Title: Clive James on RTÉ
Post by Kevin Cryan on Today at 11:10
[bgcolor=Blue]RTÉ Radio 1[/bgcolor]
The Book Show
http://img.rasset.ie/00080aba-642.jpg
Presented by Sinead Gleeson The Book Show celebrates books and the world of writing with readings, discussion, author interviews and special features
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In a frank and poignant interview, celebrated author and journalist Clive James is the special guest on RTÉ Radio 1's The Book Show tonight (November 22) at 7:00pm.
Presenter Sinéad Gleeson travelled to Cambridge to interview James at his home.
James has leukaemia and emphysema but tells Gleeson: "The great thing about being ill in the way I'm ill, is that it's slow and it doesn't hurt very much and so there's plenty of time to think.
"I'm thinking about the life I've led and trying to get a lot of it down on paper and really having a great time. I suppose I should conceal that and say it's tragic but, really, I'm lucky . . . it would be churlish to start complaining." |
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[bgcolor=Blue]Listen[/bgcolor] (http://www.rte.ie/radio/radioplayer/rteradioweb.html#!rii=9%3A10346649%3A15775%3A22%2D11%2D2014%3A)
Kevin Cryan |
Title: Re: Clive James on RTÉ
Post by Kevin Cryan on 24.11.14 at 14:47
THE IRISH TIMES ON THE RECORD Monday 24th November 2014
Jim Carroll
MUSIC, LIFE AND EVERYTHING ELSE
What it takes to make great radio interviews (https://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/ontherecord/2014/11/24/what-it-takes-to-make-great-radio-interviews)
RTE Radio One’s weekend interviews with Clive James and Broadsheet’s John Ryan show what it takes to create radio gold
Quote:.....The Book Show’s encounter with Clive James kept you from making the dinner. The erudite Australian writer, sharp critic, entertaining broadcaster and well-regarded poet is terminally ill, having being diagnosed with leukaemia and emphysema in 2010, so any interview with him comes coloured with that patina.
But from the moment presenter Sinead Gleeson arrived at his Cambridge house, you got a different sense of James. This was a brave, candid, thoughful, warm encounter. James may be ailing and the voice does not carry the same strength or power as before, but the mind is still sharp and in overdrive. He talked about his parents, the writing which has sustained and enriched him over the years, the power of memory, his writing career and especially poetry. Aside from his own work, including the beautiful Japanese Maple (the tree of the title outside his window, he now notes, now thinks it’s Lindsay Lohan thanks to the recent flurry of fame), he also spoke about and recited Louis MacNeice.
When the interview ended, you wanted to hear it again. James has always provided great copy and insights over the years and, of course, there are the emotions which come into play when you know the final curtain is nigh. But this was an interview which went beyond the usual structure of the form. You knew too that others had stopped in their tracks, put down what they were doing and paid close attention to the words coming from the wirless. |
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The Book Show - SoundCloud (http://soundcloud.com/thebookshow/s2-ep7-the-book-show-22nd-november-2014)
Kevin Cryan
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