Charles BeaumontRecensioner

4.5

Some outdated ideas about colonialism and women - but not too much. The stories that I really enjoyed elevated this to four stars, despite those outdated ideas.

By setting this book in the present time but having an older, now working privately, spy as the protaganist, you get the best of both modern and old-time spy work in this book. OSINT is used, Open source intelligence, plus pass-by drops all in one story that goes backwards and forwards between 2022 and 1993.

When old spies meet in shabby pubs to lament the state of the modern world, one of the things they say is that nobody learns the old skills. Anti-surveillance, counter-surveillance, it's all been forgotten. These days, its all done by tracking your phone, those little beacons we all carry with us, shining out to any of the world's intelligence agencies.
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The spy, Simon Sharman, is asked to investigate a Russian who wants to donate money to a university and the university doesn't want to be involved in dirty money. Sharman looks into the Russian but not everything is as it seems. It very soon turns into a much larger investigation into the heart of whether there was a spy ring at Oxford and if so, where are they now. A little problematic for Sharman who was present at Oxford during the time this was all going on.

It turns out that the UK via the prime minister is about to do a deal with Russia, through oligarchs, to develop a large data cable so the book follows a theme of the way Russian money is so deeply embedded in our economy: property in London; investments in infrastructure and general spending power. Very relevant.

I loved some of the detail. For instance, when Sharman is followed he looks at the shoes of the people around him to spot when the shoes reappear. Those tracking him changed their clothing but not their shoes and so he was able to find the people who were 'boxing' him in as they tracked him.

It is their shoes that give them away. As a lifelong fieldman, Simon Sharman hasn't forgotten the lesson: walkers might change their jackets, pull on a pair of glasses, even a wig. But nobody changes their shoes on a job. Look at their shoes.
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A great book that I read in two sittings. I enjoyed it much more than the short stories.

This is a collection of short fiction by a man who was a very prolific writer of the 1950s and also involved in iconic TV shows such as The Twilight Zone. As the introduction by his friend Ray Bradbury makes clear, he was very much an ideas writer and his fiction does not usually develop characters particularly, with a lot of the characters being rather unpleasant. Possibly this is why quite a few of the stories didn't make much impression or I wasn't keen although some are quite vividly written, such as one about a futuristic city built in what had previously been the jungle home of tribespeople.

The best in my opinion is one about a priest who is asked to go to the house of a dying friend and the challenging conversation which ensues. That story had some emotional impact, and the ending was quite touching. So on balance I would rate this as a 3 star read.

Děj se odehrává na malém jižanském městečku, jehož klidný život je narušen příchodem mladého fašisty, snažícího se zorganizovat odpor obyvatelstva proti novému zákonu a proti černochům. Jeho činnost a otevřené hlásání rasistických myšlenek vyburcuje obyvatele městečka z jejich poklidné lhostejnosti a přivádí je k rozhodnému postoji proti němu. Přes četná umělecky slabší místa je román velmi důležitým i zajímavým dokumentem mentality amerického obyvatelstva.

‘Ware the warlords of our modern times!

Slow start to what becomes a rather compelling story of international intrigue, based mainly on Russian oligarch connections.
Simon Sharmon is our key player, an ex Oxford man, ex intelligence officer who’s operating freelance now.
An acquaintance, Marcus Peebles, employs Simon to look into a mid level oligarch Georgy Sidorov, with reference to an endowerment to Sharmon’s Oxford College, especially at this time of the war in Ukraine.
The action switches between Simon’s Oxford student days, the late nineties and early 2000’s to the mid 2000’s—from Ukraine and Crimea, to the present.
By the end I’m feeling totally paranoid, haunted by the vision of a net of various intelligence agents and investigators from a variety of countries crisscrossing the United Kingdom like one of those diagrams of millions of interconnecting internet webs. Only to my mind they’re spiders webs spinning out of control in the underbelly of our world. Grrr! But who or what’s at the center?
Brexit comes in for a drubbing. Apparently forces were at work to make it happen, leaving Europe vulnerable and open to being ravaged by the Russian Bear. Or is it just the oligarchs and powerful corporations hiding their activities behind various shell companies? If I wasn’t paranoid before with the rise of populism, the spread of international drug lords, human trafficking, the craziness of Putin and his cronies, Britain isolating itself—then I am now. I could be wearing an al foil hat soon!
The question of was there an Oxford spy ring to equal the Cambridge fifties one of Blunt et.al. resonates and Simon’s investigations uncover so much more. Simon’s digging opens up a minefield of boggling possibilities.
An exciting thriller, seemly all too accurate, that left me breathless in its magnitude.
The fact that it’s written by an ex intelligence officer sends cold shivers down my spine.
Beaumont’s certainly up there with my favorite spy writers. The mind games of Le Carré are recalled.

A Canelo ARC via NetGalley.
Many thanks to the author and publisher.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley.

