Of course people who knew Johnson would’ve commented upon his condition. The poet Pope described it as ‘an infirmity of the convulsive kind, that attacks him sometimes, so as to make Him a sad Spectacle.’ Boswell remarks that, ‘The infirmity to which Mr. Pope alludes, appeared to me also, as I have elsewhere observed, to… Continue Reading
Strong-hearted stories, dark & funny
Category Archives: BOOKS
Johnson the Struggling Writer
Three months after Johnson had moved to London to attempt to become a ‘dramatick writer,’ he returned to Lichfield where he had left Tetty, and took her back to London with him. Tetty’s daughter who had been living with her was left with relatives in the country. Boswell remarks that, ‘As there is something pleasingly… Continue Reading
‘his… awkward fondness for Mrs. Johnson’
Boswell writes that after Johnson’s marriage he set up a school in a large house – a private academy in which he intended to teach Latin and Greek. This is 1736 in Staffordshire. He wasn’t famous at that stage and didn’t have very many pupils. Boswell wrote that Johnson’s mind was too great and his… Continue Reading
PRIDE AND MARRIAGE
Other than succumbing to melancholy while he was in Pembroke College, according to Boswell, Samuel Johnson ‘…was generally seen lounging at the College gate, with a circle of young students round him, whom he was entertaining with wit, and keeping from their studies, if not spiriting them up to rebellion against the College discipline, which… Continue Reading
JOHNSON THE HYPOCHONDRIACK
In 1728, Johnson, thought to have been supported by one of his school friends, went to Pembroke College in Oxford aged 19. His father, Michael, went with him on his first day there. Boswell writes that Johnson’s figure and manner appeared strange to them; [the tutors] but he behaved modestly, and sat silent, till upon… Continue Reading
REVIEW FOR MERCY AND OTHER STORIES 2015
Mercy and Other Stories Tartarus Press UK Hardcover First Edition ISBN 978-1-905-78461-5 Publication Date: 03-23-2014> Date Reviewed: 01-03-2015 Reviewed by: Rick Kleffel © 2015 Index: Horror Fantasy Mystery General FictionRebecca Lloyd’s collection from Tartarus Press, ‘Mercy and Other Stories,’ shows that humans need no knives to inflict hurt or pain, and that narratives need not… Continue Reading
Samuel Johnson’s beginnings
James Boswell writes that Johnson was born in Lichfield, in Staffordshire, on the 18th of September 1709, and his baptism was performed on the day of his birth. His father was Michael Johnson, a bookseller and stationer. His mother was Sarah Ford ‘descended from an ancient race of substantial yeomanry in Warwickshire.’ Of Samuel’s father,… Continue Reading
James Boswell, that Blubber-lipped Boy.
I am about to start reading The Life of Samuel Johnson by James Boswell, but in truth, I’m not as interested in Samuel Johnson, right now, as I am in the writer himself. A while back I read Boswell’s London Journal and found some of his thoughts and ideas so enjoyable that I decided to… Continue Reading
Things Withered by Susie Moloney. Book review by Rebecca Lloyd Posted on November 23, 2014 by craiglockley in Reviews for the British Fantasy Society THINGS WITHERED by Susie Moloney, ChiZine Publications, p/b £13.56, Kindle £4.99 Reviewed by Rebecca Lloyd Susie Moloney is a new find for me and each story in this collection is very different.… Continue Reading
ABERRANT MIND BY KEN MACGREGOR
There are 22 stories in Ken MacGregor’s ‘Aberrant Mind,’ published by Sirens Call Publications. Some are only a page or two long, others a deal longer. A number of the stories are very visceral, and as such will appeal to many readers. Ken likes monsters; they appear often in this book, and in a range… Continue Reading
