Concrete Fields

David Gaffney

Maison d'édition: Salt

Synopsis

Longlisted for The Edge Hill Short Story Prize 2024
The countryside – what is it for? A paradise on earth where you can relax and get creative? Or an outdoor wool factory where every other house is an Airbnb and there are fewer trees than Camden. In his new collection of short stories David Gaffney explores the theme of town versus country through a number of different lenses, including his own experience of being brought up in west Cumbria then moving to Manchester.
A creative residency on the coast of Scotland becomes weirder and weirder in "The Retreat"; 'I've always had the feeling that the countryside has something against me and that one day it will take its revenge.' In "The Table", a recluse in Penrith uses mid-century furniture to lure city dwellers into a world of 'depressed farmers with shotguns and bottomless pits of slurry that will swallow you so hard you'll never be seen again. And in "The Garages" the pressure of city living forces a man to become oddly obsessed with empty spaces. Often funny, often haunting, often profound, Gaffney uses dark humour and surreal characters to demonstrate a deep understanding of how places, urban or rural, can shape, influence and sometimes distort our lives. 'People who like the countryside tend to believe in things that aren't really there,' says a character in "The Country Pub".
These are indeed stories about things that aren't really there, and this is why they resonate with you long after you have stopped reading.

Disponible depuis: 15/07/2023.

Longueur d'impression: 144 pages.

D'autres livres qui pourraient vous intéresser

The Complete Collection of James...

James Joyce

Experience the genius of one of the most influential writers in literary history.

Discover The Complete Collection of James Joyce, a comprehensive anthology that brings together the groundbreaking works of James Joyce—one of the defining voices of modern literature.

Renowned for his innovative storytelling, psychological depth, and extraordinary command of language, Joyce transformed the art of fiction and reshaped the literary landscape of the twentieth century. This complete collection offers readers the opportunity to explore his celebrated novels, short stories, poetry, and other significant writings in a single volume.

From vivid portraits of everyday life to profound explorations of memory, identity, love, ambition, and human consciousness, Joyce's works continue to challenge, inspire, and reward readers around the world. His unique literary vision captures both the complexity of the individual mind and the universal experiences that connect us all.

Whether you are immersed in the rich narratives of Dublin, fascinated by modernist literature, or seeking to understand one of the most important authors ever published, this collection provides an essential gateway to Joyce's remarkable body of work.

Widely studied, endlessly discussed, and celebrated by readers and scholars alike, James Joyce's writings remain cornerstones of world literature and continue to influence generations of authors and thinkers.

A complete literary journey through the imagination of a writer who changed literature forever.
Explore the full legacy of James Joyce and add this essential collection to your library today.

Voir livre

The Lie - From their pens to...

Holloway Horn

The bookshelves of British literature are incredible collections that have gathered together centuries of very talented authors.  From these Isles their fame spread and whilst among their number many are now forgotten or neglected their talents endure.  Among them is Holloway Horn.

Voir livre

Just So Stories - For Little...

Rudyard Kipling

How the whale got his throat, the camel his hump, the rhinoceros his skin, the leopard his spots and the elephant his trunk, told in a voice pitched at one particular listener. Kipling made these up for his daughter Josephine, who died at six, and drew the illustrations himself with long captions in the same voice. They were built for the ear: read aloud they work, and on the page they lose half of it.

Voir livre

Tales From An Ironic Mind Five

Paul A. Hernandez

From hi-tech spying in suburbia, to a giant feather found in the country, to a new drug that is so powerful that it can make you forget about having cancer, a transient way down on his luck finds hope and his intent to give this new found hope to others, whether they are willing or not. A man who laughs and smiles in his sleep makes his wife question his morality, a bored hunter tries out his new rifle, an old college buddy wants to learn the secret of a trick, a high security lab finds out that someone is trying to tunnel under their facility, a mans new phone/camera can capture ghosts? A psychiatrist can hear the voices of his patient, a little stone statue seeks worshipers, a lumberjack finds an electrode in the ground, and a vacationing American couple can quite suddenly speak French quite fluently!

Voir livre

A Haunted House - From their...

Virginia Woolf

Adeline Virginia Woolf was born on the 25th January 1882 in South Kensington in London.
Although lauded as a founder of modernist writing with such classics as ‘Orlando’, ‘Mrs Dalloway’ and ‘To the Lighthouse’ and, of course, many classic short stories, her background is filled with elements of tragedy that she somehow overcame to become such a revered writer. Her mother died when she was 13, her half-sister Stella two years later and with it her first of several nervous breakdowns. Appallingly it was later found that three of her half-brothers had sexually abused her so darkness must have seemed ever present.
She began writing professionally at age 20 but her father’s death two years later brought a complete mental collapse and she was briefly institutionalised. Somehow she found within herself a literary career and with it great innovations in writing; she was a pioneer of “stream of consciousness”.
Her tight circle of friends were the founders of the Bloomsbury Group, a movement whose legacy still influences across the arts and society in many way to this day.
Whilst the dark periods continued to interrupt her emotional state her rate of work never ceased. Until, on 28th March 1941, Woolf put on her overcoat, filled up its pockets with stones, and walked into the River Ouse, in Lewes, East Sussex and drowned herself. Her body was not recovered until the 18th April. She was 59.
She left behind a note which read in part “Dearest, I feel certain that I am going mad again. I feel we can't go through another of those terrible times. And I shan't recover this time. I begin to hear voices, and I can't concentrate. So I am doing what seems the best thing to do”.

Voir livre

Two Tales From Alfred C Martino...

Alfred C. Martino

"Two Tales From Alfred C. Martino" includes two short stories from opposite ends of the emotional spectrum. The first, Requiem For An Athlete, is a somber look at the unfulfilled expectations of a once-great athlete. Grad School Daydreams, on the other hand, is a whimsical tale, set at a Southern California university, of a grad school student who daydreams and pines for a beautifully exotic woman sitting next to him in class.

Voir livre