Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 230

The Other Frankenstein

Gustav Meyer’sphotograph shows a fresh, innocent face above a tightly buttoned coat with the world’s smallest lapels; he looks about 23, which would have placed him in Prague and made the year 1889. Meyer was the bastard son of Baron Karl von Varnbüler und zu Hemmingen (try saying that while eating a chocolate biscuit), and […]

Another Childhood Hero Leaves

When I was a kid I wanted to be Rod Taylor. He had a square jaw, a chin-dimple, twinkling eyes, wide shoulders, an Australian accent and a sense of fun about him, and he was therefore far more interesting than Hollywood heroes, most of whom I had no way of relating to. I score a […]

No Repression Of Expression

The appalling events in Paris are still unfolding after the Islamic extremists’ attack on the staff of Charlie Hebdo magazine, but one thing is clear; around the free world a deep sense of outrage is overcoming the usual liberal breast-beating. The attitude of ‘Why did we fail these people?’ is for once notable by its […]

Re:View – ‘Kajaki’

There’s a famous Edwardian quote about Afghanistan, that the more you leave the country alone the better things are for everyone. This has been borne out by a number of war films in the last three or four years, and while many were good (I couldn’t say ‘enjoyable’) they still teetered on the gung-ho militaristic […]

The Vulgarians Are Amongst Us

A couple of days ago a chap called Matt posted a comment on the piece about headphones which struck a chord with me. He pointed out that my idea of mid-range items and his were the line between Haves and Have-Nots, which is an ever more pertinent topic of discussion here in London where the […]

Eight Trends That Shot Right Past Me

As we enter the PBTTF period of 2015 (Anyone? Bueller? Anyone?) I am already realising that certain things are happening without my knowledge. I know this will occur at a greater and greater speed, partly because I am not hanging out with The Youngs as much as I did and partly because I don’t actually […]

The Man With The X-Rayed Eyes: Update

I’ve now been seen by my surgeon and have been referred to a specialist about my eye condition. Here’s the gruesome bit: Because I was unusually young to qualify for the surgery I had, my aqueous humor is still ‘sticky’ and thickened over my eye; it will disperse in time, but there’s no time limit […]

Can’t See This Blog? Neither Can I!

A gruesome Hammer Horror-like setback from my recent eye operation has rendered me partially sighted for what I hope will be a very brief time, so there won’t be posts for a day or two – I know I should never have written ‘Do your worst, 2015′ on this site! Please feel free to talk […]

Rough Guide 1: Headphones

This is a new occasional series in which I attempt, in my own inept manner, to impart ‘wisdom’ on tools of the trade and ancillary items. It involves me making years of fundamental mistakes, then passing the summary on to you. In these pieces I won’t be discussing price as if you care about anything […]

Whimsy Is The New Reality

There are certain literary traits I don’t much care for; over-earnestness, sentiment, nostalgia and manufactured ‘edge’ being among the worst – TV crime dramas seem to believe that everything should be grim and shouty – Tony Hancock once said ‘You can get away with anything if you keep a straight face’ – but I’ve never […]