The Atheist and Other Stories
by Seán MacMathúna
Translated by the author
This is a refreshing laugh at life along with some very keen observations that fairly ridicule accepted mores.
The book abounds with the energy of an untamed writer, the mind of a man who has utterly thrown caution to the wind, who trods on
the existing bounds of human relationships and enables us to escape momentarily to what to me seems a more honest, passionate and
certainly less hypocritical level of existence. His characters are independent, lively and often very daft. Yet he portrays them in such
a way as to make them plausible and very true to life. He is quite right. He certainly confirms something that I have always firmly
believed mankind is interesting and behind a veneer of mediocrity conceals a high level of sheer delightful madness. To be otherwise
is barely to exist at all.
I particularly liked the story of “The Queen of Killiney”. It is an absolute classic of laughter and fun. This should be a prescribed
tonic for anybody silly enough to take anything in life too seriously.
Richard Fennessy,
Waterford City Library.
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