Gestern noch über ihn gewundert, heute kräftig über ihn gelacht: Die erhellende Lektüre von Joseph O´Connor´s süffisant geschriebenem Bestseller “The Irish Male – His Greatest Hits” macht´s möglich. Der irische Schriftsteller aus Dublin (46, Foto) hat sich mit seinen Kolumnen über das Wesen des irischen Mannes in Irland wie im Ausland einen Namen gemacht. Tiefe Einsichten – mit Humor und leichter Feder formuliert. Hier eine Kostprobe aus “His Greatest Hits”, die im April dieses Jahres erschienen sind: “The Irish Male – A User´s Manual”:
“It was the great Leo Nikolayevich Tolstoy who wrote: ‘All Irish Males can be a pain in the ass; but each Irish Male can be a pain in the ass in his own way.‘ Women readers will sadly concur. They will know that living with an Irish Male is on very rare occasions not the blissful paradise it customarily is. He is by nature a solitary beast – really he lives inside his own shell. If the Italian is a stallion, the Irishman is a tortoise. (Witness his remarkable fondness for hibernation, especially on mornings when the bins must be taken out.) Not that there ist anything wrong with that either, for as devotees of the fabulous Aesop can attest, even a tortoise may gain in the end. Mainly by cheating and lying, but that´s another story.
But yes, the Irish Male finds it hard to converse in an open fashion. Compared to him, a brick is eloquent. Thus he finds sharing his thoughts and emotions almost impossible. . .
. . . The Irish Male does not notice silenct signals. His social antennae are not finely tuned. Misunderstanding is the sea through which he haplessly paddles, with only his bafflement and incomprehension for armbands.
… When it comes to the business of courtship, for example, the Irish Male has a lot to learn. It isn´t that he is unromantic, as such. It is just that your average Irishman, when pursuing a woman, is a bit like a dog chasing after a car. He wouldn´t really know what to do if she stopped.
… So, ladies, if you must live with an Irish Male – and please do ask yourself whether there are not real alternatives, such as emigration, lesbian separatism or entering a convent – there are a few points which are well worth remembering. . .
1. The Irish Male is Always Right.
2. The Irish Male is Fond of Cursing.
3. You will Never Ever Compete With His Mammy.”
Und so geht es munter weiter. Leider wurden Joseph Connor´s kleine Juweelen über das irische Männchen bis heute nicht ins Deutsche übersetzt. Die besten seiner Kolumnen und Radio-Tagebücher gibt es hier: