"The Birds” by Daphne Du Maurier Number 21 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: Birds Attack!! Review: This is flocking fantastic. How did I not read this as a 13 year old of a nervous disposition (answer - neither of my parents could point me to particularly good alternatives to Doctor Bloody Who and... Continue Reading →
“The Gifts of War” by Margaret Drabble Number 20 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: Two women - one a beaten down but surviving mother, the other a well-meaning (road to hell?) pacifist collide in a toystore, their lives controlled by, well, manboys. Review: Holy shit. I keep thinking the latest story is the... Continue Reading →
"The Adventure of the Speckled Band” by Arthur Conan Doyle Number 19 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: In April 1883, Sherlock and Watson save a woman from Evil. Review: Ah, brilliant stuff. I read this forty years ago. I should read all the short stories. Why did I not do this 40 plus... Continue Reading →
“The Poor Relation's Story” by Charles Dickens Number 18 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: A shaggy dog from an unreliable narrator Review: I did not "get" this at all, and may simply need to re-read. Or perhaps the whole thing about father figures is too close to the bone? Who knows. Outa ten:... Continue Reading →
"Physic” by Water De La Mare Number 17 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: A mother and wife nurses a sick child, and a deadbeat husband. A doctor has words… Review: This is brilliant. The man could observe, write, cut. Outa ten: 10 Keywords: love, procrastination, advice Quotes: “It was a little way Emilia... Continue Reading →
There are good films, beautifully made, which you probably will only watch the once. That's a niche category and for me there was only one - Paul Greengrass's 911 quasi-documentary United 93. Now there are two - The Long Walk, based on a 1979 Stephen King book. There is an obvious, perhaps even glib, way... Continue Reading →
The moorhens and swans did well out of me today, as I fed them while walking along the canal. Real St Francis of Assisi stuff. Unfortunately, Pod(cast) did not reward me... I listened to a few episodes of a climate podcast that I had high hopes for. I won't name it (though obvs I could,... Continue Reading →
A few weeks ago, for a quid, I got a copy of "Great British Short Stories" introduced by - but not selected by - JB Priestley. Published in 1970ish, it has 27 short stories (some 900 words, some maybe 5,000 or so) from, well, British, people. About three quarters of the men, as you'd expect.... Continue Reading →
"Winter's Morning” by Len,Deighton Number 16 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: Flyboys (or grizzled old veterans aged 20 or so) go out on a dawn patrol during WW1 Review: The man could write! (he is still alive, just retired) Outa ten: 10 - now I want to read the other short stories he... Continue Reading →
"Parson's Pleasures” by Roald Dahl Number 15 of 27 Great British Short Stories Premise: a shady furniture trader is too clever (greedy) by half. Review: Loved it. Typical Dahl. I do believe I read a knock off of this in Reader’s Digest about 40 years ago. Pierre Bourdieu would have loved this one Wikipedia page... Continue Reading →
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