"The Great South Wall" By Niall Foley

"The Great South Wall"  By Niall Foley  (2012, 3 pages)

March 1 to March 31

Niall Foley

Dublin

Event Resources-Links to lots of short stories, from classics to brand new works.   Everyone is invited participate.  If you have any questions on how you might do this please contact me.

One of my favorite online Journals is The Bohemyth - Literary Journal.  In addition to short stories and poems, they also publish simply stunning photographs and art work.  It is edited by Alice Walsh whose great short story, "Shahain" I posted on last year during Irish Short Story Month Year Two.  In December I posted on another one of her stories, "Downaround".  (Later on this month I will be posting on a brilliant story by Walsh, "Cut You Down Like an Old Oak Tree")  Michael Naghen Shanks is the assistant editor.  I read recently his story, ""How To Make An Omelette After You Have Eaten Everything" in the collection of Irish short stories, 30 Under 30.  I found it totally fascinating.  It was one of the most interesting works of Flash Fiction I have ever read.  Both Alice and Micheal, as well as Ruth McKee, have kindly agreed to do Q and A sessions for Irish Short Story Month-Year III.

Knowing I could rely on the advise of Alice Walsh when I decided I wished to post on the works of Irish writers just getting started with their writing careers I asked her if she could perhaps let me know of a few representative stories from  The Bohemyth - Literary Journal.   (Be sure and read the Q and A session with Alice and the one with Michael for some good insight on Irish literary journals.)

"The Great South Wall" by Niall Foley is, on the surface about a fantasy a lot of unhappy people have at one or more times had.   They imagine the shock the person they think is responsible for their unhappiness will have upon finding their body after they have committed suicide.   Of course we have to accept that this fantasy structure or call it a terrible form of revenge has driven many to kill themselves.  The opening is so powerful and the prose style of Foley so perfect I feel it is best to let the story speak a bit.

"Dead.That’s how you’ll find me.The sea is brown at my back, the autumn breeze urging it against the rocks on which I sit. In front of me the rippling tide is black, then blue. The water looks gentle with the evening light tip-toeing on its surface. But I know beneath is strong, dark and cold.I will not resist.I will go willingly.Lapping of the sea echoes pleasingly from under the rocks. Pleasing is the sound, soft on the ear. Pleasing too that my body will soon be down there. With the rats. And the worms.A wretched business for whoever identifies me. They’d have to ask someone, wouldn’t they, to be sure? Would they ask Alan? I wonder, would they?"

The story, told in the first person is set on the edge of the ocean, probably at a sea wall for easy jumping.  The man watches the people walking around.   f The words of the old song "people seem strange when you are alone" are perfectly illustrated by his reaction to the people walking by.  The object of his hate is a named Alan. He used to work in the pub Alan owns  He likes to imagine Alan trying to get to sleep in the nice house he imagines he owns, with the image of his rotting face in his mind.     A new bar maid was hired six months ago and she is the only reason anyone comes to the pub now.   Then Alan thinks wait maybe Alan will be glad I am dead and then he thinks what if they call the young bar maid Sarah to identify his body. He does not want that for her.  

His boss Alan has put him on split shifts at the pub, that means he works four hours then goes home for five hours and comes back for four more hours of work.  It ruins his whole day and he hates it but he understands why Alan did it.   The story is also about, Old Dublin where, in the narrator's mind, things like loyalty and tradition mattered, versus the New Dublin where all that people in a pub want is a hot bar maid to look at.   He sees it somehow as a symbol of the degradation of Irish culture.   

The man finds a way out of the void, for today at least and maybe that is the best he can hope for.

I really enjoyed this story.  There is a lot more to it than I have conveyed.  You can read it yourself in just a few minutes and I recommend it highly.  I hope to read more of his work in the future. 

You can read it here.

Author Data

Niall Foley has been harnessed as a barman, labourer, clerk, lecturer and journalist – and several other functions. He currently lives in Edinburgh, and is happiest when unshackled and alone in a room with a desk, some paper, and a pencil.

You can learn more about the author and his work on his webpage. 

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