level is the rapid development and portrayal of a core character in each story. Then at a second level these characters are pitted against a range of obstacles and dilemmas.

Here you find the strength of Macken's writing in that he can make the everyday monotony of human activity whether it be the weather, shopping, a street fair or even a funeral into a complex panorama of humanity where a deeper understanding of who we really are is always lurking. This collection then is one to read during those quiet moments at the end of the day

By Neil Forde