The Orwell Collection: Animal Farm & 1984 by George Orwell (2021)

Animal Farm & 1984

Written by George Orwell. Read by Stephen Fry.

Audible Original - 2021

Audible / digital download

   I must have written a half dozen versions of this blog post and I can’t quite get it into the place I want it to be.  I think its because both novels ultimately made me sad and angry and in trying to explain how and why, I’m in great danger of talking about the state of the UK and not a couple of books. Both are still hugely relevant.

   So, with that in mind, I’ll just leave you with a few other quick thoughts:

   Both books are brilliant and very accessible.

   Orwell was one of the finest writers this country has known.

   Stephen Fry does a masterful job in telling these stories and they feel more like an ensemble cast than a single reader.

  And I can’t recommend either of them enough. In fact, given that there will always be another Napoleon and another O’Brien, they should probably be classed as essential reading for all.

   These are the cover designs for my original copies picked up somewhere in the 1980's, possibly 1981 but I cant be sure because I don't own them anymore. I might have to do something about that.

Steve

Why I Write by George Orwell (2004)

Why I Write

George Orwell

Publisher - Penguin - 2004

Paperback - £6.99 (£3.50 in the HMV offer)

   A few weeks ago, at a Doctor Who novel writers convention of all places, I decided I probably hadn’t read enough George Orwell.  I have read Animal Farm and 1984 many years previous but nothing more after that.  The thought continued to scratch away and then a week or two later I found myself walking out of H.M.V. with Orwell’s Why I Write in paperback and also P.J. Harvey’s Let England Shake - Demos CD. The two seemed to make a strangely complimentary purchase and it felt like the synchronicity Sat Nav had been switched on again and a road trip beckoned.

    I’m not unfamiliar with Let England Shake, in fact this is my 3^rd iteration of it after the 12 Short Films by Seamus Murphy video collection and the standard album release.

   It’s a hauntingly beautiful sepia tinted photo album of songs lamenting a lost England, as viewed perhaps by the dead of war. It’s a national love letter and a suicide confessional at the same time.  And in context of reading Orwell's writing on the state of the English and of war, it reminded me this time of 1984. Not the state control or the party slogans we all know so well but rather the lost world that the book's protagonist is desperately trying to return to. It's definitely put a revisit to Airstrip One on the itinerary.

   But back to the book in hand; Why I Write is both brilliantly written and amusingly perceptive. It also made me sad in certain places and quite angry at other times.  Its meant to do that, it goes with the subject matter.  For a collection of essays that are decades removed from their first telling, it’s still surprisingly astute. Orwell nails the English character and holds an honest mirror up to a nation at odds with itself, contradictory by its very nature. It still feels very powerful and relevant

   This edition was published as part of the Great Ideas collection by Penguin Books in 2004.  The essays inside are obviously much older although they still feel modern in style.  They are Why I Write (1946),  The Lion and the Unicorn (1940),  A Hanging (1931) and Politics and the English Language  (1946)

   It made me want to read more of his work and it also made me want to know more about the author. The former I've addressed via audible and the latter I addressed by searching the internet for a specific documentary that probably isn't going to pop up anywhere more official for a very long time to come, even though it was award winning in its day.  I loved it on first airing and I love it still.

   George Orwell: A Life in Pictures was found on Youtube although its possibly available elsewhere. It's a fictionalised documentary from 2004 and was made by the BBC. Orwell is played by actor and writer Chris Langham who gives a masterful performance that's both moving and subtly humorous.  These are Orwell's actual written words that are spoken as though captured in interviews, news reports and through film footage.  Its a perfect way to bring the man back to life and leave you feeling like you know him a little better.

   On the strength of the documentary and these first four essays, I've since tracked down the complete collection to be worked through over time. I'm also off to revisit his two most famous novels again before hopefully working my way even deeper into the back list.  Orwell remains one of our greatest writers and its a pleasure to be discovering him again and in greater depth. Cant recommend him enough.

Steve

A Castle of Bone by Penelope Farmer (1972)

A Castle of Bone.

Penelope Farmer

Publisher - Puffin - 1972

Paperback - 25p when new (or £1 from a second hand bookshop many years later)

   Well that was a curate's egg.

   At only 154 pages I really should have breezed through A Castle of Bone but I actually staggered and paused in several places and almost gave up on it.  And then I would read a bit more, intrigued by where it was going, and really enjoy the writing for a few pages.  In it conclusion though, I don't think it delivers on its promise. 

   If I was going to be really cruel I would say it's Penelope Farmer having a go at producing something like Garner's The Owl Service and perhaps the publishers even steered her in that direction.  Unfortunately it doesn't feel anywhere near as enigmatic, it just feels inconclusive and disjointed. Its also not giving us anything especially new.

   There is a magic Wardrobe, or rather cupboard, that transforms things, including people.  There's the mysterious elderly shop owner that sold the magical item in full knowledge of what it could do.  And then there is the fantasy land that one of the children visits at night when asleep. Stuff happens at the end as a result of all of this but I'm not quite sure what or why I should care.