Simon, a former spy, is employed to investigate a Russian oligarch who apparently wants to make a substantial donation to an Oxford college, but in doing so, he uncovers evidence that a Russian spy ring may have been active at Oxford for decades. I enjoyed this and read it quickly, although there was quite a lot of complex information about Russia and Ukraine and economics and politics and history (sometimes helpfully explained by one character to another) and some of this went a bit over my head.

I thought the author did a good job of keeping the reader unsure of who Simon could trust. I loved the parts set in Oxford and the mention of my old college, and enjoyed all the spycraft - I'm always going to look at the shoes of people I think might be following me from now on. I found it flowed much better once the flashbacks were over and we were settled in 2022. I didn't really buy into the attraction Simon and Sarah were apparently feeling for one another and I found the ending depressing, although I am sure it was realistic.

Meh. The story was good but the acting was pretty bad.

The stories at the beginning of the collection are very good. I particularly liked ‘The Jungle’, ‘The Howling Man’ and ‘The Beautiful People’. Definitely worth a read. I struggled to get through the last third of the stories. They didn’t draw me in or keep me compelled. I think if you like interesting or weird short stories definitely give this a try, just realize not all of them are great. I would give this a 3.5 bc the stories that are good are amazing ( 5 stars) but the ones toward the back are only 3 stars. So while it would make sense to give this a 4, not sure I’m willing to do so.

23 of Beaumont's best tales, foreword by Bradbury, afterword by Shatner, I'm giving it 5 stars and I haven't even cracked the spine. I didn't change my mind after finishing this.

Bradbury correctly categorized Beaumont as an "idea" writer, for instance: "What if a guy thought that if he fell asleep the universe would end?" That kind of thing. Take an idea and see where it leads. Sounds easy, right? If it was we would all be writers. Not surprisingly these stories have a Twilight Zone feel to them and Beaumont was a chief contributor to the iconic television program.

Written by one of the authors of the Twilight Zone, these very short stories, mostly less than 20 pages each) are fun and made me feel as though I was actually watching that series. Ray Bradbury explained in the introduction that Charles (Chuck Nutt) was the alpha male "blinding force" to their group of writers then known as the Southern California Sorcerers. Very talented writer. Sad to hear he died young. Hope his other works are available.

Free Dirt
The Twilight Zone Radio Dramas
By: Charles Beaumont
Narrated by: Eric Bogosian
These are short stories and I listened to this before. Clever take of a man that wants a great deal, free is best even if he has to con people to get it. He finally gets what he desires.
Narration is good.

This Halloween season, I was in the mood for some classic, twisted stories. For a long time, I've wanted to read some of the authors who were instrumental in the writing and development of The Twilight Zone. I decided to start with Charles Beaumont, who was involved with the writing of more than twenty episodes of the classic series.

Immediately, I was pulled toward the Night Ride collection. I felt drawn to it. But I looked at the ratings and reviews of all of Beaumont's work and decided it would be more prudent to start with his first collection, The Hunger. This was where I went wrong.

The writing style is very much of its time. This is great. I was in the mood for the dark, twisty 1950s vibe. With the exception of a couple notable stories, however, this collection didn't really grab me. Many of these relied too much on shock value, whether provided by the twist, or merely by the depravity of the subject. There's also a playfulness in many of these stories that, given their dark nature, comes off as a bit crass. Some of this was the times, but I would venture to guess that part of this was the maturity of the author, and later stories would show more masterful orchestration.

I can't say that Night Ride would've been a better selection for me, as I haven't read it. I do get the impression, however, that it would've better satisfied my thirst for Twilight Zone nostalgia. Maybe someday I'll find out. Or maybe I'll just catch up on my Shirley Jackson reading.

