Gone Girl

Every so often a book comes along that makes me want to tell everyone about it. I want them to feel the same rush I feel when I am engrossed in these spine tingling, page-turning books. I want them to feel the suspense and anticipate what’s going to happen next. I want them to gasp at the unexpected plot twists and become gripped by the thrill of the storyline. I want them to read Gone Girl.

Gillian Flynn’s bestseller is told in two narratives; his and hers. It’s a suspense-filled crime thriller that also looks at the idea that we never really know who we fall in love with.

The story begins with Nick and Amy Dunne’s fifth wedding anniversary. Presents are being wrapped and dinner reservations are being made when Nick’s beautiful wife disappears. Nick quickly becomes the prime suspect when Amy’s friends reveal she was afraid of him. Strange searches on his computer and persistent calls on his mobile phone don’t help Nick’s case, and readers are torn between wondering if he really bumped his wife off or not. Passages from Amy’s diary showcase her as the ultimate perfectionist capable of putting anyone on edge. But who is telling the truth; Amy or Nick?

As the police investigation intensifies and the pressure mounts, all eyes point to Nick; his lies, his odd behaviour and his vague attitude to his wife’s sudden disappearance. Nick hardly qualifies as Husband-of-the-Year but is he really capable of murder? And if he didn’t do it, then what really happened to his wife?

Flynn’s dangerously dark and deeply intelligent writing, along with her trademark psychological insight, makes for a truly gripping thriller. She plays her readers with unreliable narrators resulting in dramatic and disturbing twists in the plot. Her style of writing is so good, so compelling and so thrilling that it really does mess with your mind.

Published in June 2012, Gone Girl is Flynn’s third psychological thriller. It was released much to the delight of fans and critics who were quick to praise the genius of Flynn’s writing. The Independent on Sunday described the book as; “One of the best US literary thriller writers to emerge in recent years…a truly great novel”, while Marie Claire said; “Flynn keeps the accelerator firmly to the floor, ratcheting up the tension with wildly unexpected plot twists, contradictory stories and the tantalising feeling that nothing is as it seems”.

Bought by Reese Witherspoon’s production company, Gone Girl will star Ben Affleck as Nick and English actress Rosamund Pike as Amy. Since the release of the official trailer and some on-screen shots, expectation for Gone Girl has been mounting. If you get a chance to read this spectacular book before the film comes out then do. I promise you won’t regret it!  The highly anticipated film will be released in Irish cinemas this Friday, October 3^rd. 

Speed vs Accuracy: The Importance of Getting It Right

According to the Reuters Handbook of Journalism; “Accuracy is at the heart of what we do. It is our job to get it first but it is above all our job to get it right. Accuracy, as well as balance, always takes precedence over speed.”

Unfortunately in the case of author and journalist David Monagan this could not be further from the truth. In one of his regular blog posts for world-renowned media conglomerate Forbes, Monagan made a crucial error that ultimately led to his resignation.

Mistakenly referring to President of Ireland Michael D Higgins as an “acknowledged homosexual” instead of his electoral rival for the position two years prior, David Norris, is an unacceptable inaccuracy and an error which led to, what he described as, a “journalist’s worst nightmare”.

In an age where print media is fast declining and digital and social media platforms are where we now look, it is easy to see how such a blunder could occur by a journalist. However, how such a noticeable and clearly defamatory mistake could be approved for an online platform without so much as a second glance from a second pair of eyes is not so easy to fathom.

Although his mistake was genuine, and taken down from the internet within minutes, it still went viral and the damage was done. How can such a wrong be righted? How can something so defamatory be corrected? It is obvious through Monagan’s very article, published on Independent.ie, that he is truly sorry for allowing such a mistake to occur. The article itself is almost an apology to Michael D Higgins for ever allowing such a fault to appear in his article. His resignation from Forbes is another acknowledgement that he refuses to work within an organisation that doesn’t double-check copy and allows room for such errors to occur. These actions alone show how Monagan has attempted to vindicate himself and his actions.

As regrettable as this incident is, Monagan highlights for us, as aspiring journalists, how imperative it is to double and triple check your work. If he had not been under pressure and in a rush maybe he would have given his work one last crucial glance. However, there is a lot to be learned from Monagan’s experience and the moral of the story is simple; don’t submit your work online, in a newspaper or on radio without making sure everything is in order and your facts are correct.

Reuniting with an old friend

It was like maths class all over again. I could never do it properly. Never quite get it right. I tried. But I never grasped it fully.

I thought my days of maths class were over when I started university and they were. I would never have to do algebra or geometry again. I was delighted. However, that was short-lived. Although maths was already long forgotten, it had been replaced with a different class. Indesign. All the same feelings I had about maths in secondary school came flooding back. Those feelings of despair, helplessness and pure and utter frustration. Maths was gone but Indesign was here to stay.

