CORMAC F. LOWTH,
Sir, - Further to Frank Shouldice's Irishman's Diary of May 18th, I visited one Dublin pub recently for a pint and a sandwich at lunchtime and found to my delight that the walls were lined with shelves of books and, moreover that a favourite classic of mine, Sailing Alone Around the World, by Joshua Slocum, was facing me at eye-height.
As this is a book that can be opened and re-read at any page I thought to savour a chapter or two with my lunch only to find to my horror and disgust that it - and all of the books - were glued in position.
While continuing with shock and disbelief to attempt to dislodge the volume, I was approached by a tuxedo-clad Michelin Man who directed me: "Leave them books alone, Bud. They're only there for the decoration". This surely takes the notion of the commercial tail wagging the literary dog to its ultimate absurdity. The place was also festooned with images of Joyce, O'Casey, Shaw, Yeats, and Brendan Behan, which made the situation all the more ridiculous.
To quote the immortal words of the latter gentleman, "God never closes one door but he slams the whole effin lot". In this instance it was the covers of the books which were slammed shut and the doorways to the minds which they might otherwise enlighten.
Undoubtedly there will be plenty of people willing to dish out this phoney brand of "culture" Ad Captandum Vulgus as long as there are enough idiots willing to fork out their tourist euro to avail of it. - Yours, etc.,
CORMAC F. LOWTH,
Maplewood Way,
Tallaght,
Dublin 24.