Infotainment > THE (OTHER) BIG READ - Intellect

DEADKIDSONGS • My favourite book was gonna be Christine by Stephen King which I read when I was 13 and from
that point on I’m sorry to say I read nearly every Stephen King novel I could get my hands on. However, I thought I’d decide on
a more contemporary book to show I’ve (arguably) grown up a bit ; Toby Litt's Deadkidsongs, which is coincidentally reminiscent
of Stephen Kings ' Stand By Me. Deadkidsongs is about four pre-pubescent boys growing up in the 70s in Devon. Driven
by their over-active imagination they form 'Gang', complete with mission statements, strict rules, top secret meeting places and
covert operations against a fictitious German army. At first this is harmless fun but after one of them dies everything takes a turn
for the worst and soon things get out of control. Litt captures the thoughts of young boys perfectly; gossiping, planning revenge,
backstabbing, bitching, the boy's utter hatred of their parents and the distance they feel from them which took me right back to
how I felt then. As an adult reader you are immediately excluded too, you laugh at their naivete and youthful stroppiness, yet
feel shocked at their behaviour and ideas. Scary, sad, dark and funny, in my opinion Toby Litts best work. > Gabs Stackpool
THE MAGUS • Actually my favourite book is The Lord of Rings, but that’s been, like, so ‘done’ recently (over, under
– you name it.) However, The Magus isn’t far behind in my all-time greatest reads list. It’s the kind of book that sucks
you in totally – I read its 616 pages in one sitting, staying up until 8 a.m. to do so (and on a school night too!) I felt
anger, relief, despair, and attraction with Nicholas the narrator as he is put through the reality wringer on a secret-filled
Greek island. The Magus outrages the reader through its treatment of both ourselves and the narrator – keeping us in
the dark and offering us a succession of cruel red herrings. For ages afterwards, I plotted Nicholas’s moral and physical
victory, alternative endings and plot spoilers – how I, had I been in Nicholas’s shoes, would have triumphed over my tormentors
and turned their world on its head. Hindsight is a beautiful thing. The Magus is both a Jungian nightmare and
a storyteller’s masterpiece; the result is rather like the aftermath of a horrific car crash – we are appalled but allow ourselves
to be sucked in nonetheless, and eventually we pull away with our appetites still unsated. > Theo Berry
MORE SCIENCE MAGIC • When I was a kid I used a twelve-volt power pack, crocodile clips and a length of
nichrome wire to set fire to my science teacher’s desk. I did this for a very good reason – I was bored. Setting fire to
things and conducting ‘experiments’ of my own seemed to make science a lot more fun and interesting,
Unlike schoolteachers, More Science Magic (first published in the early 50s) actually encourages this approach to science
in a good old-fashioned, (no fear of death by fire,) carefree way. In fact, if the national curriculum had included how
to use a cigarette to start a ‘chemical fire race’ or how to harness the atomic energy of a wristwatch, I’m certain that I
wouldn’t have even considered setting fire to my science teacher’s desk. This book even encourages kids to smell the
fumes from burning plastics in order to identify their type. It’s brilliant. Reading through the experiments, you become
aware that publishing something like this nowadays would end in a lawsuit with some stupid kid who wasn’t told that fire
could burn his face off, and as a result, it did. > Luke Livesey
BURNING IN WATER DROWNING IN FLAME • Favourite books resurface in my memory every time
I’m reminded of what made me love them at some point in my life. This book has stuck in my mind to the point where
I can open the familiar orange cover and be certain that my mood, however foul, will improve with the words inside.
When reading this poetry you are not able to look beyond the words as he gives them to you, he doesn’t write for an
audience and doesn’t care about who you, his reader is, or what you might think of or read into his work. Unlike the
majority of authors, Bukowski’s words are entirely honest – his hand only inking in what his eyes have seen and his mind
has thought – and inherently poetic. Really they are just scribbled notes, dashed off unblinkingly, but written by him,
the words are natural and powerful. More than anything, he fills you with the satisfaction of knowing that sometimes just
to get one’s thoughts down is enough. Only, don’t ever get the idea he’s a poet, you can see him at the racetrack any
day half drunk. > Andy Bull
Covers top, left to right
THE MAGUS > John Fowles
DEADKIDSONGS > Toby Litt, 2002
BURNING IN WATER DROWNING IN FLAME > Selected Poems of Charles Bukowski
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decode > number 11
GALLERY ONE
EXHIBITIONS
Eric
Gill
Engravings
An exhibition of engravings
by Eric Gill for illustrations,
pamphlets and bookplates.
Plus
John
Neilson
Letter carving
January 10th to
February 10th 2004
Black Swan Arts
2 Bridge Street
Frome
Somerset BA11 1BB
Tel: 01373 473980
Opening Times
Galleries, Craft Shop
and Studios
10am-5pm
Arts Café
9:30am-5pm
Harem Eric Gill