   While the fantasy elements were baffling, the real world set up was far more engaging. There were undercurrents of sexual feelings hinted at between two the the teenagers. And a very clear illustration that not everyone is sunny and joyful by nature, and that perhaps that's an OK way to be as well.  I was also really intrigued by Penn's mother, running into Penn's friend Hugh quite a lot.  Although seemingly random it felt like it happened one too many times to be coincidence.  And while Hugh struggles to hide his secrets from her of what they have been up to and where her son is, I felt she was also up to something more. It's an intriguing idea to suggest the adults have their own secret lives away from their children or that perhaps she is drawn to her son's friend in ways she wouldn't dream of addressing directly! Now I could be projecting an interpretation of my own making here but it was certainty more interesting following the human elements of the book than the magical fantasy ones. 

   I've still got Farmer's more famous work; Charlotte Sometimes to read and I enjoyed her writing enough to still want to give it a go at some point.

Steve.

Hammer Chillers by Various (2015)

Hammer Chillers

Written by Stephen Volk, Stephen Gallagher, Christopher Fowler, Mark Morris, Paul Magrs and Robin Ince.

Full cast drama

Bafflegab Productions - 2015

Audible / digital download

    I've said it before and I'll say it again,  Bafflegab Productions make the finest audio dramas.  They get every element so right.  The selection of stories, the writing, the casting, the acting, the production and ultimately the pay off at the end.

   

   Hammer Chillers contains six modern horror stories, all around about 30 mins in length.  Imagine Hammer House of Horror TV series brought back from the 1980's for a modern audience.  The production values are perfect because there are no budget constriction to your imagination - unless you have manifested a seriously weird inner accountant! - but it's the quality control that makes these stories really stand out.  Nothing outstays its welcome by a single minute.  Every performance is pitch perfect and the sound design really elevates the spookiness.  In a word: Perfection.  So good in fact that I've just ordered the CD to add a hard copy to my Bafflegab collection.

   These are your spooky episodes

   The Box by Stephen Gallagher and starring Con O’ Neill and Zoe Lister is a tale of an underwater haunting in a helicopter crash simulator.

   The Fixation by Mark Morris and starring Miles Jupp and Camille Coduri tells of a neighborhood clean-up campaign that stirs up an ancient force

   Sticks and Stones by Robin Ince stars Alex Lowe and Zoe Lister and draws a line between witches and witch hunters and modern day internet trolls

   The Devil in the Darkness is by Christopher Fowler. It stars Lauren Kellegher and Dylan Charles and traps us in a lift in a St Petersburg building with a very dark history.

   Spanish Ladies is by Paul Magrs and stars Camille Coduri and Jacqueline King and takes us back to the 1970's for knitting, bingo and murder

   Don’t Go There is by Stephen Volk and stars Tony Gardner and Lizzie Roper and transports us to Greece for sun, sex and monsters.

   Another series of these would be lovely but if we cant have one then I'll happily console myself with everything else this company has produced.

Steve

Neonomicon by Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows (2011)

Neonomicon

Alan Moore & Jacen Burrows

Publisher - Avatar 2011

Graphic Novel  $19.99 (paid £11.48)

   Considering I said at the start of the year that I was going to get my reading going with a load of kids and teenage books, I've deviated from that plan quite a lot.  And sometimes in very random ways or so it seems at first.

   Neonomicon is a graphic novel collection of the four part comic book of the same name and the two part primer; The Courtyard.  I assume everyone now knows that comics aren't just for kids and are actually just another way of telling a story for folks that like stories, of any age.  That said, Neonomicon is definitely not for kids.  Never mind the language, the sex and violence - all key ingredients to the story - this is written by Alan Moore so its going to stretch your perceptions, its going to make you engage and think and figure it all out and its going to do it without compromise.

   It says on the back of the book, in a quote by Brian K Vaughan, that; "Neonomicon is probably the darkest story Alan Moore has ever written"  and that's potentially true.  Some of that is lightened by the style of the art and the colouring but not by  the words or the actions portrayed.  It gets pretty brutal in parts and maybe Jacen Burrows art style is the right choice to tame it a little. I'm not sure. There's just that nagging thought in my head that someone with a heavier inking style, someone like Leonardo Manco, would have complimented the words more. But then maybe that's just my personal tastes that if we are going to go dark, then lets go all the way. Go look at some of Manco's  John Constantine Hellblazer run of comic books to see what I mean

   Story wise, as you might surmise from the title, we are dabbling with the H P Lovecraft mythos here. Not just within its fictional world but also around the author himself and how his work is regarded.  It doesn't just play with the established tropes though, it flips them and subverts them and is actually very satisfying in the end, offering a fresh view.