Maybe that comparison is a bit dramatic. Ok, I don’t particularly like Indesign and I never have. I thought when I passed my exam on it in first year that was it. But here we are. It’s like reuniting with a long lost friend. Someone I haven’t seen in a very long time. I’m a bit reluctant. I’m slightly cautious. But I’m willing to sit down, have a coffee and get to know them all over again. And hopefully even better this time.

Although Indesign has never been my thing, this year I am ready and willing to try my very best at improving my skills with it. I may never be brilliant at it, but I’m confident that with a nice bit of practice and patience anything is possible.

This time round I am optimistic and excited about the Limerick Voice. Two years ago I worked as part of the sport and news team. Although it was stressful at times and I felt a lot was demanded from us, it was a great experience. Going into the project this time round I am far more confident than I was in second year. Having completed my Co-op and Erasmus last year I know I have so much to offer the paper and I am really looking forward to it.

Working with the MA students is new to me but I view it as a welcome change and feel we will all work very well together.

Although I have only had one class so far, JM4017 has been great. I know the module will demand a lot of hard work and time but I’m ready and willing to take on the challenge. 

The magic of the GAA

September marks an important month for many people. Children return to primary school, teenagers to secondary and others to college, while some embark for the very first time. For them it is the start of something wonderful. The beginning. For other Irish people, September marks the end of a long year. The GAA year. Those privileged enough to don their county jerseys and step out onto Croke Park’s hallowed grounds know that this is it; the fruition of months, if not years, of hard work, effort and dedication. The culmination. The pinnacle.

Yesterday, Dublin witnessed 82,124 people descend on the capital to see Donegal and Kerry battle it out in both the minor and senior All-Ireland championship finals. Both teams lined out on the pitch with the same aim; to bring the Sam Maguire Cup home. As it turned out it was a victorious Kerry side that emerged claiming the double and writing themselves into the history books.

To sell out a stadium with over 82,00 people for an amateur sport is a pretty big deal. In Ireland, come All-Ireland day it’s the norm. Anyone lucky enough to nab themselves a ticket (because let’s face it, they’re like gold dust) makes the annual pilgrimage to Croke Park to support their team in search of All-Ireland glory.

The buzz on the streets of Dublin before a match is something to behold. You really have to see it to believe it. Stepping into the stadium is even better. The air is electrifying and the crowd is excited. Soaking up that kind of atmosphere is unreal.

That’s one of the things that make GAA so special. There is no money to be made for the players. They are not on ridiculous wages like English Premier League soccer stars. They do it because they love the game, because they're passionate about it, because it’s all they know. For most players and supporters it is a labour of love and many of them go above and beyond the call of duty.

GAA evokes a range of emotions in people, both on and off the field; elation, disappointment, frustration, relief, pride. The last one is, for me, the biggest one and another thing that makes the GAA what it is. As a supporter or as a player, pride is a huge thing. Everyone wants the same thing; to make their club and their county proud.

Growing up in Ireland there’s no escaping GAA. It lies at the heart of every community and has long survived the growing changes of Irish society. Whatever economic or financial troubles we may endure, having an organisation like the GAA is one thing we can always be proud of. It defines us as a nation. It is our sport and our entertainment. It joins us together and, occasionally, pulls us apart. More often than not the conversation in Ireland is not about the recent troubles in Gaza but about the shock defeat of the U21's. The conversation surges through us like blood through veins. When we talk about football we speak with passion, our eyes light up and you can see clearly the love we all hold for this game.

It's all in a name...or is it?

Apparently some celebrities just don’t get enough attention, so they name their newborn baby something ridiculous to stand out. Cue Katie Price revealing the name of her one-month-old daughter yesterday; Bunny. Yes. You heard me right. Bunny. Bunny Hayler.

Forgive me for sounding old fashioned here but I think I’ve heard it all. It just seems unimaginable nowadays that Hollywood’s A-List would send their children out into the world with ordinary joe soap names like Tom or Emma. Instead, celebrities have waged a secret war against each other, in an attempt to come up with more and more ridiculous names, all in a bid to sound more outlandish than the last.

Fruit, cereals, colours, weeds, place names and directions have all been made into actual children’s names as celebrities attempt to outdo each other. Kim Kardashian and Kanye West took the biscuit when they named their only daughter North. The duo claimed it was more “inspirational than directional” and their “highest point” together as a couple. Fortunately, for her, North West joins a long list of unorthodox baby names in celeb land including; Blue Ivy, Apple, Coco and Memphis Eve.

But can someone with a name like Bunny or Apple actually be taken seriously in the real world? After all, a name is just a word. However if you look across the business world, there are hundreds of examples of people who have used their name to add value to their brand. Take a look at Donald Trump. His name is famous throughout the world. It is held with such high esteem that he now licenses it out to other businesses across the world in order to add value to their business and brand name, but would a name like Bunny Hayler have the same effect?  You’d have to wonder…

Former UK Apprentice contestant, Katie Hopkins, known for her deliberately controversial views, took to Twitter today to air her thoughts on Katie Price’s choice of name.

