I squeezed the trigger and there was a derisive click as the firing pin fell on nothing. The fucking gun wasn’t even loaded. (p.29) And so we bid a sad farewell to the stoned and sex-mad ‘spy’, Philip McAlpine, in this, the fourth and final novel by young Adam Diment, all public school and swinging London, who […]
All posts found when searching for diment
Think Inc. by Adam Diment (1971)
Posted by Simon on April 15, 2015
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015/04/15/think-inc-adam-diment/
The Bang Bang Birds by Adam Diment (1968)
‘McAlpine,’ he grunted, ‘ why do you wear such godawful clothes. You look like a pacifist faggot beatnik hippie.’ (p.42) The Bang Bang Birds – Great title, a really brilliant title. The setting This is Adam Diment’s third novel about his twenty-something hash-happy, dolly bird-hunting ‘spy’, Philip McAlpine, and finds our layabout spook lounging in […]
Posted by Simon on April 9, 2015
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015/04/09/the-bang-bang-birds-adam-diment/
The Great Spy Race by Adam Diment (1968)
It felt good to be alive – take a memo McAlpine – make sure you stay that way. (p.78) The main attraction of being a layabout is watching the rest of the world rushed off its aching feet. (p.83) This is Diment’s second novel featuring Philip McAlpine – a kind of lazy, dirty, dope-smoking twenty-something […]
Posted by Simon on April 6, 2015
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015/04/06/the-great-spy-race-adam-diment/
The Dolly Dolly Spy by Adam Diment (1967)
‘I think the sexy spy’s going out of vogue, don’t you, Bill, darling?’ Brentridge laughed a bit. ‘Yes, worse luck. It’s all computers these days.’ (p.167) Adam Diment The mysterious Adam Diment was 23-years-old when this, his first novel, was published. It shot him to fame, he appeared in all the right Sunday supplements, and […]
Posted by Simon on March 29, 2015
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2015/03/29/the-dolly-dolly-spy-adam-diment/
Hearts of Darkness: The European Exploration of Africa by Frank McLynn (1992)
Frank McLynn McLynn, 80 this year, has made a very successful career as an author, biographer, historian and journalist, having written some 30 books. He clearly aims to produce enjoyable, accessible and non-scholarly histories and biographies for a wide audience. This is suggested, among other things by his use of casual and rather boys’ own […]
Tagged Africa, African Association, ague, Alexander Gordon Laing, Alfred Swann, Anglo-Aro War, askari, athsma, Bagamoyo, Battle of Kano, Benin, Berbera, Biography, Brazza, Brazzaville, British Empire, bronchitis, Burton, Cape Town, Carlo PIaggia, Charles John Andersson, chikote, colonialism, Congo, Congo basin, Congress of Berlin, Daniel Houghton, David Livingstone, diarrhoea, disease, dropsy, dysentery, elephantiasis, Emin Pasha, Emin Pasha relief expedition, emphysema, Equitoria, erysipelas, fever, Frank McLynn, Frederick Burnaby, Friedrich Hornemann, Gaetano Casati, General Gordon, geography, George Schweinfurth, George Taubman Goldie, Great Zimbabwe, guinea worm, Hamad bin Muhammad bin Juma bin Rajab el Murjebi, Harry Johnston, Heinrich Barth, Henry Morton Stanley, history, hongo, Hugh Clapperton, Illustrated London News, imperialism, Jared Diamond, John Hanning Speke, John Ledyard, Joseph Ritchie, Joseph Thomson, Karl Mauch, Khedive of Egypt, Lake Albert, Lake Chad, Lake Tanganyika, Lake Victoria, Leopold of Belgium, Linant de Bellefonds, malaria, Mason Bey, Mungo Park, Murchison