   Lovecraft is a fascinating and important figure in horror storytelling and his work influences and underpins so much else that has come after. He has remained hugely relevant despite the fact that I don't think his writing style translates into the modern age all that well. Not that it matters. The DNA of his stories are everywhere. we absorb them without necessarily even realising.  Thinking back to the early months of the year when I was watching The Stone Tape and listening to M R James stories and Doctor Who's Image of Fendahl, its easy to extrapolate that the Fendahl is a Lovecraftian inspired creature, filtered through an M R James set up and saved from being genuinely a supernatural story in its denouement  by playing Nigel Kneale's Get out of jail card; that the monsters were just ancient space aliens that have been influencing mans beliefs for thousands of years. Which is also a Lovecraft conceit.  In conclusion it's all connected and all sorts of interesting, I think.

   I'm off to resume reading another Paul Magrs book and most probably some old Hellblazer comics now I've thought about them again. There's also more M R James stories, More Fendahl appearances, more J G Ballard shorts and the distinct possibility of still veering off at another tangent.  Happy Days!

Steve

Web by John Wyndham (1979)

Web

Written by John Wyndham

Read by Keith Wickham

Audible Studios - 2022

Audible / digital download

   

   I've been a massive John Wyndham fan since my early teens when I collected the lovely Penguin Book re-jackets that came out in the 1980's.  Prior to that I was a big fan of his stories without knowing who their author was.  I may have mentioned it elsewhere but The Day of the Triffids was a comic strip as far as I was concerned, original to my Marvel Comics Planet of the Apes Weekly.  Right up to the point where my mum told me otherwise.  Anyway, you cant have a good collection of Sci-fi paperbacks without including Wyndham in there and so he's happily sat on my various bookshelves ever since. 

   I cant remember when first I read Web although I've an idea I kept putting it off, not expecting it to be as good as his other books.  Maybe because I knew it was published posthumously or maybe it just didn't sounded like a very John Wyndham concept. Growing up in the era of The Rats, the Crabs books and Slugs, I probably imagined it might be of that ilk, i.e. entertaining enough but maybe not a sophisticated read.  Obviously I was wrong and I really enjoyed it when I finally got round to it.  Even more so because I had expected so little.

   Having revisited The Chrysalids on audio at the end of last year and noting that a lot of his back-catalogue was available for free on Audible, I had downloaded them all ready for a future listen. Web was picked next because its relatively short so I could probably complete it in the Easter Weekend in between the other papery things I'm also reading at the minute.  And it did the job.

   I enjoyed it as much the second time around and the reading was just about spot on for tone.  Interestingly, there were a couple of moments where a very stoic English reserve came into play for some of the characters that struck me not so much as old fashioned but just unrealistic.  And there is a very long history of the island in chapter two that probably outstays its welcome although some of it is relevant later.  All in all though, its a cracking little romp about killer spiders on an isolated island and I really don't understand why its not better known, or more surprisingly, been optioned for TV or a film adaption.  Its never going to not find an audience and there's plenty of room to flesh out and modernise the characters.

   Good nostalgic fun that needs a new audience 

Steve

Faith, Hope and Carnage by Nick Cave & Sean O'Hagan (2022)

Faith, Hope and Carnage

In conversation: Nick Cave & Sean O'Hagan

Canongate Books - 2022

Audible / digital download

   I would never describe myself as world's biggest Nick Cave fan.  I've only been onboard since his 9th Studio album; The Murder Ballads but given that has been out since the mid 90's maybe I'm half way there.

   Cave is a fascinating figure.  He seems uncompromising, driven by demons and angels in equal measure and he has a look.  I suspect a lot of folks know who he is without necessarily knowing all that much of his music.  And I'm not sure you would ever describe his work as popularist so that's understandable. I like that exclusivity.  It makes it feel more personal.  It also means that when you meet another Nick Cave fan, there is an unspoken confession about the kinds of thoughts you keep in your head.  It works in reverse as well.  I spent a long time having frank and very honest conversations with a work colleague about life, death, sex and religion and all sorts of everything else and they said: "You haven't got the Murdered Ballads?  Get it.  You'll absolutely love it."  And they were right.

   I'm not sure you necessarily need to be really familiar with his music to enjoy this book but I cant imagine anyone wanting to read it who wasn't on some level already a fan.

   It starts in conversations through the Covid lockdown, a series of phone calls between the two men that then becomes a book by default of it going into all sorts of interesting places.  Its not a memoir or a rock biography. Its about life, love, death, grief, religion and creativity as a process born out of those things.  Its about friendships as well and ultimately its about trusting that by sharing all of these thoughts and perspectives on the recent events of his life, that it may help others and Cave himself.  It's steeped in the 2014 death of Cave's son: Arthur but its ultimately optimistic in its sense that how ever affected, life must doggedly continue beyond the tragedies through all of his creative endeavors.

It was genuinely emotional at times but it also made me laugh as well.

As an audible it feels nothing like a book and everything like sitting on the side of one of the most honest conversations you may every hear.

It's very recommended... but only for those that are already in the know.

Steve