‘Paymon’s Trio’ by Colette de Curzon
‘The Automaton’ by David Wheldon
NIGHTJAR PRESS 2017
My previous reviews of Nightjar Press HERE
When I real-time review these aesthetic fiction pamphlets, my comments will appear in the thought stream below…
Image by Jeffrey Harp
Author, editor and publisher D.F. Lewis has done a wonderful reading of all the stories in ALL IS FULL OF HELL here.
And you can find a link to all his Real-Time Reviews for 2017 here, a veritable living, breathing map of the fantastic fiction that is emerging into the world in these troubled times. Venture deeper, and you will find more than a decade of reviews and ruminations, all writ in an erudite, enjoyable, idiosyncratic style; a treasure that I suspect will become, (and already is), one of the most important and essential chronicles of fantastic literature of the past two decades.
A list of his publications can be found here
All his reviews (39 Volumes so far) have been collected in book form, and are available here
Fountain of Drowned Memories by Erik Hofstatter
FRIGHTFUL HORRORS QUICK READS 2017
“That feckin’ material, what yer call it? Why can’t I remember?”
Insulation cladding?
A very powerful portrait of a man suffering from dementia in a care home, where he sees his sink as a fountain of drowned memories.
A fountain, though, usually flowers like attractive features of life, I thought…
Yet, I see this man suffers from his overgenerous urine outtake as if fed and stemmed upon pure asparagus diet. A throwaway line with a million meanings.
All close to home for me, with my own prostate, and I expect one day my own son will come to visit me to decry the fountain until we both do sink into it, one by one, over time? And THEN I remembered – Marcel Duchamp’s famous work of art of a pissoir was called FOUNTAIN, wasn’t it? And I smiled.
Dreadful death will come later following my final Avant Garde smile, after all, I thought.
A moving work, in more ways than one.
Dada, my son said.
May’s #Brexit approach is naïve to the nth degree, a Jarndyce & Jarndyce to the power of googol.
NEWCON PRESS 2017
Edited by Andrew Hook
My previous reviews of Elastic Press books HERE
Stories by Andrew Humphrey, Brian Howell, Mike O’Driscoll, Neil Williamson, Jeff Gardiner, Gary Couzens, Marion Arnott, Antony Mann, Allen Ashley, Nick Jackson, Justina Robson, Andrew Tisbert, Maurice Suckling, Chris Beckett, Tim Nickels.
When I review this book, my thoughts will appear in my comments below….
Part of the Queen’s birthday message today –
“Put to the test, the United Kingdom has been resolute in the face of adversity.
United in our sadness, we are equally determined, without fear or favour, to support all those rebuilding lives so horribly affected by injury and loss.”
Without otherwise diminishing in any way the recent tragic “injury and loss” to which she refers, any loss also includes – as well as being concomitant with – the attrition of Brexit.
The pervading sombre mood of which she speaks.
Also the retrospective symbol of inappropriate ‘cladding’ between classes and cultures?
