Banville On Ireland

The latest instalment in Salon's literary guide to the world: John Banville on his "native place", as they'd call it here.

"The first thing the visitor must understand about Ireland is that there are two Irelands: There is Dublin, and then there is all that is not Dublin...Before any guidebook, then, rough or smooth, the essential volume the first-time visitor must pack, whether in a Louis Vuitton valise or one of Mr. Kipling's exceedingly fine knapsacks, is James Joyce's Dubliners..."

Quite delightful.