The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold
by Evelyn Waugh (Chapman & Hall, 1957); audiobook read by Michael Cochrane (Clipper Audio, 2004)
Waugh’s prose is very accomplished, and is given due diligence in Michael Cochrane’s audiobook reading. The story itself, however, is of limited appeal, recounting a rather torturous and prolonged delusional episode. Cleverly constructed—and cathartic for the author, apparently—but leading nowhere.
The Last Continent
by Terry Pratchett (Doubleday, 1998); audiobook read by Nigel Planer (Isis, 1999)
One of the weaker Discworld novels. Pratchett makes suitably merry with intelligent design and the origins of (stereotyped) Australianism, but the Unseen University wizards are rather tiresome when employed as main characters and Rincewind’s exploits are equally belaboured. Funny but unusually pointless.
Wild Strawberries
by Angela Thirkell (Harrison Smith & Robert Haas, 1934); audiobook read by Hilary Neville (Isis, 2015)
Charitably, a deadpan satire on manor houses and the British upper crust. Despite the odd piece of drollery, however, a suspicion grows that Thirkell must rather have identified with her carefree, superficial characters, parody thereby giving way to endorsement and straightforward romance.
The Magic Finger
by Roald Dahl (Harper & Row, 1966); audiobook read by Roald Dahl (HarperCollins, 2002)
Instructive though it is to hear Roald Dahl reading his own work, the fact remains that ‘The Magic Finger’ is a very slight, somewhat misnamed little story. A hunter receives his comeuppance overnight when he and his family are turned into ducks.
The Man in the High Castle
by Philip K. Dick (Putnam, 1962); audiobook read by Jeff Cummings (Brilliance Audio, 2015)
For all its philosophical musings on chance and Dick’s thoughtful concoction of an alternative history (post- World War II), ‘The Man in the High Castle’ is more manifesto than (Hugo-winning) novel. The vague confluence of characters hints at profundity where none exists.
Well Done, Secret Seven
by Enid Blyton (Brockhampton Press, 1951); audiobook read by Sarah Greene (BBC, 1998)
A simple little one-sitting mystery, which actually takes up less of the book than the children’s building of a treehouse. The Secret Seven think rather highly of themselves but here lack much by way of character – except for Scamper the Cocker Spaniel.
Colours in the Steel
by K J Parker (Orbit, 1998)
The original K J Parker novel, introducing all those elements—the detailed world building and practical intricacies, the tragedy-driven plots, hubris-plagued protagonists and gallows humour—that would prove characteristic of her/his work. Fencer lawyers make for the most apt of jumping-off points.
Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn
by Hergé (Methuen, 1959)
Written during the German occupation of Belgium in World War II, The Secret of the Unicorn sees Hergé eschew political satire in favour of a well-constructed and comically sublime mystery/adventure. From nuances of expression to outrageous slapstick, Hergé here reaches new heights.
Fish Preferred
by P. G. Wodehouse (Doubleday, Doran, 1929); aka “Summer Lightning” (Herbert Jenkins, 1929); cf. “Pigs Have Wings” (Doubleday, 1952).
Wodehouse duplicated this plot two decades later in writing ‘Pigs Have Wings’… but what a finely woven, artfully absurd plot it is (and what charm of prose that he could get away with it)! A bonhomous concatenation of deceptions, misunderstandings and pig-stealings.
Labyrinth
dir. Jim Henson (1986)
Henson tries to capture the same sense of whimsy as Alice in Wonderland, but—like most adaptors of that work—underwhelms. The delightful visuals and kooky ideas (and Bowie!) are offset by a rambling story and child acting lamentably of the 1980s.