Thòisich an t-seachdainn le Christopher Brookmyre - sgrìobhadair de nobhailean 'eucoir' - a' tighinn gu Leabharlann a' Chas Chaolais. S gann gum b'urrainn dhomh a chreidsinn nuair a chaidh innse dhomh le caraid gun nochdadh Brookmyre sa sgire. Nach e Fèis Leabhraichean Dhùn Eideann an raon aigesan?
Co-dhiù, nochd e is an tachartas saor san-asgaidh. Còrr is uair a thìde de chuimhneachan èibhinn, naidheachd dhrabasta is rosg eirmseach a tha inntinneach, culturach, borb, beòthail agus làn den droch bheul. Cha b'urrainn na b'fheàrr air oidhche fhuar Samhna.
Bha an èisteachd car neònach. Ri mo thaobh bha dà chailleach - aon Sasannach agus posh agus an tèile Albannach agus a cheart cho spaideil. Bha lethbhreac de Conde Nast Boatowner aig an t-Sasannach. Bha a' bhan-Albannach ag ràdh gu bheil leabhraichean Bhrookmyre ceart gu leòr aig a' cheann thall, aon uair 's fhuair thu seachadh air an droch chainnt. Mhothaich mi gun d'rinn iad gàire is an 'droch chainnt' a' ruith far teanga Bhroomyre fad na h-oidhche.
Se an leabhar as ùire aige Flesh Wounds. Beagan nas duirche na thàinig roimhe agus thig e a-steach ort gur e seo sgrìobhadair a tha a-nis 'aig ìre'. An ann aig àirde a chomais a tha e? Chan eil mi cinnteach ach bha na chuala sinn bho Flesh Wounds fìor mhath gu dearbh.
Stevie had a Bentley Continental GT outside. He loved that machine like it was part of him: loved the growl of its engine, the gleam of its lines; loved what it said about him. It boasted more than six hundred brake horsepower, did nought to sixty in four seconds and its low-slung suspension was so smooth it handled like one of those lightcycles from Tron. But driving it had never given him a fraction of the excitement he had experienced behind the wheel of a stolen Escort XR3i when he was sixteen, his brother Nico riding shotgun, their cousins Doke and Jazz in the back, Stevie throwing the car around like it was the dodgems.
That thought was what finally gave him the nudge to get moving. It was one thing to miss your youth, but nostalgia could seduce you into thinking that the best of you lay in the past. To wallow in it was the same as staying here in this seat instead of going out to meet the day.
Fuck. That.
Mholainn-sa gun ceannaicheadh tu seo aig Amazon. Ach bhon nach eil Amazon a' pàigheadh cisean ged a tha na prothaidean a' taomadh a-steach, shaoileam gum biodh e na b'fheàrr a dhol gu Play. S math is fhiach e.
Sgrìobh mi pìos air leabhar Thim Armstrong bho chionn ghreis as deidh dha an nobhail 'saidh-faidh' aige a chur air bhog ann an Dùn Eideann. Tha e coltach gun robh na h-eòlaichean bhon Saltire Society an-lathair air an là gam bogadh fhèin san litearras is ceòl punc a chunnacas is chualas an diofar àiteachan. Thug iad e dha duais airson a' chiadh nobhail as fheàrr airson 'Cuan Dubh Drilseach'. Meal a naidheachd.
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| Rosg is ceol air Leith Walk. |
Cas Chaolais - South Queensferry