Falls, Niger, Nigeria, Nile, Northern Nigeria Protectorate, ophthalmia, pagazi, Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza, pneumonia, porters, René Caillié, Republic of the Congo, rheumatism, Richard Burton, Richard Francis Burton, Richard Lander, River Congo, River Gambia, River Niger, River Nile, River Zambezi, Roderick Murchison, Romolo Gessi, Royal Geographic Society, Royal Navy, Rudolph Slatkin, ruga-ruga, Sahara, Samuel White Baker, Samuel Yeleki, sciatica, Simon Lucas, Sir Joseph Banks, slave trade, Slavery, smallpox, Sokoto Caliphate, Somaliland, Southern Nigeria Protectorate, Speke, Sub-Saharan Africa, Sudan, Swahili, Tabora, tembe, Timbuktu, Tippu Tip, Tuareg, typhoid, ulcers, wangwana, West Africa, Wilhelm Junker, Zambezi, Zanzibar
Posted by Simon on August 23, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/08/23/hearts-of-darkness-frank-mclynn/
Some Norfolk churches
St Nicholas’ Church, Blakeney (notable feature: beacon tower) The village of Blakeney is on the North Norfolk coast. It is built around a couple of streets which slope down towards the tidal frontage of the river Glaven, which loops round the mud flats to form Blakeney Haven. Nowadays the haven is a narrow, shallow, muddy […]
Tagged All Saints Church Helhoughton, All Saints church Litcham, architecture, Blakeney Haven, Blakeney Hotel, British Museum, Castle Acre, chancel, Charles II, Christianity, church, church architecture, clerestory, Decorated style, East Lexham, East Raynham, Ecce Homo, Edward the Elder, Fakenham, Gospel of John, Gothic architecture, hammerbeam roof, Helhoughton, Henry VIII, Jesus Christ, Litcham, Man of Sorrows, Marquis of Townshend, Matthew Halcott, mensa, Middle Ages, Morston Quay, nave, Newton-by-Castle Acre barely exists, Norfolk, north Norfolk, North Norfolk Coastal Path, Perpendicular style, Pontius Pilate, Raynham Hall, religion, restoration, Richard Foster, river Glaven, River Wensum, rood screen, roodscreen, Round Towers Churches Society, saint, Saint George, Saint Maurice, Saint Michael, Saint Nicholas, Saint Peter and Saint Paul church Fakenham, Saint Sebastian, Saint Thomas of Canterbury, South Raynham, St Agnes, St Andrew's Church Wellingham, St Andrews Church East Lexham, St Cecilia, St Dorothy, St Edmund, St Gregory, St Helena, St Hubert, St Louis of France, St Margaret's Church West Raynham, St Martin's church South Raynham, St Mary and All Saints Church Newton-by-Castle Acre, St Mary's church East Raynham, St Nicholas Church West Lexham, St Nicholas' Church Blakeney, St Peter and St Paul Church Swaffham, St Petronilla, St Ursula, St Walstan, St William of Norwich, Swaffham, Wellingham, West Lexham, West Raynham
Posted by Simon on July 30, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/07/30/some-norfolk-churches/
The Toys of Peace by Saki (1919)
Beryl, Mrs. Gaspilton, had always looked indulgently on the country as a place where people of irreproachable income and hospitable instincts cultivated tennis-lawns and rose-gardens and Jacobean pleasaunces, wherein selected gatherings of interested week-end guests might disport themselves. (For the Duration of the War) ‘I’m afraid there is nowhere for you to sit,’ I said […]
Posted in Comedy, Short stories
