Christopher Fowler's Blog, page 296

Bodies Under, Stars Above In London

Well, the ongoing London story of the decade is having all kinds of knock-on effects.

First in 2003a

rchaeologists found a 4 metre-long walrus together with 1,500 human bodies as part of excavations at St Pancras station.

The bones were in a coffin with eight other sets of human remains, which are thought to have [...]

Bryant & May: Cosies Or Subversives?

When I was a child, I became aware that I was supposed to be listening to the Rolling Stones, not Gilbert & Sullivan. When my classmates went to a Marc Bolan concert, I went to ‘Die Fledermaus’. They liked the lyrics of Leonard Cohen. I liked Cole Porter. It seemed I was always running 50 [...]

The Answer To The PLASTIC Competition

Yikes, that was fun – I have a feeling our American cousins know more about our city than we do! Blimey, Londoners, what a hopeless shower you are…

Three correct answers came in just minutes apart. Registering first was Jeff Coburn, with ‘A roller coaster’. Immediately after that, just two minutes later, was Dan Campbell, followed, [...]

Competition No. 1 – ‘PLASTIC’ Signed Original

Like to win a signed, dated and doodledcopy of ‘PLASTIC’, my new novel about a shopaholic housewife-turned-armed-vigilante?

I’m giving away the first edition of this paperback original, which has a foreword by Joanne Harris. It’s the book described by Jake Arnott thus; ”Plastic’ is brilliant. June Cryer is a true heroine of our age. A breathtaking [...]

How ‘World City’ Status Is Also Harming London

It’s estate agency jargon meaning that London is now a city that belongs to the world (at least, to the rich ones), and applies to a number of metropolises including Paris and New York, and it’s killing whole swathes of the town. I’ve reported on this before, but now it appears the effect is accelerating.

For [...]

More Unseen London Books

A quick roundup of new and reprintedbooks on forgotten London today.

‘Lost London: An A-Z Of Forgotten Landmarks’ by Richard Guard is a too-short snapshot of lost buildings, but includes a mention of James Farr, who introduced the Arabic beverage of coffee to London in the 1650s at the Rainbow Coffee House. It also has some [...]

The London Mob Still Rules

One of my favourite books on London is ‘The London Mob’ by Robert Shoemaker. It chronicles violence and disorder in 18th century England.

Londoners frequently came to blows over personal disputes in a society where men and women were quick to defend their honour. Slanging matches easily turned to fisticuffs and slights on honour were avenged [...]

London, City of Stasis

London is always considered the city of progress and fluctuation, but there’s a side to the metropolis that remains unchanged across the decades. The constancy is really noticeable when you start to look for it.

The populace – more international now, obviously, as my mother-in-law’s Australian travelling companion noted loudly when she got on a [...]

What Happens Next?

I’m turning the question a reader should ask most when enjoying a novel on myself today.

Well, what happens next is the cover’s in for ‘Bryant & May and the Bleeding Heart’, and it’s a cracker. It’s being refined at the moment but I’ll post it asap, and I’ve confirmed that the launch date is indeed [...]

The Curse of Science Fiction

Some friends of mine recently restarted Michael Moorcock’s classic SF magazine ‘New Worlds’ as an online subscription mag, and encountered the usual prejudices that seem to bedevil SF literature. They commissioned work from a number of authors (including, rather bravely I thought, me, with a new story called ‘OFF’) but are struggling to hit the [...]