In 2016, Ireland widely celebrated the centenary of the Easter Rising - the uprising that took place at Easter in 1916, the uprising for Ireland's independence from Great Britain and the creation of the Irish Republic. Despite the defeat, it was that week that became the lucky ticket of the Emerald Isle to liberation from the centuries-old oppression of the British crown, because the shots that the leaders of the uprising received in the chest woke the whole country. A massive insurrectionary movement began.
Among those who supported the country was the British ambassador, human rights defender and nationalist Sir Roger Casement, who is the center of attention of the Peruvian Nobel Prize laureate's novel.
“Epic novel or biography on the grand scale? This pulls off both” , The Guardian
... In a cramped, dark prison cell, where there is no countdown, Roger awaits his sentence. The charges are heavy - high treason, for which the only punishment is the death penalty. But, as you know, hope dies last and there is still a possibility that the sentence will be commuted. Previous services to the British Empire, influential friends - it would seem that it is possible to achieve the abolition of the death penalty. However, during a search of the convict's house, the police found scandalous diaries. It turns out that the great humanist is a homosexual. Obscene notes become public, the country is in shock ... Those diaries were partly the reason for the rejection of the appeal. However, the book is not at all sexual - it tells readers how Casement, through his humanitarian work in Congo and Peru, came up with the idea of an independent Ireland and tried to bring it to life. In that cell, on the eve of his death, Roger recalls his life ... The book is divided into three parts - Congo, Amazonia, Ireland - each of which provides the reader with a broad understanding of the state of affairs in these countries during the period 1900-1916.
The Celtic Dream is the book that leaves a deep mark on the soul. After reading, you cannot come to your senses for a long time, you think about the fate of people who were destroyed by a powerful empire, about nature, which witnessed torture, about the strength of the human spirit, which can endure all the horrors and injustice. You think about the look that looks at us through the centuries from photographs - deep, wise, but catastrophically exhausted. This is an amazing life story of an amazing person, a person of word and deed.
The entire book (read Roger's fate) can be characterized by a quote: "Isn't life something absurd, a dramatic production that can turn into a farce at any moment?" He wanted to save his dear, sweet Erin from the slavery of the imposed system, but got a noose around his neck (this is not a spoiler). Here the title of the novel becomes symbolic - Celtic-Casement's dream of a free Ireland remained for him only a dream.
I would like to express my deep gratitude to the author for having conveyed to the general reader the story of this unusual and, I am not afraid of this word, great man.
Read on, dear friends! Get rid of stereotypes, demand freedom, love and never regret what happened in the past! There are many complaints about the translation. But they do not spoil the impression of the novel.
This article was sponsored by Michael Rumpf
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