Tagged A Bread and Butter Miss, Ada Bleek, Alethia Debchance, Augustus Mellowkent, Aunt Gurtleberry, aunts, Balkan wars, Baroness Gruebel, Bertie Steffink, Bertie’s Christmas Eve, British Empire, Caiaphas Dwelf, Canossa, Cernogratz, Charles II, Clover Fairy, Clovis, Clovis Sangrail, Colonial Secretary, comedy, Demosthenes Platterbaff, Edward Umberleigh, Edwardian England, Edwardian era, Eleanor Bope, Elinor Rapsley, Ellen Niggle, Envy of the Neighbourhood, EON, Excepting Mrs. Pentherby, Falconer Report, Fate, For the Duration of the War, Forewarned, Fraulein Schmidt, General Election, Georg Znaeym, Ghurab, Great War, Gwenda Pottingdon, Harvey Bope, Hector Hugh Munro, Henry IV, horse racing, hyacinth, irony, James Cushat-Prinkly, Jane Thropplestance, Joan Sebastable, John Stuart Mill, Lady Beanford, Lady Cullompton, Lady Prowche, Lena Strudwarden, Lloyd-George, local election, London Zoo, Louis, Louise, Luitpold Wolkenstein, Luke Steffink, Major Dagworth, Major Latton, Marconi scandal, Mark, Mesopotamia, Mexican Revolution, Morlvera, Mr Scarrick, Mr. Strinnit, Mrs Dole, Mrs Hatch-Mallard, Mrs Thundleford, Mrs. Gaspilton, non-conformisity, Occasional-Oasis Supply Association, Octavian Ruttle, OOSA, Ottoman Empire, P.G. Wodehouse, Peter Pigeoncote, political satire, Quail Seed, Reggie Bruttle, religion, Reverend Wilfrid Gaspilton, Rex Dillot, Rhoda Ellam, Rhodesia, Robert Bludward, Robert Raikes, Rothay Reynolds, Saki, Salvation Army, satire, Serbia, Shock Tactics, short stories, Sir James Drakmanton, Sir John Chobham, Sir Lulworth Quayne, Smithly-Dubbs, St. Chuddocks, suffragette, Suffragettes, tea, the Baroness, The Bull, The Cupboard of the Yesterdays, the Derby, The Disappearance of Crispina Umberleigh, The Guests, The Hedgehog, The Interlopers, the macabre, The Mappined Life, The Occasional Garden, The Oversight, The Penance, The Phantom Luncheon, The Purple of the Balkan Kings, The Seven Cream Jugs, The Sheep, The Threat, The Toys of Peace, The Wolves of Cernogratz, Tom Yorkfield, Ulrich von Gradwitz, vivisection, Votes For Women, When William Came, Wilfred the Snatcher, Yondershire
Posted by Simon on July 5, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/07/05/the-toys-of-peace-saki/
Beasts and Super-Beasts by Saki (1914)
As the name suggests, Saki’s propensity for introducing wild animals into sedate Edwardian society with comic, ironic or gruesome effect goes into overdrive in many of the stories in this collection. Beasts and Super-Beasts is a collection of 36 Saki short stories. I give brief plot summaries and one or two quotes from each story […]
Posted in Comedy, Short stories
Tagged 'Down Pens', A Defensive Diamond, A Holiday Task, A Touch of Realism, Adela Chemping, Adela Pingsford, Amblecope, antisemitism, art world, Arthur Wimperis, Baron Munchausen, Basil HallamArthur Treacher, Beasts and Super-Beasts, Bertie van Tahn, Bertram Kneyght, Betty Coulterneb, Betty Mullen, Billy Yuttley, Blanche Boveal, Blenkinthrope, Charles Dickens, Clovis on Parental Responsibilities, Clovis Sangrail, Colonel Harrowcluff, Cousin Teresa, Cyril Skatterly, Duke of Falvertoon, Duke of Syria, Dusk, Edwardian era, Edwardian society, Eleanor Saxelby, Ferdinand and Isabella, Framton Nuttel, Fur, Gaspare, Gebhard Knopfschrank, Gilbert The Filbert, H.G. Wells, Herman Finck, Hugo Peterby, Hyde Park, irony, Jocantha Bessbury, John James Abbleway, Kenelm Jerton, knut, Lady Blonze, Lady Carlotta, lampoon, Latimer Springfield, Laura, Leonard Bilsiter, Lord Grimford, Lord Pabham, Lulu Duchess of Dulverton, magic, Martha Crale, Mary Hampton, Matilda, Merv Griffin, metrosexual, Miss Hope, mistaken identity, Morton Crosby, Mr Penricarde, Mrs Attray, Mrs Bebberly Cumble, Mrs Cuvering, Mrs Durmot, Mrs Eggelby, Mrs Ladbruk, Mrs Olston, Mrs Quabarl, Mrs Sappleton, Mrs Stroope, Mrs Thackenbury, Mrs