Author Archives: Ben

Day 23: a picture of your favourite book

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Well, there were so many to choose from and even after much thought I might not have hit on my absolute dead favourite of all time, assuming such a creature exists anyway. But this is certainly up there at the very highest levels of the Top Arbitrary Number.

It’s certainly my favourite of all the Narnias. I remember the thrill my infant mind felt when it worked out the concept of a prequel from first principles. That’s the white witch! They’re in Narnia! (The presence of the lion was a bit of a clue there.) So that’s where the wardrobe came from …

Also, the creation of Narnia is one of the most beautiful passages in fantasy fiction ever, and the fact that much, if not most, of it is set in the real world – even the real world of 100 years ago – also gives it that much more resonance.

Day 22: a picture of something you wish you were better at

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Is no contest. I wish I was better at this. Not necessarily as good as John Williams, but … better. I started learning around 1994 or 1995, and then rather foolishly stopped, or that is to say, very wisely gave my priority to writing. So I could have been quite good by now, if I’d stuck at it. As it is I’ve probably even forgotten “Polly Wolly Doodle” and “Michael, row the boat ashore.”

However I can remember how to do my favourite chord, which is E minor and always makes me think of Ennio Morricone.

Day 21: a picture of something you wish you could forget

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This was hard because I’m not in favour of forgetting. Even moments of my life that have been sheer hell on earth have helped me to be better after.

I thought of those videos of yesterday’s tsunami … but no, that should never be forgotten for the same reason that schoolkids for the next 1000 years and beyond should be made to watch Schindler’s List.
And then I thought of … no, not the Chicken Song specifically, but every single irritating earworm that has ever got into my head and kept me awake until 4 in the morning. The kind of thing that the Chicken Song lampooned, in other words.

In the interests of full disclosure I should probably mention that I too bought a copy of this when it came out. Much funnier was the B-side, I’ve never met a nice South African.