David Hughes (1) (1930–2005)

"Lent Jewels" has at its centre an account of the death from scarlet fever of five daughters of Archibald Campbell Tait, when Dean of Carlisle. The children died in quick succession in 1856, an event recorded in a stained glass window in Carlisle Cathedral, a few steps from where the lives of the children had ended.Tait and his wife's response to their tragedy is contrasted, in a slightly weird way, with the story of a London pornographer. Tait would later become Bishop of London, and then Archbishop of Canterbury. Along with exploring the history of this family tragedy. the book is an essay on the author's lack of faith, his awakening sexuality and experiences, and his love of pipe organs.… (more)

An anthology of 22 short comedic pieces, I picked this up on impulse at a UBS, because I'd never read any of the authors before (correction: I've read Wodehouse) and there were more than a couple names here that I'd often felt like I should have read, but hadn't; I was afraid they'd be weighty and, you know, deep. So here was my chance to read their work without a lot of emotional commitment.

Almost all of the stories here were excellent. As in any collection, there were a few clunkers: I found the ending of V.S. Pritchett's piece abrupt and nonsensical. Elizabeth Bowen's and Muriel Spark's pieces left me flat.

The really great stories out-weighed those though: Wilde's The Model Millionaire was my favorite of the book, with Saki's Byzantine Omelette and Robertson Davies' The Xerox in the Lost Room close behind. Oh, and A Piece of Pie by Damon Runyon had me laughing at the truly cunning ending. Stories by Dorothy Parker and James Thurber had more of an emotional edge; the humor from these stories came from a darker, cynical view.

All in all a truly excellent collection; I've already bought a collection of Saki's work based on what I've read here, and I'm looking forward to reading more by some of these authors.… (more)

Quick, intense novel about a man with no redeeming features, an ex-army chap who after an unexpectedly early retirement comes home with a burning itch to grind everything around him under his heel. This finds its outlet partly on his long-suffering wife and teenage daughter but primarily on the elderly couple who had taken his home on a long lease shortly before his retirement. He sets about driving them out of the place (and if necessary out of the world) by any means available within the law and some without it. There are some funny duet scenes with the Major's dimwit batman as we soon realise he is not just bad but completely mad. He falls into a strange and rather touching relationship with a neighbourhood widow, is recruited by the police to drive some locals out of their homes and develops an obsession with the Swedish au-pair which leads to his demise. Great novel!… (more)