Thropplestance, Mrs Yonelet, Mrs. Philidore Stossen, music hall, Norman Gortsby, nut, On Approval, Oscar Wilde, P.G. Wodehouse, Rape of the Sabine Women, reincarnation, Saki, satire, short stories, short story, Sir Lulworth Quayne, Slogberry Moor, Sophie Chattel-Monkheim, Stake, strikes, The Blind Spot, The Boar-Pig, The Brogue, The Byzantine Omelette, The Cobweb, The Dreamer, The Elk, The Feast of Nemesis, The Forbidden Buzzards, The Hen, The Lull, The Lumber Room, The Name-Day, The Open Window, The Philanthropist and the Happy Cat, The Quince Tree, The Romancers, The Schartz-Metterklume Method, The Seventh Pullet, The She-Wolf, The Stalled Ox, The Story-Teller, The Treasure-Ship, The Unkindest Blow, The Yarkand Manner, Theophil Eshley, Treddleford, Vasco Honiton, Vera Durmot, Waldo Plubley, Woldshire, wolves
Posted by Simon on July 2, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/07/02/beasts-and-super-beasts-saki/
When William Came by Saki (1913)
Invasion literature According to Wikipedia: Invasion literature (also The Invasion Novel) is a literary genre that was popular in the period between 1871 and the outbreak of the First World War 1914. The invasion novel was first recognised as a literary genre in the UK, and is generally said to have started with George Tomkyns […]
Tagged 1905 Aliens Act, antisemitism, Arnold White, Boer War, British Brothers League, Burlington Arcade, Canon Mousepace, Cicely Yeovil, collaborator, Cornelian Valpy, Dr Holham, Empire and Efficiency, fiction, First World War, Franco-Prussian War, George Tomkyns Chesney, Germany, Gorla Mustelford, Gräfin von Tolb, Herr Rebinok, Herr von Kwarl, High Society, Hubert Herlton, immigration, imperialism, Invasion literature, Jews, jingiosm, Joan Mardle, Kaiser, Kaiser Wilhelm, Kipling, Lady Greymarten, Lady Shalem, Larry Meadowfield, Leutnant von Gabelroth, London, Mrs Mentieth-Mendlesohnn, Murrey Yeovil, novel, Oscar Wilde, patriotism, Pitherby, Quisling, Rhapsodie Pantril, Ronnie Storr, Siberia, Suffragettes, The Battle of Dorking, the Landgraf, Tony Luton, Torywood, war, When William Came, William Cowper, xenophobia
Posted by Simon on June 30, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/06/30/when-william-came-saki/
Reginald by Saki (1904)
Hector Hector Hugh Munro was born in 1870 in Burma, then still part of the British Empire. He was the son of Charles Augustus Munro, an Inspector General for the Indian Imperial Police, and Mary Frances Mercer, daughter of Rear Admiral Samuel Mercer. Her nephew, Cecil William Mercer, later became a famous novelist under the […]
Tagged 1904, Anglo-Saxon Empire, apothegms, aunts, Boer War, bon mots, British Empire, Burma, comedy, comic sketches, Dornford Yates, Edwardian, fiction, foreign correspondent, Hector Hugh Munro, irony, Kipling, Oscar Wilde, paganism, quotes, Recessional, Reginald, Reginald at the Carlton, Reginald at the Theatre, Reginald on Besetting Sins, Reginald on Christmas Presents, Reginald on House-Parties, Reginald on Tariffs, Reginald on the Academy, Reginald on Worries, Reginald's Choir Treat, Reginald's Christmas Revel, Reginald's Drama, Reginald's Peace Poem, Reginald's Rubaiyat, Royal Academy of Art, Rudyard Kipling, Saki, short fiction, short stories, The Innocence of Reginald, The Price They Paid For Empire, The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyam, The Woman Who Told The Truth
Posted by Simon on June 21, 2021
https://astrofella.wordpress.com/2021/06/21/reginald-saki/
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