“Declan Burke is his own genre. The Lammisters dazzles, beguiles and transcends. Virtuoso from start to finish.” – Eoin McNamee “This bourbon-smooth riot of jazz-age excess, high satire and Wodehouse flamboyance is a pitch-perfect bullseye of comic brilliance.” – Irish Independent Books of the Year 2019 “This rapid-fire novel deserves a place on any bookshelf that grants asylum to PG Wodehouse, Flann O’Brien or Kyril Bonfiglioli.” – Eoin Colfer, Guardian Best Books of the Year 2019 “The funniest book of the year.” – Sunday Independent “Declan Burke is one funny bastard. The Lammisters ... conducts a forensic analysis on the anatomy of a story.” – Liz Nugent “Burke’s exuberant prose takes centre stage … He plays with language like a jazz soloist stretching the boundaries of musical theory.” – Totally Dublin “A mega-meta smorgasbord of inventive language ... linguistic verve not just on every page but every line.Irish Times “Above all, The Lammisters gives the impression of a writer enjoying himself. And so, dear reader, should you.” – Sunday Times “A triumph of absurdity, which burlesques the literary canon from Shakespeare, Pope and Austen to Flann O’Brien … The Lammisters is very clever indeed.” – The Guardian

Monday, April 21, 2008

Put The Bleme On Meme, Boys # 134

Eoin Purcell tags the Grand Vizier for an intriguing little variation on the blogging chain letter, aka the meme. The rules:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.
1. The Grand Viz is currently reading THE DALKEY ARCHIVES by the greatest living / dead / yet-to-come Irish writer, Flann O’Brien (see below).
2. The sixth, seventh and eighth sentences runneth thusly:
“The lamplight was soft, agreeable, restful as gaslight, but suddenly he thought he heard a voice say something in a tone that made him start. Beyond a partition on the customers’ side he saw another man serving within the counter further up the shop. He was oldish, thin, slightly stooped, and he wore glasses.”

(A slight cheat: the next three sentences runneth thusly: “Thick grey hair was brushed back from the forehead. Mick’s heart began to thunder. Sweet God, had he found James Joyce?”)
Now for the juicy part – we’re tagging the Book Witch, J. Kingston Pierce, Maxine Clarke, Crimefic Reader and Peter Rozovsky. Sorry, folks ...

7 comments:

Josh Schrank said...

You know... if you're bored and have nothing else to do, I'm in the middle of digging a trench for a footing/foundation for my new porch. You're more than welcome to come on over and grab a shovel...

Anonymous said...

Yeah, you'd think new dads would have a few nappies to change, at least. I saw this p 123 thing on someone else's blog this morning. Forget whose.

Declan, you are going to regret this; I'm reading Jacqueline Wilson.

Unknown said...

What the jiggery pokery? That's right, Bobby the Rookie is back

J. Kingston Pierce said...

I don't usually have the chance to participate in these memes, so I guess I ought to thank you, Declan. My response is here:

http://therapsheet.blogspot.com/2008/04/page-123.html

Cheers,
Jeff

Peter Rozovsky said...

Didn't know I'd been tagged until now ... I'll get right to it.
==============
Detectives Beyond Borders
"Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
http://detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

Declan Burke said...

Holy moly, is that Fun Bobby the Rookie or Captain Comedown Bobby the Rookie? We need to be told ...

Appreciate your forebearance, people - I generally hate those memes / chain letters myself. But that one - as J. Pierce has already proved - can very be interesting indeed. Cheers, Dec

Anonymous said...

A meme for a meme, dear boy! Consider yourself tagged again. This time it's "six random facts" about you.

You can pick up the rules here, as well as my own response:
http://itsacrime.typepad.com/its_a_crime_or_a_mystery/2008/04/another-meme-an.html

I hope you choose to reply.