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Mametz (Paperback)
Aled Rhys Hughes; Contributions by Jeremy Hooker
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R475
R392
Discovery Miles 3 920
Save R83 (17%)
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Rhys Hughes' funniest novel, revised and expanded in a luxurious
new edition with new material, comprises the tall tales of one
Mister Gum: adventurer, pervert, and the world's most infamous
creative writing tutor. Through Mister Gum we encounter a brief and
sordid history of Britain and British literature, come to challenge
the presumptions of creative writing pedagogy and re-examine the
limits of narrative (and good taste). This is a world of Lynne
Trusse, an Empire's ludicrous obsession with the Rabelaisian and
modern man's vain quest to reassert his dominance in all things.
Joel Lane provides a brief but thoughtful introduction on this new
edition, while Rhys Hughes offers an all-new afterword where he
discusses the literary impact of the first edition of this most
British of satirical novels.
There are few students in my class. When one considers what the
subject is, this isn't surprising. I teach myself. In other words,
I impart to my students facts and fancies based on my life and
ideas. It's the least popular class in the university and I doubt
it will be funded for another term. But none of that is my fault. I
wanted to teach a proper discipline such as ecology, but the
authorities wouldn't let me. They insisted that I teach myself; and
as a result, I do so. The students are given an assignment. They
each have to write a short piece about how I spend my free time.
But this is information I've always kept secret. I can't imagine
how they're expected to know anything about my private life,
certainly not in detail. Clearly I'm being spied on. Unless it's
guesswork? I read the essays anxiously. Yes, only some of them have
got it right...
Mirrors in the Deluge is a collection of 32 unrelated stories that
take elements from fantasy, science fiction, horror and other
genres and give them a lateral shift. Like much of Rhys' work these
quirky tales between them encompass parody, pastiche and puns. The
fun, as ever, starts with the title of each story - gently leading
an unsuspecting reader into preconceived ideas and expectations;
expectations that are soon spun around, turned on their head (or
other extremities), and pushed in an unexpected direction. Thus, a
saunter merely through the contents page is already a hugely
entertaining experience and one more akin to savouring the hors
d'oeuvres of a grand feast than consulting a list of shortcuts into
a literary tome. In fact, the gastronomic metaphor serves us well
here; the courses on offer range from tantalising tuck to a
gourmand's repast, but never mere vittles - perhaps the way to
enjoy this book is to digest one story, three times a day (four if
you're a halfling who needs second breakfast), rather than trying
to gorge on all the available delights and delicacies at one
sitting. To complete this gourmet's guide, a tempting sampling of
the stories must include: The Soft Landing, a unique story told
from the perspective of a photon; Travels with my Antinomy, how do
you solve a paradox when you're part of it?; Vanity of Vanities,
the internet achieves consciousness and takes over, but with very
different consequences than you might imagine; The Fairy and the
Dinosaur, in which a fairy can't find what she wants for her picnic
in the goblin market, is offered cloned prehistoric plums but turns
to a time-travelling robot to go back to the age of the dinosaurs
and eat an original plum. Other titles to tempt you include The
Prodigal Beard, A Dame Abroad, The Unkissed Artist Formerly Known
as Frog, The Goat That Gloated, The Taste of Turtle Tears, The
Bones of Jones, and The Haggis Eater.
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