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Adrian Mitchell (1) (1932–2008)

Författare till Nobody Rides the Unicorn

För andra författare vid namn Adrian Mitchell, se särskiljningssidan.

73+ verk 856 medlemmar 10 recensioner 1 favoritmärkta

Om författaren

Adrian Mitchell is a poet, playwright and children's writer
Foto taget av: Shetland Arts

Verk av Adrian Mitchell

Nobody Rides the Unicorn (1999) 120 exemplar
The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1996) — Författare — 48 exemplar
The Ugly Duckling (1994) 37 exemplar
Our Mammoth (1987) 31 exemplar
Blue Coffee: Poems, 1985-95 (1996) 26 exemplar
Our Mammoth Goes to School (1987) 22 exemplar
Twice My Size (1999) 20 exemplar
Greatest Hits (1991) 19 exemplar
Poems (1969) 16 exemplar
All Shook Up: Poems 1997-2000 (2000) 16 exemplar
The Bodyguard (Picador Books) (1970) 15 exemplar
Man Friday (1974) 15 exemplar
Baron Rides Out (1985) 14 exemplar
Tell me Lies: Poems 2005-2008 (2009) 13 exemplar
Ride the Nightmare (1971) 12 exemplar
Our Mammoth Has a Baby (1990) 11 exemplar
Nothingmas Day (1984) 11 exemplar
Thirteen Secrets Of Poetry (1993) 10 exemplar
Out Loud (1968) 10 exemplar
On the Beach at Cambridge (1984) 9 exemplar
The Apeman Cometh (1975) 9 exemplar
Baron All at Sea (1987) 7 exemplar
The Pied Piper: a play (1988) 6 exemplar
My cat, Mrs Christmas (1998) 6 exemplar
A Child's Christmas in Wales: Christmas Musical (1984) — Playwright — 6 exemplar
If You See Me Comin' (1962) 6 exemplar
Wartime (Picador Books) (1975) 5 exemplar
The Siege (1996) 4 exemplar
Umpteen Pockets (2009) 4 exemplar
Love Songs of World War III (1989) 3 exemplar
HOUDINI: A CIRCUS OPERA (1978) 3 exemplar
Just Adrian (2012) 2 exemplar
Daft as a doughnut (2004) 2 exemplar
Our Mammoth in the Snow (1990) 2 exemplar
Pushkin's Boris Godunov (2012) 2 exemplar
The Annotated Out Loud (1976) 2 exemplar
The Mammoth Sails Tonight! (2016) 1 exemplar
Who Killed Dylan Thomas? (2000) 1 exemplar
All My Own Stuff (1991) 1 exemplar
Dancing in the Street (1999) 1 exemplar
The Dogfather (CD) (1999) 1 exemplar

Associerade verk

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) — Efterord, vissa utgåvor54,077 exemplar
British Poetry Since 1945 (1970) — Bidragsgivare, vissa utgåvor167 exemplar
Emergency Kit (1996) — Bidragsgivare, vissa utgåvor109 exemplar
Jazz poems (Pocket poets) (1963) — Bidragsgivare — 12 exemplar
Jump, my brothers, jump : poems from prison (1970) — Redaktör — 3 exemplar
Man Friday [1975 film] (1991) — Original play — 2 exemplar

Taggad

Allmänna fakta

Födelsedag
1932-10-24
Avled
2008-12-20
Kön
male
Nationalitet
England
UK
Födelseort
London, England, UK
Dödsort
London, England, UK
Dödsorsak
heart failure, following a bout of pneumonia
Bostadsorter
London, England, UK
Utbildning
University of Oxford (Christ Church)
Dauntsey's School
Greenways School, Wiltshire, England, UK
Monkton Combe School, Bath, England, UK
Yrken
journalist
poet
playwright
novelist
songwriter
Kort biografi

"Adrian had been writing poetry for over 50 years until his recent death. He came to fame with his anti-war poem "To whom it may concern" which he read at a peace rally in 1964. Even greater acclaim came in July 1965 when he read it at the Poetry Festival held at the Albert Hall. This was one, if not the highlight of the evening, when several better known foreign [mainly USA] poets' performances were a little the worse for "dubious substances" and since the Vietnam war was by then a greater worry, his poem was more frequently called by its refrain "Tell me lies about Vietnam." May the Muses tend a sadly deceased peace-loving poet I sometime met." (By member Landric)

Medlemmar

Recensioner

The Bodyguard by Adrian Mitchell is an overlooked gem in the literature of dystopias.

