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Peig: The Autobiography of Peig Sayers of the Great Blasket Island
by
Peig Sayers
Paperback
,
216 pages
Published
May 1st 1991
by Syracuse University Press
(first published 1936)
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Community Reviews
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254)
This book was recommended to me by a tour guide on our tour of the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland. It is the autobiography of a woman who used to live on the Dingle Peninsula before her marriage and then married a fisherman and moved to the The Great Blasket Island visible from the tip of the Dingle Peninsula. This book describes a very difficult life both on Dingle and on the Blasket Island but there's a love of land and family that is easily understood after a visit to the Dingle Peninsula. I don't
...more
If you want to be transported to a tiny island in the middle of the Irish Sea where there is no priest, no teacher, no doctor - just 150 subsistence farmers and herders, a king, and a couple of incredible storytellers, this is the book for you! In language that will make you weep for its sheer beauty and inventiveness, Peig paints a stunning picture of a life of great tragedy and triumphant humor. Full of wisdom and endurance!
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I, too, read this as a set text in Irish when at school. Fortunately, we had a gifted teacher who brought the text to life for us and gave us a fascinating insight into the trials, tribulations and joys of rural life in Ireland at that time. A visit later in life to the Dingle peninsula including a spell with an Irish-speaking family brought back memories of this book.
May 15, 2008
Caoimhe
rated it
1 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
people with dementia
Recommended to Caoimhe by:
the Irish government
Enforced reading for anyone learning Irish in school. Two years worth of unintelligible text used as a method of torture by way of total boredom. It's typical that the only action in the most well known autobiography in Ireland is when the subject once falls into a ditch. To be approached with extreme caution.
I read this for my leaving cert in school. But I should say more than likely I studied the notes the teacher gave us. I bought it in English a couple of years ago and read it properly. A very enjoyable read and a real eye opener as to how difficult life was in Peig Sayers time. Would definitely recommend it.
Dec 28, 2014
☆Ciara☆
marked it as no
Tá brón orm, Peig, ach ní bheidh mé ag léamh an leabhar seo. Nuair a chuala mé faoi do leabhar, tá mé ag leamh. An-leamh. Is fuath le gach duine a fhios agam an leabhar seo.
Agus tá mé an-uafásach ag Gaeilge. Nuair a scríobh mé an athbhreithniú, d'usáid mé Google Translate le beagán. Mar níl mé go maith ag Gaeilge. Ceithre bliana déag i scoil, agus ní féidir liom labhairt Gaeilge. Milleán roinnt daoine Peig agus a leabhar. Níl a fhios agam, ach beidh mé insint duit, ní bheidh mé ag léamh an leabh ...more
Agus tá mé an-uafásach ag Gaeilge. Nuair a scríobh mé an athbhreithniú, d'usáid mé Google Translate le beagán. Mar níl mé go maith ag Gaeilge. Ceithre bliana déag i scoil, agus ní féidir liom labhairt Gaeilge. Milleán roinnt daoine Peig agus a leabhar. Níl a fhios agam, ach beidh mé insint duit, ní bheidh mé ag léamh an leabh ...more
This is the story of an Irish woman's life told by describing the Irish mores that guided her family and friends. Per paints a picture that I enjoyed reading, especially the Irish adages.
