he wanted to parallel that same sense of pride and sense of historical continuance of loving one's country with loving another man. It's so apparent what a labor of love this book was for him, and how deeply tied he was to the themes presented in it. It was in every single word he wrote.
Speaking of the Easter Uprising (and here a BARE-related topic comes in), why is Michael Arden's song cycle called EASTER RISING? Has anyone heard him explain the title? I don't know enough about the piece to make any guesses. Funny you should say that, as I just asked the same thing on my LJ. In fact, I had to edit my previous post because I kept calling it Easter Rising instead of Easter Uprising. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some influence from the book though the stories are not the same. From Michael's explanation and piecing together the songs he sang from it, the story of Easter Rising seems to be about two young boys who love one another in their youth (I'm not sure what age, but it seemed maybe late teens/early college years). One of them goes on to become a flight attendant and the other goes on to marry and have a son. Over the years they write letters back and forth and I would gather Andrew, the one who married, comes to terms with his choices at some point, after sneaking around behind his wife (April's) back. Caleb, the flight attendant, finds out he's dying of cancer and Andrew brings his wife and son to Caleb's side, presumably for some reconciliation/peace. Each number is set during the night, except the final number which is set at sunrise (hence Easter Rising) and it seems to span the course of about 20 years or so.
On the surface it may not seem strikingly like the book, but the themes seem similar.
"Too young to hold on and too old to just break free and run" - Jeff Buckley