Adrian Duncan, a writer from Ballymahon, Co Longford, in his early forties with a career as a structural engineer behind him, cannot be described as an overnight success. Love Notes from a German Building Site is, among many other things, a novel about not being young any more, not being a success. Wishing to learn and commit to a style of his own, he avoids reading much contemporary fiction, concerned that his own prose might become overwhelmed. It is, says Duncan, “a type of Irishness I am deeply interested in, and that is technical aptitude for building… it’s an Irishness that I feel is rarely ever talked about”. I want to make it as well as I can, and destroy it afterwards; no one need even see it.”Well, now Adrian Duncan has made something, and we can see it.

Source: The Irish Times June 26, 2020 05:03 UTC