Dìomhanas

Description

CLÀR, 2008. 200 pages. Paperback.

A series of 24 short stories in expressive, flowing Gaelic. MacLeod’s first collection is wide-ranging in its subject matter – religion, psychology, death and folklore are all drawn upon – the end produce being thoroughly thought-provoking prose that is at times light-hearted and always powerful.

“A significant feature of this new book is the quality of the Gaelic in which it is written. The vocabulary is sometimes challenging, and you will not find all of the words in Dwelly, but it transports one back to the days when Gaelic speakers were more fluent and articulate than they are now. Reading these stories I encountered words and expressions that I heard and knew in my own younger days, and I felt ashamed that I had ignored and lost them so thoughtlessly.

Dìomhanas is more than a book. It’s a sparkling gem in the treasury of Gaelic literature. Although most of the stories had been previously published in magazines and other outlets, we had been waiting for a long time to see them in book form and our patience is now rewarded. Finlay has written more than the twenty-four stories that appear in this book. We hope that more of his remarkable writing will be published in a format as pleasing as this one.”
Seonaidh Ailig Mac a’ Phearsain, Canada, 2008

“A contemporary virtuoso of the short story in Gaelic. Dìomhanas is, perhaps surprisingly, Fionnlagh MacLeòid’s first book of short stories…Those who read Dìomhanas may consider that fact a loss to the literature that has finally been repaired.”
Moray Watson (An Introduction to Gaelic Fiction, p176)

Reading Level: Upper Intermediate/Advanced (Suitable for more confident readers)