It is set in an authoritarian UK at least ten years in the future of its 1970 publication date. Our narrator is a none too bright thug, a bodyguard (or BG) part of the always necessary horde of myrmidons required to come between the oppressing politicians of an authoritarian state and the people. He is relating his tale from a hospital bed where he is recovering from serious wounds he has received in the line of duty. He is an unreliable narrator. Some of that unreliability may be the effects of the heavy drugs he's taken as part of his recuperation, as there are at times fantastical elements to his story. But he also has an inflated opinion of himself. He often tells us he wants to be the best BG of all, and in his mind he clearly is just that, whereas in reality, while he's no Schweik, he isn't all that good at his job. (There is a need for large numbers of Bodyguards as there is a pretty fearsome insurgency, which our 'hero' refers to as The Rot, continually committing acts of violence against the leaders and apparatus of the regime.) The book, however, is a product of its time and there are some oddly hippy facets to our otherwise oppressed society. While not ubiquitous, public nudity is not uncommon in certain contexts, and some drugs such as marijuana are legal.

It is a short but quite dense book and is very well written. The author is primarily a poet, and while the prose is not purple it is refreshingly free of cliche. The author skilfully gets by without the use of infodumps, and as a reader we only gradually acquire a complete picture of the surrounding society.

If you're a fan of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Fahrenheit 451, etc, then The Bodyguards is well worth adding to that list.
… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
bibliopolitan | Oct 2, 2023 |
First, let me say that I'm not sure how to describe the "authors." Rudolf Erich Raspe, according to the dust jacket, wrote Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in 1785. Adrian Mitchell has retold some of these tales in this book and its predecessor, The Baron Rides Out.

In this book, while in Egypt, the Baron agrees to a bet with his friend, Robin Hood, that he can't go all the way down Mount Etna in an hour. After having himself shot out of a cannon to get to Italy quickly, and descending the inside of the active volcano, he meets Vulcan and his wife, Venus. Vulcan, jealous, throws the Baron into a well and he lands in an ocean, where he is rescued by a Dutch ship in the south Seas. After a storm, they land on an island made of cheese and populated by purple cheese people. The baron shoots a stag in its forehead with a cherry stone; the stag grows a cherry tree there. When they leave, they eventually find themselves in a wine-dark sea---since the sea is made of wine. A giant whale swallows them. Together with the crews of the other ships in its stomach they escape. The baron hops a ride on a giant eagle and he lands back in Egypt, where Robin Hood and Venus greet him.… (mer)
½
 
Flaggad
raizel | Aug 1, 2016 |
The Ugly Duckling, illustrated by Jonathan Heale.

Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy-tale about a cygnet mistakenly hatched by a duck, who is convinced by the cruelty of his peers that he is ugly and abnormal, is retold here in free verse by Adrian Mitchell, and accompanied by gorgeous woodcut illustrations by Jonathan Heale. The effect is quite pleasing, with a narrative that reads well, and artwork that offers an immensely satisfying visual feast, sure to please woodcut lovers in particular.

This may, in fact, by my favorite edition of The Ugly Duckling, which is, admittedly, not saying much, as it has never ranked amongst my favorite fairy-tales. Still, Heale's illustrations are a real pleasure to behold, with their bold black outlines and lovely watercolor embellishments. I think I may look for more of his work!
… (mer)
 
Flaggad
AbigailAdams26 | Apr 2, 2013 |
Perfectly fine but not awesome anthology.

Pluses: Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, William Carlos Williams, Bessie Smith
Minuses: Lennon-McCartney's Yellow Submarine, the DIY poetry section, and illustrations
 
Flaggad
beckydj | Mar 31, 2013 |

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Associerade författare

Statistik

Verk
73
Även av
9
Medlemmar
856
Popularitet
#29,896
Betyg
4.0
Recensioner
10
ISBN
170
Språk
6
Favoritmärkt
1

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