That They May Face the Rising Sun which was published in 2001 (published in the United States as By the Lake) is a portrait of a year in the life of a rural lakeside community. The novel, explores the meaning in prosaic lives and life in (a now past life) in rural Ireland. He said "the ordinary fascinates me" and "the ordinary is the most precious thing in life". The main characters have – just like McGahern and his wife – returned from London to live on a farm. Most of the violence of the father-figure has disappeared now, and life in the country seems much more relaxed and prosperous than in The Dark, or Amongst Women as McGahern now writes in a twenty-first century Ireland. Other writing McGahern is also considered a master of the Irish tradition of the short story. Several collections were published as well as Love of the World, a collection of non-fiction essays. His autobiography, Memoir (All Will be Well: a Memoir in the US), was published in 2005 a year before his death outlining numerous influential moments in his life which critics often speculated were present within his earlier work. Andrew Motion wrote "In a tremendously distinguished career, he has never written more movingly, or with a sharper eye". Influence McGahern's work has been very influential in Ireland and elsewhere. A younger generation of Irish writers, such as Colm Tóibín, as well as contemporaries such as Eamonn McGrath, have been influenced by his writing. His work has been translated into many languages, in particular French. Awards and honours McGahern was a member of the Irish Arts honorary organisation Aosdána and won many other awards (including the Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres). He was visiting professor at many universities including Colgate University and the University of Notre Dame (United States), University of Victoria (Canada), Durham University (UK), UCD and NUI Galway (Ireland). His other awards included: 1962 AE Memorial Award (Irish Arts Council) 1964 Macauley Fellowship (Irish Arts Council) 1979 FRSL 1985 Irish-American Foundation Award 1990 Irish Times/Aer Lingus Fiction Award 1990 Shortlisted for Man Booker Prize 1991 LittD Trinity College Dublin 1994 LittD University College Galway 1995 2003 LittD St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra, Dublin 2003 Irish PEN Award 2003 Hughes & Hughes/Irish Novel 2007 National Archive Choice He was also a farmer, although he liked to joke that it was the