Ryan Tubridy kicks off emotional first episode of podcast 'The Bookshelf' with guest David Walliams
In the first episode of his new podcast, Tubridy tackles some personal topics with guest David Walliams
Former Late Late Show host Ryan Tubridy told David Walliams about the difficult time he faced after losing his father in the first episode of Tubridy’s new podcast.
Writer and actor David Walliams was the inaugural guest on 'The Bookshelf with Ryan Tubridy' a podcast that according to the host is "all things books". In the first episode, released today, Walliams and Tubridy discussed fatherhood, death and some of their favourite reads.
Walliams is an established children's author, having penned modern children's classics including Gangsta Granny and The Boy in the Dress. The best-selling author started writing in 2000, has 40 books to his name in over 55 languages, and 56 million copies sold worldwide.
When asked if there was a book that he had been particularly emotional about while reading, Walliams shared that he had cried during The Unconsoled, by the critically acclaimed British novelist, screenwriter, musician and short-story writer Kazuo Ishiguro.
Walliams explained the dream-like narrative of the 1995 novel, about a famous pianist who arrives in a central European city to perform a concert he cannot remember agreeing to, and talked of his admiration of the writer.
"We don’t move in the same circles, I have never won the Booker Prize and as far as I know I’ve never won the Nobel Prize for Literature... so I just love him, I love his work and I love that he’s been so kind to me as well," Walliams said.
The podcast, released today, has received mixed reviews, with a scathing Irish Independent review stating "it sounds like Ryan hasn't read the books", and that "he's sleepwalking his way through this one".
The Irish Times, with the opposing view, says that the book-themed podcast plays to the former RTÉ broadcaster's strengths, claiming the podcast "may be the best vehicle to date for this one-time Jack of all RTÉ, its specificity and intimacy relying less on patter and speedy transitions and more on, well, listening."