Tristan Rosentock talks all things bookish in the companion series to our popular podcast
A book from your early days?
I was 7 when my father’s collection of verses Dánta Duitse came out and it was a big hit in the household. There was one poem in particular that we loved – Bumbóg. “Bum…Bum….Bum….Bum/ Ag eitilt ó bhláth go bláth”. Saying those words out loud and not getting in trouble was enough to make us so giddy!
Dog ears or book marks?
Dog ears. I also write notes on books. I tend to leave them in pretty bad shape…
A quote you can say by heart?
‘Once upon a time and a very good time it was there was a moocow coming down along the road and this moocow that was coming down along the road met a nicens little boy named baby tuckoo…’ (Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, by James Joyce)
Do you lend without expecting a book returned?
Absolutely. I think my jaw would hit the floor if a book was ever returned to me.
Best book someone gave you?
My cousin René gifted me The Leopard by Giuseppe Tomasi di Lampedusa. I didn’t read it at the time, but years later brought it with me on honeymoon and read it in Sicily, which couldn’t have been more perfect. It’s a masterpiece.
A book you return to over the years?
I have to read so much working on my arts series An Cúinne Dána (RTÉ Raidió na Gaeltachta) and as literary editor of Comhar that returning to a book is not an option for me, unfortunately.
A book that taught you something important?
I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that didn’t teach me something important! But I absolutely loved Oein DeBhairduin’s Why the moon travels, a collection of tales rooted in the oral tradition of the Irish Traveller community. Stories like these would not have been handed down from generation to generation if they didn’t have something important to teach us.
A book that makes you laugh?
Myles na gCopaleen’s An Béal Bocht is still the funniest book I’ve ever read. You’ve reminded me – it’s time to read it again.
One of your own books you would save?
That would have to be my latest book Inis Mara 2. I wrote Inis Mara a few years ago and a reviewer concluded that it was the start of a series. That hadn’t occurred to me when I wrote it. The main character Éabha is based on my late sister, and her adventures continue in Inis Mara 2.
What book could you not live without?
My wife Sadhbh Rosenstock’s debut book Teach Teidí is a collection of songs and verses for children and the QR code allows you to listen to them as well. It has accompanied us on so many long car journeys with our daughters and miraculously kept the “are we there yet?” question to single digits.
You can save one non-book item: what is it?
Sadhbh gave me a lovely Copperfish lamp, and it makes reading even more enjoyable with its soft, warm glow.
