Shamrock Tea by Ciaran Carson
Shamrock Tea is an Irish drug that enables its users to see things not given to ordinary mortals. They can sense colours and sounds more vividly; they can penetrate the surface of paintings; they can cross time. The narrator, his cousin and a strange Belgian friend know that their lives are ruled mysteriously by the great van Eyck painting, The Arnolfini Portrait, and they have travelled in dream like moments through the painting into other times. They discover that each moment is connected to every other. But in the strange world of Shamrock Tea, no story can be straightforward. With a cast of characters that includes the gardener Ludwig Wittgenstein, this book will blow your mind.
This clever and original novel is about Shamrock Tea - an Irish drug that enables users to see things others can'tIt lets them see colours more vividly; sounds more clearly; users can penetrate the surfaces of paintings and can even cross time. The principal characters - the narrator, his cousin and a strange Belgian friend - know that their lives are ruled mysteriously by the magnificent van Eyck painting, The Arnolfini Portrait. They have traveled in dream-like moments through the painting into other times and they discover that each moment is linked to every other. However, in the odd world of Shamrock Tea, nothing is straightforward. This title combines dry wit and beautiful prose - the author is a poet - and the result is a novel that is entertaining and very funny.
Ciaran Carson lives in Belfast. He has been awarded the Irish Times Irish Literature Prize and the T. S. Eliot Poetry Prize, as well as the Yorkshire Post Prize for The Star Factory, published by Granta Books. Picador recently published his latest collection of poetry, The Twelfth of Never, alongside a reissue of The Ballad of HMS Belfast: The Belfast Poems.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781862073982 |
| ISBN 10 | 1862073988 |
| Title | Shamrock Tea |
| Author | Ciaran Carson |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Granta Books |
| Year published | 2001-03-29 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |