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 Father Raven and
Other Tales
-
- by A.E. Coppard
-
- This
collection of thirty-one highly individual short stories
selects the best of A.E. Coppard's fantastical fiction.
Regarded by Walter de la Mare, L.P. Hartley and others as
one of the finest English short story writers of the
twentieth century, Coppard was inspired by traditional
British folk tales. He observed: 'I can revel happily
with the stuff of the supernatural; it is indeed the
material of the folk tale, and that is almost as old as
the human race.'
-
- The
result is a fascinating selection of stories and fables
with an emphasis on the strange and the striking detail,
peopled by the outcasts, vagabonds and rural characters
with whom the author most sympathised. There are outright
fantasies such as 'The King of the World', in which a
young Assyrian captain driven into the desert comes
across the lost shrine of an ancient god; the out-of-time
experiences of 'Adam and Eve and Pinch Me' and 'Gone
Away', about a French motoring holiday where time and
distance begin to warp; 'The Man from Kilsheelan',
described by Mark Valentine, who introduces this volume,
as 'a great broiling yarn of murder, visions, lunatics,
seafarers, and treasure'; and the 'elliptical, gentle
wisdom' of stories such as 'Simple Simon'.
-
- Mark
Valentine's insightful new Introduction provides a
critical and biographical overview of Coppard the man and
his writing, and one can only agree with Valentine's
conclusion that 'the time is surely right for new readers
to be introduced to his rich, individual, memorable
tales.'
-
- Contents: 'Introduction', 'Adam & Eve
& Pinch Me', 'Arabesque-The Mouse', 'The King of the
World', 'Marching to Zion', 'Piffingcap', 'Clorinda Walks
in Heaven', 'The Elixir of Youth', 'Simple Simon', 'The
Tiger', 'The Man From Kilsheelan', 'Old Martin', 'The
Bogie Man', 'The Martyrdom of Solomon', 'The Almanac
Man', 'Polly Morgan', 'The Gollan', 'The Post Office and
the Serpent', 'Crotty Shinkwin', 'Ahoy, Sailor Boy!',
'Gone Away', 'Jove's Nectar', 'The Philosopher's
Daughter', 'Jack the Giantkiller', 'Rocky and the
Bailiff', 'Ale Celestial?', 'Father Raven', 'The Drum',
'Cheese', 'The Homeless One', 'The Kisstruck Bogie', 'The
Gruesome Fit'.
-
- ISBN
978-1-872621-95-5
-
- Father Raven and Other Stories
is a sewn hardback of 301+xii
pages.
-
- Limited
to 300 copies.
-
- Price
£30.00/$50 inc. p&p.
-
- Reviews:
-
- Not
only enjoyable, these pieces capture the age old 'magic'
once thought lost when the bards stopped speaking their
dramas aloud. - William Simmons, Infinity
Plus
-
- This
is a welcome addition to tartarus's republications of the
masters of the 'strange' story. An informative,
well-written introduction by Mark Valentine sets the
scene. You may not like all these stories, but you will
probably enjoy many; and you cannot fail to admire
Coppard's very individual style and craftsmanship. -
Reggie Oliver, All Hallows
-
- I
enjoyed this rather weighty tome – 31 stories and 301
pages, and would recommend it. - Matt Johns,
Prism (British Fantasy Society),
May 2007
Page updated 27th November 2008
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