Tintin: Explorers on the Moon by Hergé (Methuen, 1959) An extraordinary achievement, constituting both a prescient (ie. well-researched and well-reasoned) foretelling of a genuine moon landing, and a tour de force of Tintin staples: Boy’s Own action and comic misadventure. Unlike other volumes, this one is genuinely tense. Nail-biting yet funny!
42 Word Retrospectives
The Ruby in the Smoke
The Ruby in the Smoke by Philip Pullman (Oxford University Press, 1985); audiobook read by Anton Lesser (Bolinda, 2015) Pullman captures the essence of Victorian London (without belabouring the setting), and his characters all stand out, especially in Lesser’s audiobook reading. The story, however, gains little from these virtues, its omniscient third-person narrative frittering away most of the tension and…
P.R.O.B.E. – The Zero Imperative
P.R.O.B.E. – The Zero Imperative by Mark Gatiss (BBV, 1994) A creepy Doctor Who spin-off that sees Liz Shaw investigating supernatural deaths at a psychiatric hospital. Liz, however, doesn’t actually feature that much, and it’s a little difficult to reconcile the other Who actors (four ex-Doctors, no less!) with their new roles.
Saturday Live, Volume One
Saturday Live, Volume One by Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie (Redbush, 2015) A patchy collection of highlights (so-called) from the 1986 TV variety show. Fry and Laurie are first-billed but don’t actually feature that much. Instead, there’s Ben Elton’s high-octane social and political stand-up, protest poems by Craig Charles, and several remarkably unfunny also-rans.
A Study in Scarlet
A Study in Scarlet by Arthur Conan Doyle (Ward Lock & Co, 1887); audiobook read by Stephen Fry (ABC/Audible, 2017) This would have made a fine short story—introducing the great detective to his chronicler—yet the lengthy second part serves only to demonstrate Conan Doyle’s dependence on Holmes and Watson. In the absence of these seminal characters, the prose turns flaccid.…
Tintin: Destination Moon
Tintin: Destination Moon by Hergé (Casterman, 1959) Hergé’s phenomenal commitment to accuracy is nowhere greater attested than in ‘Destination Moon’ and its sequel. Thankfully, the laborious detail is offset by liberal doses of physical comedy courtesy of Captain Haddock, the Thom(p)sons, and—most gloriously—Professor Calculus acting the goat!
The Witches
The Witches by Roald Dahl (Jonathan Cape, 1983); audiobook read by Miranda Richardson (Penguin, 2013) Scary and horrid and yet rather wondrous and fun, Roald Dahl’s take on witches remains a classic of middle grade fiction. Miranda Richardson’s audiobook reading is nicely pitched (notwithstanding her overly grating Grand High Witch and some oddly lacklustre, unnecessary sound effects).
The Great Dictator
The Great Dictator dir. Charlie Chaplin (1940) A political satire that, even at the time, carried a poignance well beyond its surface humour. Chaplin, playing a Jewish barber Hitler lookalike, struck an uneasy but quite brilliant balance between serious filmmaking (Chaplin the writer-director) and comic business (Chaplin the actor).
Flowers and the Last Hurrah
Flowers and the Last Hurrah by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Analog, March 1999) A cloning murder mystery, mostly scenario.
Reach for the Sky
Reach for the Sky: The Story of Douglas Bader DSO, DFC by Paul Brickhill (W. W. Norton & Company, 1954); audiobook read by Robert Hardy (Chivers, 1991/2010) Brickhill is firmly eulogistic (though not without cause) in detailing the extraordinary feats of double-amputee fighter pilot Douglas Bader, and also something of English life itself in the interwar period and during World…