–In the current issue of TLS, Michael Caines reviews a short book of poetry parodies entitled Poets Cornered by Mark Handley:
Via chronological hops the collection proceeds from Chaucer (âto Spayne the pilgrims wende / A wholly blysseful suntanne for to sekeâ) as far as Philip Larkin (âShe winds you up, your better halfâ). It includes a lukewarm essay in Popeâs mock-heroic mode, a translation of the Ancient Mariner into an Ancient Undergraduate, and Christmas as a Keatsian affair (âSeason of pistes and frightful hollownessâ) […]Â Consistently charming, however, are Handleyâs linocuts, several of them of writers known more for prose than verse: the Iris Murdoch of The Sea, The Sea, masked as a Neptune and suitably armed for the role; Virginia Woolf smoking a pipe (âvery soothingâ, she apparently said of that habit); Evelyn Waugh with an ear trumpet; Georgette Heyer, for some reason, on a page opposite Handleyâs take on Tamburlaine.
A copy of the Waugh and Virginia Woolf linocuts are reproduced in another review appearing in The Lettering Arts Trust journal. The book is not currently available from Amazon or other online sources and seems to be sold out elsewhere as well. It is published by a small house called Ye Fulle Bore Presse and copies may be ordered directly from them: (click to email). See comment below.
—The Spectator has an article on ideal literary-themed picnic sites. Among those selected is this:
Book: Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh
âIâve got a motor-car and a basket of strawberries and a bottle of ChĂąteau Peyraguey,â announces Sebastian Flyte in Evelyn Waughâs classic â which sounds like the perfect picnic to us. Although you may want more than strawberries to soak up the wine if youâre driving. Oxfordâs Port Meadow, common land beside the river Thames (or Isis, as it is here) is as dreamily romantic a picnic spot as you can find: long grass, wild horses and the dreaming spires in the distance. The Perch is a 17th century tavern by the water with an outdoor bar and a huge garden, a twenty-minute stroll from the town centre.
The accompanying photo is a bit misleading, however, because it shows the Radcliffe Camera bracketed by Brasenose and All Souls Colleges. It seems doubtful that the proctors would allow picnics on the small plot of land appearing in the photo.
Another site recommended is associated with Kenneth Graham’s The Wind and the Willows:
Still the archetypal picnic for anyone who read this book as a child, Mole and Rattyâs picnic on the river has an innocence and universal appeal that can be recreated anywhere.
This is illustrated by a photo of the River Cam along the backs of colleges in Cambridge, whereas I was under the impression that the river stretch that inspired Graham was the Thames between Oxford and Marlow.
–A filmblog specializing in classic movies has posted a profile of actor Edward Woodward who died 10 years ago. It starts the review of his career with this:
Edward Woodward began his acting career by working in theatre and television. He first gained recognition with his performance as Guy Crouchback, in the 1967 BBC television adaptation of Evelyn Waughâs trilogy, Sword Of Honour.
That six hour, three episode production is occasionally shown by the BFI and is available for individual viewing in their premises but is not accessible online from the BBC archives or retail digital media, probably due to “copyright” issues; or wasn’t the last time I looked.
—The Scotsman reviews a collection of short stories entitled salt slow by Julia Armfield. The reviewer Stuart Kelly makes this observation toward the end:
The prose is just a delight, wrong-footing the reader at every turn. The adjectives clash against the verbs, the names are sometimes wryly funny until the unexpected happens. My favourite line was: âMy Father said a town was only as interesting as its bad apples and only as safe as its lunatics.â Second place would go to: âI told her that Evelyn Waughâs first wife had also been named Evelyn and that the guy who voiced the Bugs Bunny cartoon had been allergic to carrots.â There is a smart-ass raised eye-brow in this, but with a deep emotional ache at its heart. Say the smart thing because you cannot bear to say the truth of a gruesome universe.
–The New York Times reviews a novel called Original Prin by Randy Boyagoda. According to reviewer Tom Barbash:
âOriginal Prin,â Randy Boyagodaâs third novel, is an original animal, a comedy of literary and cultural references, with wordplay involving unfunny matters like cancer, a crisis of faith and Islamic terrorism, as well as easier comedic subjects like juice-box fatherhood and academic power plays […]Â There are references throughout to those who were likely Boyagodaâs influences: Kingsley Amis (Prinâs comically domineering father is named Kingsley), Evelyn Waugh, Vladimir Nabokov, Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace. Most of this is clever, often ingenious, but the frequency of one-liners works against the novelâs trajectory. The comedic exit ramps feel like authorial escapes, as if we canât go more than a page or two before the next absurdity, and so weâre less involved in Prinâs journey, and more aware of Boyagodaâs restless intellect.
UPDATE (3 June 2019): The publisher of the book of parodies Poets Cornered has supplied their address for those wanting to purchase copies:Â (click to email)Â Â Â See comment below.
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