Failures more interesting
BBC Northern Ireland on local writing legend Brian Moore:
Moore had a difficult relationship with his father. He believed his father ‘died thinking I was a wimp.’ This perception of failure echoes through many of Moore’s novels. Failure interested him more than success because he believed that ’success alters people, while failure reveals them as they truly are.’ Perhaps this is what attracted him back to Northern Ireland during the Troubles – he took the chance to examine a society that had failed on so many levels, that was revealed for what it was.
Follow the link above for more about Moore, including some video of Moore visiting his old Belfast neighborhood. Here is another good essay about Moore, written by Tom Christie for LA Weekly in 1999.