The lives on the Dingle Penisula and the Blasket Islands were determined also by the harsh landscape. One reviewer of the area said, "The Dingle Peninsula is strung along a backbone formed by the Slieve Mish Mountains and terminates opposite the Blasket Islands. The most westerly land in Europe is The Dingle Pen ...more
The lives on the Dingle Penisula and the Blasket Islands were determined also by the harsh landscape. One reviewer of the area said, "The Dingle Peninsula is strung along a backbone formed by the Slieve Mish Mountains and terminates opposite the Blasket Islands. The most westerly land in Europe is The Dingle Pen ...more
Jun 09, 2012
Esme
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography-memoir
,
ireland
Peig Sayers (1873 – 1958) gehört zu den bekanntesten Vertretern der Blasket-Literatur, war doch ihre Autobiografie Peig (So irisch wie ich) Schullektüre in Irland. Sie war auch eine Seanchaí, eine Geschichtenerzählerin. Und so liest sich auch der Bericht über ihr Leben, wie kleine Geschichten. Geschichten über fast klischeehaft wirkende liebenswert-schlitzohrige Iren und über Feen und Geister. Peig wuchs in Dunquin auf, war Dienstmädchen in Dingle und heiratete einen Mann von Great Blasket Islan
...more
Although I understand this is a text used in Ireland to teach Irish, I found it fairly enjoyable. Don't expect a modern expose style autobiography - it's more a set of short stories about Sayers' life and her neighbors' lives. The title is also a little misleading - she doesn't actually get to the Blasket Island until halfway through the book.
The beginning is a little slow-going, but the pace really picks up about a third of the way in. I found it most fascinating for the detailed first-hand loo ...more
The beginning is a little slow-going, but the pace really picks up about a third of the way in. I found it most fascinating for the detailed first-hand loo ...more
Bought the book in Ireland in 2005 - English version, not Gaelige version.
I was told that all Irish schoolchildren must read this book in Gaelic to get
leaving certificate.
I was told that all Irish schoolchildren must read this book in Gaelic to get
leaving certificate.
Peig's reminiscenses of growing up in rural Ireland are incredibly lively. She is quite the storyteller and I loved all the Irish sayings. Having just returned from a trip to that part of Ireland, (I could see the Blaskets) it was delightful to read. However, i did learn that this is a book that all Irish kids are made to read and so, like Silas Marner and the Scarlet Letter, it is universally detested.
I'm so glad I read this, especially after visiting the Dingle peninsula. But I have to say it was a hard read. I've heard that most Irish schoolchildren have to read it and hate it; I can see that, although it's also an important part of their heritage that they should know about.
It's sociologically interesting, but not that great as a book
An wonderful story, an simple, honest woman from a lost culture. "I did my best to give an accurate account of the people I knew, so that we'd be remembered when we had moved on into eternity." Peig is not easily forgotten.
I bought this book during a trip to Ireland when I ran out of books to read in the evening. A jolly Irish bookseller recommended it because it's required reading in Irish schools.
I been interested in reading real Irish authors...very interesting read of old irish ways and a lost way of life...fascinating stuff! a very good book...almost reads like a novel.
Sayers relates a passing culture by telling her stories. Her speech patterns are as engaging as her story.
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Seanchaí agus dírbheathaisnéisí Éireannach ab ea í Peig Sayers (1873 - 1958).
Tháinig Peig Sayers ar an saol i nDún Chaoin, baile beag i gContae Chiarraí, Éire. Phós sí Pádraig Ó Gaoithín ón mBlascaod Mór, agus d'aistrigh sí ansin leis. Ní raibh léamh ná scríobh aici, ach seanchaí den scoth ab ea í. Ba dual athar di é, nó nuair a bhí sí óg, chluineadh sí na mílte scéalta agus eachtraí á n-insint ag ...more
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Tháinig Peig Sayers ar an saol i nDún Chaoin, baile beag i gContae Chiarraí, Éire. Phós sí Pádraig Ó Gaoithín ón mBlascaod Mór, agus d'aistrigh sí ansin leis. Ní raibh léamh ná scríobh aici, ach seanchaí den scoth ab ea í. Ba dual athar di é, nó nuair a bhí sí óg, chluineadh sí na mílte scéalta agus eachtraí á n-insint ag ...more
“Seanabhean is ea mise anois go bhfuil cos léi insan uaigh is an chos eile ar a bruach. Is mo bogradh is cruatan curtha agam díom ón gcéad lá do saolaíodh me go dtí an lá atá inníu ann. Dá mbeadh ’fhios agam go mbeadh a leath, ná a thrian, i ndán dom ní bheadh mo chroí ná m’intinn chomh haerach ná chomh misníúil is do bhí i dtosach mo shaoil.”
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