Reflections about the author Brian Moore
Ireland, with its history, culture, and art, has fascinated me since I was young. I was a huge fan of Irish musicians and bands: like U2, one of the greatest rock bands; Van Morrison, a blues and folk legend whose career spans more than fifty years; The Pogues, a brilliant cult folk-punk band featuring the late Shane McGowan; and The Cranberries, an extraordinary band whose lead singer, the charismatic Dolores O’Riordan, left us too soon. In particular, traditional Irish folk music—with the fiddle, tin whistle, banjo, and harp—and bands like Clannad, The Chieftains, or The Corrs—have provided me with unforgettable musical enjoyment.
I was just as fascinated by Ireland’s history and its Celtic past as I was by its more recent history, such as the liberation from English rule, which lasted nearly 700 years and only came to an end with the Irish Rebellion of 1922. Northern Ireland has remained part of the United Kingdom to this day. The protracted civil war between the Catholic and Protestant populations and the activities of the guerrilla organization IRA left behind much suffering and trauma and have only subsided in the past 20 years.
I traveled through Ireland myself in 2003 and 2008, hitchhiking from the west to the east coast and traveling across the country by public bus and hitchhiking. From cities to villages, across high moors, past rugged coastlines, sheep pastures, and the ruins of old castles, I gathered unique experiences and moments that have remained unforgettable to me. I still vividly remember encounters with friendly and approachable locals—whether while hitchhiking or in the many pubs I visited in the evenings: in Kilkenny, Limerick, Galway, or Cahermore.
As a bookworm, I inevitably sought out Irish literature that was more experimental than German literature. The wit and humor in Flann O’Brien’s novel *The Third Policeman* are a real treat, and its satire is similar to the works of the famous Samuel Beckett. Every literature lover is familiar with Beckett’s most famous play, *Waiting for Godot*. The satirical adventure novel *Gulliver’s Travels* by the Irish author Jonathan Swift is also a classic.
Frank McCourt’s autobiographical novel *Angela´s Ashe*, with its sober yet humorous account of his difficult family history, touched me deeply. The great figure of Irish literature is, of course, James Joyce with his magnum opus: “Ulysses,” which ranks among the great works of literary history and was published in 1922 not in Ireland but in France. “Ulysses” is one of those novels I’ve started over and over again but never finished. Even more daunting is his work “Finnegans Wake.” Nevertheless, Joyce was a master of language and an innovator in literature.
One author whose books completely captivated me and, at the same time, showed me what makes a good novel was the Irish writer Brian Moore. He was born in Belfast in 1922—the same year that *Ulysses* was published and the Irish Rebellion broke out in Dublin. Moore was not a linguistic wizard or an experimental writer like Joyce, O’Brien, or Beckett, but he did write a wide range of diverse novels—dramas, mysteries, historical novels, adventures, thrillers, and relationship dramas—all of the finest quality and great skill, which also reached a wide audience.
When I came across the 1955 novel *The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne* while browsing at a lending library, it wasn’t the title that caught my attention, but the fact that the story was set in Northern Ireland in the 1950s. The deeper I delved into the story of this melancholic and lonely middle-aged woman—who was prone to drinking and longed for love and affection—the more I realized that this was no ordinary novel. Through the narrative technique and the precise description of emotions and reactions, the reader gains an intimate insight into the lives and fates of the protagonists and their desperate search to escape loneliness—a journey that is sometimes funny, sometimes tragic, but never boring, and that evokes compassion and understanding. These are qualities that only a good novelist is capable of stirring in his readers.
I immediately began looking for other novels by Moore and found this one, *The Feast of Lupercal* , first published in 1957. Moore places a conservative and stiff English teacher at a Catholic college in Northern Ireland at the center of the story. Once again, the theme is the longing for love, affection, and sex—and once again, the characters fail. The English teacher, who tries to force his students into reason and order with a cane, falls in love with a naive and romantic young woman whom he wants to help develop her acting skills in a school play. Brian Moore weaves together the clash between staunchly Catholic morality and the temptation of sin—without seeking to be moralistic or condemn anyone—into an entertaining and suspenseful plot. Brian Moore wove together the Catholic religion, its mysteries and dark sides, the clergy’s quest for power, and complex theological questions of faith—contrasting them with human biological needs—in many of his novels, such as *Catholics*, *The Colour of Blood*, and especially *No Other Life*, which was published in 1993.
“No Other Life” is certainly one of the major achievements in Moore’s body of work. Once again, a priest takes centre stage. Paul Michel, a priest from French Canada, serves as a missionary on a Caribbean island that Moore calls Ganae. Ganae is a synonym for Haiti, where one of the most terrifying dictators of the 20th century wreaked havoc: Jean-Claude Duvalier, known as “Baby Doc.” In Moore’s novel, the Canadian priest Michel recounts his experiences with the young priest Jeannot, who refuses to accept the injustice in his homeland and fights against it—above all, against the despot: Uncle D. The novel is both intelligent and gripping; it explores essential questions about human coexistence within a community, about freedom and faith, about rebellion and obedience, and ultimately about the desire for liberation from oppression. A must-read novel.
Another of my favorites is the 1985 adventure novel *Black Robe*. It is a historical novel set in 17th-century Canada that tells the story of a young Jesuit priest who, on his missionary journey, is accompanied by a Native American and ventures deep into the wild and unknown interior of the country, where they encounter an uncivilized Native American tribe. The Jesuit’s spiritual convictions and his zeal for evangelization clash with the harsh, untamed environment and the indigenous peoples who wish to hold fast to their nature-based beliefs. Brian Moore, who himself lived in Canada for many years, has delivered a truly gripping novel that brings both the atmosphere and the characters’ inner conflicts to life, while also being filled with all sorts of dramatic twists. The novel also served as the basis for a film adaptation, which is quite successful.
Another historical novel based on facts—which was also Moore’s last book (he died in 1999)—is on my list of favorites: *The Magician’s Wife*. The story is set in 1856. The French Emperor Napoleon III wants to make the benefits of French rule clear to the rebellious Arab subjects in the occupied colony of Algeria—without bloodshed. His advisors suggest that he send the famous magician Eugene Robert Houdin on a diplomatic mission to Algeria to demonstrate to the locals, through magic tricks, that this is not about sorcery but about science. The magician is accompanied on his mission by his wife, who herself becomes dramatically entangled in this bizarre undertaking. I won’t reveal any more, except to say that Brian Moore brings all his literary and dramatic mastery to bear in this novel and has created a masterpiece.
For anyone who wants to know what makes a great novel: they should study and analyze Brian Moore’s novels—and, of course, enjoy them—because they offer absolutely superb reading.
Mike Masuri, Oct.2026
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