I am Spartacus!
Harry Chapman battles with his inner demons and an unquenchable thirst for silence during a screening of Spartacus at the BFI…
Browsing: The Idler
Damascus 1939
“A restlessness pervaded his slightest movements as he sat behind a desk in the small dusty office that overlooked the minarets of the Near East. The call of the muezzin cried and wailed in the distance…”
Beauty and the Beast
“It’s dark. I am naked, dripping in hot oil. Heavy breathing and panting fills the basement as hands move quickly up my slippery thighs.” A candid insight in to the wonderful world of spa reviewing…
Short Fiction: Henry Bird
“Henry Bird stood on the front step of his house. His hand still held the key in the lock of the front door. He always shut the door with the key, turning it in the lock to avoid that bang which set his teeth on edge.”
The Pond
“Thursday last, at the pond, early morning, at about a quarter to eight. Sun grins down on me, the first sunny day in a long time. A nascent but confident Sun, full of vitality and young strength.”
Boot in Bellagio
William Boot, he of unfortunate experiences on foreign shores, manages to find the only corner of northern Italy best left forgotten…
Strangers on a Train
“It was nearly two weeks ago. A Saturday. I was catching an evening train down to Barham. The day was damp and drizzly and the tube and station were crawling with the strident remnants of a football match.”
Malaysia Missive: Report III
“The switch at Bangkok was smooth, but the jet lag was rearing its ugly head and the floor was starting to swim.” A science-turned-English teacher reports from Malaysia…
The London Book Swap Campaign
The London Book Swap campaign is an initiative with the aim of creating a London-wide…
Malaysia Missive: Report II
We had a long weekend for Deepavali. We got a 50-minute flight to Kuala Terengganu where we stayed the night and got the 7.30am boat to Perhentian Basar, an amazing tropical island. There were monitor lizards up to three-feet long prowling around…
Malaysia Missive: Report I
“This trip has NOT gone to plan.” A well-meaning Eliot Ward writes home from distant Malaysia where, as a Cambridge science graduate, he was sent to teach…English.