Colm Toibin Quote
He arranged the ceremony for two o'clock in the afternoon a week before she was to leave. The exam had gone well and she was almost certain that she would qualify. Because other couples to be married came with family and friends, their ceremony seemed brisk and over quickly and caused much curiosity among those waiting because they had come alone.On their journey to Coney Island on the train that afternoon Tony raised the question for the first time of when they might marry in church and live together.'I have money saved,' he said, 'so we could get an apartment and then move to the house when it's ready.''I don't mind,' she said. 'I wish we were going home together now.'He touched her hand.'So do I,' he said. 'And the ring looks great on your finger.'She looked down at the ring.'I'd better remember to take it off before Mrs Kehoe sees it.'The ocean was rough and grey and the wind blew white billowing clouds quickly across the sky. They moved slowly along the boardwalk and down the pier, where they stood watching the fishermen. As they walked back and sat eating hot dogs at Nathan's, Eilis spotted someone at the next table checking out her wedding ring. She smiled at herself.'Will we ever tell our children that we did this?' she asked.
He arranged the ceremony for two o'clock in the afternoon a week before she was to leave. The exam had gone well and she was almost certain that she would qualify. Because other couples to be married came with family and friends, their ceremony seemed brisk and over quickly and caused much curiosity among those waiting because they had come alone.On their journey to Coney Island on the train that afternoon Tony raised the question for the first time of when they might marry in church and live together.'I have money saved,' he said, 'so we could get an apartment and then move to the house when it's ready.''I don't mind,' she said. 'I wish we were going home together now.'He touched her hand.'So do I,' he said. 'And the ring looks great on your finger.'She looked down at the ring.'I'd better remember to take it off before Mrs Kehoe sees it.'The ocean was rough and grey and the wind blew white billowing clouds quickly across the sky. They moved slowly along the boardwalk and down the pier, where they stood watching the fishermen. As they walked back and sat eating hot dogs at Nathan's, Eilis spotted someone at the next table checking out her wedding ring. She smiled at herself.'Will we ever tell our children that we did this?' she asked.
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About Colm Toibin
His first novel, The South, was published in 1990. The Blackwater Lightship was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. The Master (a fictionalised version of the inner life of Henry James) was also shortlisted for the Booker Prize and won the 2006 International Dublin Literary Award, securing for Toíbín a bounty of thousands of euro as it is one of the richest literary awards in the world. Nora Webster won the Hawthornden Prize, whilst The Magician (a fictionalised version of the life of Thomas Mann) won the Folio Prize. His fellow artists elected him to Aosdána and he won the biennial "UK and Ireland Nobel" David Cohen Prize in 2021.
He succeeded Martin Amis as professor of creative writing at the University of Manchester. He was Chancellor of the University of Liverpool in 2017-2022. He is now Irene and Sidney B. Silverman Professor of the Humanities at Columbia University in Manhattan.