How Many Times

[Jackie]

Urrrrm errrr um.....not really (sorry Moya!). I was actually gven it as a gift. I am a Christian so that's not the problem, it's just I think it would have been better if Moya had written more and shared more of her beliefs on God and experiences as a Christian.

[Keiko]

Only once! This is a bit hard to read. With all the difficult words.. I spend multiple minutes with looking for translations in the dictionary each time. But maybe when I have more time, (now in vacation) so I maybe pick it up sometime.

[Macha]

Maybe I'll read Moya's book again some time. I'm really glad that I have it. It's a treasure for me.

[Methica]

Never,, don´t have it..

[youremyenergy79]

i eat the book first three years ago (I found it in dublin )and I read it several times

[Grania]

Eat? Do you mean read? sorry, it's just that the picture in my mind there is priceless

I've read the book twice, and although for some reason I always have it to hand - I always take it on holiday with me for some strange reason - I just can't seem to get myself to read it a third time. The poor thing needs some TLC - some of the photograph pages are falling out

[youremyenergy79]

Eat? Do you mean read? sorry, it's just that the picture in my mind there is priceless

I've read the book twice, and although for some reason I always have it to hand - I always take it on holiday with me for some strange reason - I just can't seem to get myself to read it a third time. The poor thing needs some TLC - some of the photograph pages are falling out

ih ih ih yes eat is like read ...reading very fast
when i taste the book with my teeth I'll post a new topic"THE FLAVOUR of the other side of the rainbow"

[irish at heart]

Zero times, I wish I could say at least once..there isn't an option for zero.

[Macha]

Today I've finished Moya's book again...don't know how many times I've read it now. No matter how often I read it, it always moves me in a way, that I can't describe exactly. When I've read it for the first time, I felt like I was looking into a mirror that shows me the past things of my own life (especially when I read the Chapter 6 - it reminds me somehow on my time in the boarding school, where I did my education - I don't know why this comes to my mind, when I read this part). It's an amazing book and I adore Moya for her courage to write this book and share her life experiences with us on that way. I don't think that I would have the courage, to write an autobiography myself.

[rat]

The Book is near my bed and often when i can't sleep i'll take it.

[nessieq]

Does anyone else find that the more they get to know moya and her music, the more meaning the book takes on? The first time I read it it was purely as a source of info, now I find myself reading it and linking other little stories I've heard along the way and it's taken on a completely different meaning for me.

[Methica]

Does anyone else find that the more they get to know moya and her music, the more meaning the book takes on? The first time I read it it was purely as a source of info, now I find myself reading it and linking other little stories I've heard along the way and it's taken on a completely different meaning for me.

I can´t reply on that, but G has told me some stuff once, and because I know a lot of rare songs from Moya I´m sometimes aware from those links, but I always have that when I want to explain one of those links I can´t really say about what,, ROFL

[A_S]

Does anyone else find that the more they get to know moya and her music, the more meaning the book takes on? The first time I read it it was purely as a source of info, now I find myself reading it and linking other little stories I've heard along the way and it's taken on a completely different meaning for me.

I think I see what you mean. Before I got the book, I had read all of the comments here about how amazing and life-changing it was. When I ordered it, I had pretty much built it up in my mind to be... well, a life-changing thing. I was almost surprised to see how small it was. I really don't know what I'd been expecting... Some giant volume a meter long and just as wide? Anyway, I read it and loved it, but didn't feel that it had "changed everything". It gave me a ton of respect for Moya, and made me realize that when things that I don't like happen to me (or if I make bad choices), I can get through them. However, I didn't feel like I was going to rewrite my life or anything as a result of the book. Then, a couple months ago, I met Moya for the first time and saw firsthand how amazingly nice she is. When I got home, I started to read the book again. This time around, I didn't have any ideas about what the book would or wouldn't do for me. The difference this time was that I'd seen Moya as a real person, standing right in front of me. Of course I'd always known that there was a living, breathing person behind the story, but it was different that time. I read through the book and could really empathize with her. I came away with the same thoughts I had the first time, but felt much more strongly about it. Now I can really understand what people mean about how the book has changed them.

Also, I've lent the book to some people who aren't as into Moya and Clannad. They liked it a lot but didn't seem to get as much out of it as people who were gigantic fans or had been following their career. (Also, now that I think of it, it would be kind of annoying to have never heard Harry's Game or In a Lifetime or any of the other songs when big, exciting things happen as a result of the songs.)

Is this what you were getting at?

[nessieq]

Yeah that is kind of what I was getting at- I guess each person has their own interpretation of the book and it has affected different people in different ways. I know what you mean, it's one thing reading about this incredible woman who sings for a living and grew up in this amazing place, etc etc- she almost seems like a character in a book, and to meet her is totally surreal for that reason along with many others. I could understand why meeting her changed how you read the book. What I was getting at was more that, having been to donegal, having met moya, having been around dublin and been to her concerts, to have witnessed all those things first hand, gives you a far deeper understanding of the book- and indeed the person and the music. I guess I feel like I can relate to it a lot more and can understand somewhat what moya was talking about in a lot of the instances she describes and a lot of the feelings she writes down, in relation to gweedore for example- I dont think you can ever truly understand the music until you've listened to it looking at the poisoned glen, for example, and when she describes such things in the book, and i can think of my own experience of them, it gives a new level of meaning and understanding to the literature. I know I'm very blessed in having been able to experience such things, and that people who havent can still imagine the things i've had the honour of discovering for myself, but now I have seen them for myself I know they arent just some fantastic fairy tale place with a tragic heroine who turns her story around, rather a very real place and person, but very much as fantastic.

Does that make any sense?

[A_S]

Yes, that makes perfect sense. As far as the going to Gweedore bit goes, Moya herself has said many times how much that can improve one's understanding of the music. (She says it in an interview that was posted recently in the concerts, clips, and interviews thread in General, and I know I've heard it other places. She said it to me herself when I met her, too.) It makes sense that the same should go for the book. (And also, reading the book can help you understand the music, too. Guess it's all a big circle. Like you said, the more you know, the more you can understand and the more real it all feels.)

I actually went to Gweedore before first reading the book. I had wanted to get it ahead of time but that didn't happen. It turned out that I got my copy a month after getting home from Ireland, so on my very first reading, I had all those images in my head. I think that it did enhance the experience, but I have nothing to compare it to, since I never read the book without having previously been up Errigal or to Bunbeg. So for me, it was meeting Moya that changed my interpretation more than going to all of those places.

And, to answer the question the whole topic is based on, I've read it twice so far, but I know I'll read it more.