“Bunny? BUNNY? Makes sense I guess, given your dad was going at it like a rabbit with all of mums mates,” she wrote, referring to Price’s recent marital problems with her husband.

The controversial comments are nothing new to Hopkins who seems to thrive off the attention. The TV personality came under fire in July 2013 when she appeared on ITV’s This Morning and admitted she judges children on their first names.

Hopkins hit a nerve with presenters Holly Willoughby and Philip Schofield, as well as viewers, when she made controversial comments linking children’s names with social class. She said: “For me, a name is a shortcut of finding out what class that child comes from and makes me ask, 'Do I want my children to play with them?” Katie added more fuel to the fire by listing names she detested like Tyler and Charmaine. "We don't achieve best friend status with Chardonnay," she added.

While many of us dismiss the controversial comments as nothing more than ignorant, snobby and

narrow-minded, Katie Hopkins does force us to re-evaluate our own preconceptions. Do we think less of someone with an unusual name? Do we think we know what kind of background they come from or what their parents are like? Or is there anyone out there who agrees with Katie Hopkins?

We might not like to admit it but maybe Katie Hopkins has a point and maybe we subconsciously judge people on their name or where they’re from or what social class they fall in to. Maybe, deep deep down, Katie Hopkins is right and her outspoken and blunt opinions are what we’re all secretly thinking in private. Maybe.

When social media becomes antisocial...

It’s the first thing I do in the morning and it’s the last thing I do at night. Most of the time I don’t want to do it but I fall victim to the temptation. I’m an addict.

It’s like every drug; there are highs and there are lows. Sometimes I feel good after doing it and sometimes, more often than not, I’m left with a dull, empty feeling, and I wish I never bothered with it.

But there’s no escaping it, and that makes it hard to quit. The whole world is consumed with it. Social media is my drug and I am an addict.

Yet I’m not alone; far from it in fact. The latest social media statistics show more and more people are signing up and getting involved in the cyber world. What started out as a low key college project for one American college student is now the biggest social media platform with 1.28 billion monthly active users on Facebook. Twitter has also seen a boost in popularity in the last few years as more and more journalists see it as a strong platform for breaking news stories. The site now has 255 million active viewers and an average of 500 million tweets are sent everyday. 78% of Twitter’s active users are on mobile and almost half of these users tweet at least once a day.

Snapchat is the latest phenomenon to grab the attention of social media users. The photo messaging application, initially released in 2011, now has 30 million monthly active users, with an average of 400 million snapchats being sent every day. Similarly Instagram, another online mobile photo-sharing app, has also gained popularity in the past year. To date, over 20 billion photos have been shared on the site and 23% of teenagers consider it their favourite social network.

So how do we pull ourselves away from our phones and laptops? For many people it’s not as easy as just logging out. Most college students have a class Facebook page where they get information on whether a class is on or not or what topics people are studying for a certain exams. By not having a Facebook page you miss out on some important information. Likewise, your actual social life could also be missing out if you deactivate your Facebook page. Gone are the days of sending out handwritten invitations. Today people are invited through the events calendar on Facebook. So, if you don’t have a page you might not get the memo! 

For journalists it’s even harder. In an age where print media is declining, digital and social media is where we now look to. So how do we limit the amount of time we spend online when that’s where we now have to look to for breaking news, current affairs and all the latest happenings from around the world? As a journalist I find it difficult to distance myself from social media when it’s one of our main sources of information. But at the same time I have to wonder at what cost are we simplifying our lives by communicating through such sites?

And that’s maybe where the addiction starts. You say you’re just going to log on for a minute and check if there’s anything important you need to know and suddenly, you’ve wasted two hours scrolling through your news feed. It’s so easy to get addicted to looking at other people’s lives, both celebrities and people you actually know. They look like they’re living the dream and having a great time with all their statuses, photos and snapchats…but are they really? The problem with social media sites is that people only show the good side of everything they’re doing. So, the next time you get jealous while creeping on someone else’s Facebook, Instagram or whatever it may be, just remember; they may not be having as good a time as you think.

 

But most of us can’t resist and we all crave attention in some way, shape or form. By posting on

social media networks we satisfy that craving when we get a ‘like’ on our new profile picture, a retweet on Twitter, or a match on Tinder. We are a world that has become dependent on social media in order to feel good about ourselves and that’s not healthy.

Pubs and nightclubs, once full of people actually talking to each other, are now full of people glancing at their phones every two minutes, taking pictures on snapchat or creeping on Facebook. I have decided to make a conscious effort to distance myself from social media when I am on a night out or in the company of others. It’s just not necessary most of the time. I’m gonna try that old fashioned thing called talking. It can’t be that hard…can it?