According to Roger Corman's brother Gene, "The Intruder" was the only film that exploitation King Corman ever made a loss on. It is a film with a highly developed and overt social consciousness, but unfortunately it was a commercial and critical failure. In recognition of that failure Corman never made an explicitly political film again; his approach from that time on being to deliver the exploitation goods and to leave any political or social commentary to the subtext. In many ways that is a real shame as " The Intruder" is a brave and powerful film that confronts the evils of racism and segregation face on. The screenplay by regular Corman collaborator Charles Beaumont (from his own novel) sees the charismatic Adam Cramer (William Shatner) arriving in a small town in the southern United States on the eve of school integration. Cramer begins insinuating himself with the townsfolk and begins delivering dangerous speeches about the dangers of integration and the need for racial segregation. His inflammatory rhetoric soon sees the situation running out of control with an angry mob taking to the streets. After Ella (Beverly Lunsford), a white schoolgirl, makes a false accusation of rape against a black student, Cramer finds the situation fast spiralling out of his control and a lynch mob taking to the streets.
The Intruder" is robust in the extreme in regard to its overall themes and pulls no punches in regard to its message. Beaumont's screenplay and Corman's economic and studied direction powerfully highlight the dangers of rhetorical political demagoguery and how that can lead to unintended and violent outcomes on the streets. It's a message with just as much political resonance today as it did when first filmed. Corman doesn't shy away from some brutal racist language, which makes the film a challenging and abrasive watch for modern, more politically correct audiences, but his approach is absolutely correct and ensures that the evils of racism are properly and appropriately illustrated. The film is shot in clean, clear black-and-white by cinematographer Taylor Byars who, along with Corman, makes excellent use of authentic locations. William Shatner delivers a first class performance as Adam Cramer which belles his reputation as a b-grade actors. Shatner is powerful, commanding and impressive, with the right mix of overblown oratory, ingratiating subtlety and poisonous charisma to give the character of Cramer the required persona.
All this makes "The Intruder" a powerful and brave statement that Roger Corman handles with great skill. His direction keeps the story taut and focused, delivering a powerful piece of polemic that gets to the heart of the appeal of politicians peddling dangerously simple answers, while at the same time it skewers the evils of racism and intolerance. This film is far from being my favourite Roger Corman film, but it is probably his best conventional film and without a doubt his most important. "The Intruder" deserves much greater and much wider recognition.

Described as 'mini obituaries for times gone past', Remember? Remember? by Charles Beaumont was exactly what I wanted it to be: Lots of fun. What I hadn't counted on was the excellent history lesson that I got as a bonus. This book is partly a history of life in America circa the early 20th century (nostalgic reminiscence being the preferred narrative lens) and partly a condemnation of letting this superior past be taken over by the clearly inferior pursuits of the present (1960s). His main concern seems to be that the adults of today's (1960s) generation have ruined the future of their children by doing away with the pleasures of yesteryear.

Examples of ruination include but are not limited to:

1. Charlie Chaplin's exile from America after being a prolific entertainer that created art in a time when the world was gray.

2. The spectacle of silent movies taken over by the sterility of 'blockbusters' in cookie cutter movie theaters.

3. Steam trains being replaced by diesel engines which were then supplanted by airplane travel. (Beaumont is all about the romance.)

4. Halloween no longer being a night of mischief but a highly sanitized and supervised few hours of getting candy from pre-approved houses before calling it quits before the sun has even sunk below the horizon.

Conclusion: This was a fun (and surprisingly educational) book which has me looking forward to ferreting out more work of his in the (not too distant) future. 10/10

Known as "Burn, Witch, Burn" in the United States and "Night of the Eagle" in the UK, this is a clever and nicely constructed adaptation of Fritz Lieber's, superior horror story "Conjure Wife". Written by frequent Roger Corman collaborators Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, the film tells the story of professor Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde), a young, gifted academic, loved by his students and quickly rising through the ranks of academia. When he catches his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) engaging in secretive witchcraft, he orders all her magical totems and witchy accoutrements destroyed. As soon as Tansy's charms are burned things start going terribly wrong for Norman - he's accused of rape, his country cottage burns down and Tansy tries to drown herself. With his life out of control he begins to reappraise his belief in the supernatural. The Matheson / Beaumont story is hugely interesting in the clever dynamic it sets up between male and female. Norman has a rigid belief in "masculine" rationalism and logic, while Tansy has a "feminine" belief in intuition and supernaturalism. Norman tries to control and impose his will on the world with his cold, rigid logic, while Tansy seeks to work in tandem and co-operation with the natural world. The climax of the film, where Norman is forced to submit to a world beyond his rationalism and arrive at a belief in the supernatural, clearly sets out where the film-makers sympathies lay - the women are clearly in charge in this world of magic. Director Sidney Hayers and cinematographer Reginald H. Wyes give the film a beautifully stark look, with some excellent shadowy and atmospheric black-and-white photography. The interiors are cleverly illuminated, but it is the exterior nighttime photography that really catches the eye - the moonlit exteriors, particularly when Norman goes walking across the night time beach and through an ancient cemetery are particularly impressive. Hayes moves the story forward at pace, building from one set piece to the next with unrelenting momentum; his only misstep, perhaps, being the strange stone eagle climax. The acting is good throughout - Peter Wyngarde starts out arrogant and in control, at home in his world of staid conformity, buts ends up a broken man in a world beyond his ken. Janet Blair is equally good, panicked at Norman's actions, frighteningly knowing of the consequences and strangely willing to sacrifice herself for the man she loves. Margaret Johnston as Flora also puts in a good turn as a second witch on campus. Overall "Night of the Eagle" is a superior, tight and terse little chiller with plenty of delicious subtext and subversive thought floating (not very far) beneath the surface.

