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Bob Eynon
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Something for everyone - that’s what this book claims
to be. A series of short, unrelated stories that have been,
one would assume, written to satisfy a wide range of people.
That little saying, though, that you cannot be all things
to all men (or women) holds true, and this mishmash of fiction
fails to satisfy at all.
Sometimes it’s just that the stories don’t ring
true - the idea of a policeman bothering to go undercover,
and take drugs, just to nick a couple of pushers is so ludicrous
as to be risible. We all know that the police are after bigger
fish, and have spend their time harassing motorists.
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Many of these stories aren’t really stories either - they’re
vignettes, not fleshed out enough to really hold attention, and
with insufficient characterisation to make them believable.
But, for all that, some do work. Diplomydd threatens to be quite
touching, the story of a diplomat who gave up his first love to
become a diplomat. When he finally returns home he goes to look
her up. Seeing a coffin being brought out of her old house, and
getting only half the picture from an onlooker, he wrongly assumes
she has died alone. However, coming in at three pages, it’s
no more than an outline and instead of being left with a feeling
of sympathy for Douglas, you’re just struck by what an idiot
he is.
Each story is accompanied by vocabulary which could be greatly
improved by including more words - sometimes the choice of what
to put in and leave out seems to defy logic. It would also be better
if the words were in some sort of order, say alphabetical, so that
it’s easier to check whether the word that you’re stuck
on is actually in the list.
If you like Bob Eynon anyway, you probably will enjoy this book.
If you like policemen, soldiers, cowboys and Indians, you’ll
love it. If you prefer something a bit more realistic, then look
somewhere else.
| Details: |
Bob Eynon
ISBN 1 85596 474 0
Dref Wen |
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