Sir, – That Mozart of Irish writers, Niall Williams, was longlisted for the Man Booker Prize a number of years ago for his book History of the Rain. Delightful as each chapter was, the ever-present incessant rain seeping through every page left you feeling either damp, drenched, soaked, sodden, saturated or just wet to the core.
His later, even more delightful, book This is Happiness has but four words in its first chapter. The magic words were “It had stopped raining”.
There is hope.
It could happen again, couldn’t it? – Yours, etc,
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TIM BROSNAN,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 14.
Sir, – It’s a good thing Noah wasn’t Irish. Imagine the trouble he would have had trying to persuade humans or animals to get on board a boat after only 40 days of rain. – Yours, etc,
COLIN WALSH,
Templeogue,
Dublin 6W.