Essays
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Essays |
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There are so many artistic and cultural influences that have fired my imagination and that I would like to share with others that I have started on a series of essays. I've chosen a specific format: each one no more than 1,000 words to make me distill my thinking, and each as a PDF document to avoid the temptation to tinker. If you have and comments or thoughts, please do email me at James@sleepingpartner.co.uk |
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Unnatural Death (1927) Dorothy Sayers Novel
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Dorothy Sayers was one of the leading crime writers of the 1930s, and this is arguably her finest work. Other of her novels deal with more ambitious themes and display greater literary skill; but in the context of detective fiction, this has strong plotting, description and characterisation, and is a compelling study of outright evil. |
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Jezreel's Temple (1936) Tristram Hillier Poster
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Commissioned by Shell as one of a series of posters featuring paintings of Britain's landmarks by some of the leading artists of the day. Hillier's haunting portrayal of the derelict tower built by a regligious sect on the hills above Rochester is all that remains of Jezreel's Temple. The original was demolished in the 1960s. | Download |
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Checkmate (1937) Ninette de Valois / Arthus Bliss / E McKnight Kauffer Ballet
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Ninette de Valois' ballet turns a game of chess into a metaphor for love, lifeand death. WIth music by Arthur Bliss and designs by McKnight Kauffer, it remains a powerful work, regularly revived by companies in the UK and overseas, and an example of how in the 1930s the arts in Britain combined self-confidemnce with an openness towards European influences. | ||
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Sad Cypress (1940) Agatha Christie Novel
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A Christie Case-Stury. The device of opening with a woman on trial for murder was not her invention; but the deceptively simple way in which she develops shows the essence of Christie's skill as a story-teller. Keeping just to the right side of cliche, she quickly involves and introgues the reader, keeps them moving along, and ends with her trade-mark twist. |
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St Olaf House (1928-32) H S Goodhart-Rendel Building
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A beautiful Art Deco building tucked into a odd-shaped site on the south bank of the Thames, by London Bridge. Its clean lines and intriguing shape are complemented by some lovely details, from the external faces to the handles and other fittings, forming a conscious but successful fusion of art and commerce. | ||
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The Chuckling Whatsit (1997) Richard Sala Graphic Novel
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As the city's horoscope writers are murdererd one by one, our inept hero is plunged into a world of secret societies and sinister doctors, stolen art and deadly secretaries, eye-patches and pincers, hungry crocodiles and deserted windmills. A rich , dark story leavened with humour, complemented with flowing illustrations worthy of Charles Adams. | ||
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The Sisters Went Their Separate Ways Simon Palmer
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Odd elongated figures inhabit a countryside of fat-trunked, sap-filled trees, long shadows and quiet paths. This is Palmer country, blending elements of narrative and of humour to create views that are always rich, intriguing and sometimes quite unsettling. He is a worthy heir to the tradiution of British landscape artists who see the countryside through a surreal prism. | ||
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The Haunting (1963) Robert Wise Film
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A ghost story pared to its essence: four people in a haunted house. The stark black-and-white photography, a fine cast, intense direction, beautiful design and a house so strange it becomes a fifth character make for a film that breaks free from convention and becomes genuinely and terrifyingly unpredictable. | ||
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The Mezzotint (c1904) M. R. James Short Story
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Bowl (1995) Jennifer Lee Ceramics
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Appleby's End (1945) Michael Innes Novel
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(c) Copyright James Humphreys 2009 |