Known as "Burn, Witch, Burn" in the United States and "Night of the Eagle" in the UK, this is a clever and nicely constructed adaptation of Fritz Lieber's, superior horror story "Conjure Wife". Written by frequent Roger Corman collaborators Charles Beaumont and Richard Matheson, the film tells the story of professor Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde), a young, gifted academic, loved by his students and quickly rising through the ranks of academia. When he catches his wife Tansy (Janet Blair) engaging in secretive witchcraft, he orders all her magical totems and witchy accoutrements destroyed. As soon as Tansy's charms are burned things start going terribly wrong for Norman - he's accused of rape, his country cottage burns down and Tansy tries to drown herself. With his life out of control he begins to reappraise his belief in the supernatural. The Matheson / Beaumont story is hugely interesting in the clever dynamic it sets up between male and female. Norman has a rigid belief in "masculine" rationalism and logic, while Tansy has a "feminine" belief in intuition and supernaturalism. Norman tries to control and impose his will on the world with his cold, rigid logic, while Tansy seeks to work in tandem and co-operation with the natural world. The climax of the film, where Norman is forced to submit to a world beyond his rationalism and arrive at a belief in the supernatural, clearly sets out where the film-makers sympathies lay - the women are clearly in charge in this world of magic. Director Sidney Hayers and cinematographer Reginald H. Wyes give the film a beautifully stark look, with some excellent shadowy and atmospheric black-and-white photography. The interiors are cleverly illuminated, but it is the exterior nighttime photography that really catches the eye - the moonlit exteriors, particularly when Norman goes walking across the night time beach and through an ancient cemetery are particularly impressive. Hayes moves the story forward at pace, building from one set piece to the next with unrelenting momentum; his only misstep, perhaps, being the strange stone eagle climax. The acting is good throughout - Peter Wyngarde starts out arrogant and in control, at home in his world of staid conformity, buts ends up a broken man in a world beyond his ken. Janet Blair is equally good, panicked at Norman's actions, frighteningly knowing of the consequences and strangely willing to sacrifice herself for the man she loves. Margaret Johnston as Flora also puts in a good turn as a second witch on campus. Overall "Night of the Eagle" is a superior, tight and terse little chiller with plenty of delicious subtext and subversive thought floating (not very far) beneath the surface.

Charles Beaumont's Perchance to Dream is an uneven collection of short stories. Some are terrific, including those he later adapted for Twilight Zone episodes: the title story, "The Jungle", "The Howling Man", "Song for a Lady", "In His Image", and "The Beautiful People". In all instances the source material naturally exceeds the adaptations in quality and nuance; the effects of the shackles of the television series' time constraints and network censors are clearly evident after reading the originals. Apart from these, however, it's really a mixed bag: a few with a neat twist ending, but most feeling forced or falling flat.

Fantastic collection of short stories running the gamut from drama to horror, from SF/F to weird. It is unsurprising some of the best episodes of the Twilight Zone were derived from his works, he had a gift for storytelling. Characters, scenes, and settings come to life deftly and with a verisimilitude to the human condition that is hard to match. Very impressive, highly recommended.

Charles Beaumont's eclectic collection of short stories reads a bit like episodes of The Twilight Zone; no surprise -- he was in fact a writer for the show back in the day. It is also reminiscent of Stephen King's short stories, though this anthology is substantially less creepy and considerably more odd. Regrettably, I wanted to enjoy it more than I did.

One of the best collections of short horror stories I have ever read. I bought a falling-apart used copy because Beaumont was the editor--and find his selections just as fascinating as his own writing. In addition to an excellent Beaumont story, "Perchance to Dream" the book has two stories by Beaumont's pal, Richard Matheson, and 13 others. They nearly all dwell on the terrors within our own minds, although at least one introduces a weird, outside force. The amazing thing is that I think I have only read two or three of these anywhere in the past. If you come across this anywhere, BUY IT! I may have to trade my tattered copy for a more permanent one.

Horrifying story of a future where, at age 19, people's bodies are remade into perfection, and one girl who doesn't want to do it. There are so many ways to read this attack on conformity; I'll leave it to you to find the one that suits you best.

Surviving crew of a spaceship, fleeing from an Earth about to destroy itself, find themselves on a strange asteroid that is amazingly Earth-like. Quite memorable--as is usually the case with Beaumont, who had enough imagination for several writers. This would make a good Twilight Zone episode--and in fact it was.

A collection of modern-day fairy tales.

I had extremely high expectations for this show - reinforced by the exceptional first episode - so maybe I'm not judging it fairly. But The Twilight Zone is not everything I'd hoped it would be. The few great episodes make up for a lot, though. And even when it doesn't work, they're at least constantly trying to do something different.

Concept: A
Story: C
Characters: C
Dialog: B
Pacing: B
Cinematography: B
Special effects/design: B
Acting: B
Music: B

Enjoyment: B

GPA: 2.9/4½

Not one of my favorites, but still - "The Twilight Zone" aura of suspense!