Imatge de l'autor

Adrian Mitchell (1) (1932–2008)

Autor/a de Nobody Rides the Unicorn

Per altres autors anomenats Adrian Mitchell, vegeu la pàgina de desambiguació.

73+ obres 853 Membres 10 Ressenyes 1 preferits

Sobre l'autor

Adrian Mitchell is a poet, playwright and children's writer
Crèdit de la imatge: Shetland Arts

Obres de Adrian Mitchell

Nobody Rides the Unicorn (1999) 119 exemplars
The Steadfast Tin Soldier (1996) — Autor — 48 exemplars
The Ugly Duckling (1994) 37 exemplars
Our Mammoth (1987) 31 exemplars
Blue Coffee: Poems, 1985-95 (1996) 26 exemplars
Our Mammoth Goes to School (1987) 21 exemplars
Twice My Size (1999) 20 exemplars
Greatest Hits (1991) 19 exemplars
All Shook Up: Poems 1997-2000 (2000) 16 exemplars
Poems (1969) 16 exemplars
The Bodyguard (Picador Books) (1970) 15 exemplars
Man Friday (1974) 15 exemplars
Baron Rides Out (1985) 14 exemplars
Tell me Lies: Poems 2005-2008 (2009) 13 exemplars
Ride the Nightmare (1971) 12 exemplars
Our Mammoth Has a Baby (1990) 11 exemplars
Nothingmas Day (1984) 11 exemplars
Thirteen Secrets Of Poetry (1993) 10 exemplars
Out Loud (1968) 10 exemplars
The Apeman Cometh (1975) 9 exemplars
On the Beach at Cambridge (1984) 9 exemplars
Baron All at Sea (1987) 7 exemplars
Maudie and the Green Children (1996) 7 exemplars
DK Young Classics: Snow Queen (2000) 6 exemplars
My cat, Mrs Christmas (1998) 6 exemplars
A Child's Christmas in Wales: Christmas Musical (1984) — Playwright — 6 exemplars
If You See Me Comin' (1962) 6 exemplars
Wartime (Picador Books) (1975) 5 exemplars
The Pied Piper: a play (1988) 5 exemplars
Zoo of Dreams (Pick up a poem) (2001) 4 exemplars
The Siege (1996) 4 exemplars
Umpteen Pockets (2009) 4 exemplars
The Snow Queen (Oberon Books) (1998) 4 exemplars
HOUDINI: A CIRCUS OPERA (1978) 3 exemplars
Love Songs of World War III (1989) 3 exemplars
Our Mammoth in the Snow (1990) 2 exemplars
Daft as a doughnut (2004) 2 exemplars
Pushkin's Boris Godunov (2012) 2 exemplars
Just Adrian (2012) 2 exemplars
The Annotated Out Loud (1976) 2 exemplars
The Mammoth Sails Tonight! (2016) 1 exemplars
Who Killed Dylan Thomas? (2000) 1 exemplars
All My Own Stuff (1991) 1 exemplars
The Dogfather (CD) (1999) 1 exemplars
Dancing in the Street (1999) 1 exemplars

Obres associades

Fahrenheit 451 (1953) — Epíleg, algunes edicions53,812 exemplars
British Poetry Since 1945 (1970) — Col·laborador, algunes edicions167 exemplars
Emergency Kit (1996) — Col·laborador, algunes edicions108 exemplars
Another Day on Your Foot and I Would Have Died (Poetry Collection) (1996) — Col·laborador — 13 exemplars
Jazz poems (Pocket poets) (1963) — Col·laborador — 12 exemplars
Jump, my brothers, jump : poems from prison (1970) — Editor — 3 exemplars
Man Friday [1975 film] (1991) — Original play — 2 exemplars

Etiquetat

Coneixement comú

Data de naixement
1932-10-24
Data de defunció
2008-12-20
Gènere
male
Nacionalitat
England
UK
Lloc de naixement
London, England, UK
Lloc de defunció
London, England, UK
Causa de la mort
heart failure, following a bout of pneumonia
Llocs de residència
London, England, UK
Educació
University of Oxford (Christ Church)
Dauntsey's School
Greenways School, Wiltshire, England, UK
Monkton Combe School, Bath, England, UK
Professions
journalist
poet
playwright
novelist
songwriter
Biografia breu

"Adrian had been writing poetry for over 50 years until his recent death. He came to fame with his anti-war poem "To whom it may concern" which he read at a peace rally in 1964. Even greater acclaim came in July 1965 when he read it at the Poetry Festival held at the Albert Hall. This was one, if not the highlight of the evening, when several better known foreign [mainly USA] poets' performances were a little the worse for "dubious substances" and since the Vietnam war was by then a greater worry, his poem was more frequently called by its refrain "Tell me lies about Vietnam." May the Muses tend a sadly deceased peace-loving poet I sometime met." (By member Landric)

Membres

Ressenyes

The Bodyguard by Adrian Mitchell is an overlooked gem in the literature of dystopias.

It is set in an authoritarian UK at least ten years in the future of its 1970 publication date. Our narrator is a none too bright thug, a bodyguard (or BG) part of the always necessary horde of myrmidons required to come between the oppressing politicians of an authoritarian state and the people. He is relating his tale from a hospital bed where he is recovering from serious wounds he has received in the line of duty. He is an unreliable narrator. Some of that unreliability may be the effects of the heavy drugs he's taken as part of his recuperation, as there are at times fantastical elements to his story. But he also has an inflated opinion of himself. He often tells us he wants to be the best BG of all, and in his mind he clearly is just that, whereas in reality, while he's no Schweik, he isn't all that good at his job. (There is a need for large numbers of Bodyguards as there is a pretty fearsome insurgency, which our 'hero' refers to as The Rot, continually committing acts of violence against the leaders and apparatus of the regime.) The book, however, is a product of its time and there are some oddly hippy facets to our otherwise oppressed society. While not ubiquitous, public nudity is not uncommon in certain contexts, and some drugs such as marijuana are legal.

It is a short but quite dense book and is very well written. The author is primarily a poet, and while the prose is not purple it is refreshingly free of cliche. The author skilfully gets by without the use of infodumps, and as a reader we only gradually acquire a complete picture of the surrounding society.

If you're a fan of Nineteen Eighty-Four, Fahrenheit 451, etc, then The Bodyguards is well worth adding to that list.
… (més)
½
 
Marcat
bibliopolitan | Oct 2, 2023 |
First, let me say that I'm not sure how to describe the "authors." Rudolf Erich Raspe, according to the dust jacket, wrote Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in 1785. Adrian Mitchell has retold some of these tales in this book and its predecessor, The Baron Rides Out.

In this book, while in Egypt, the Baron agrees to a bet with his friend, Robin Hood, that he can't go all the way down Mount Etna in an hour. After having himself shot out of a cannon to get to Italy quickly, and descending the inside of the active volcano, he meets Vulcan and his wife, Venus. Vulcan, jealous, throws the Baron into a well and he lands in an ocean, where he is rescued by a Dutch ship in the south Seas. After a storm, they land on an island made of cheese and populated by purple cheese people. The baron shoots a stag in its forehead with a cherry stone; the stag grows a cherry tree there. When they leave, they eventually find themselves in a wine-dark sea---since the sea is made of wine. A giant whale swallows them. Together with the crews of the other ships in its stomach they escape. The baron hops a ride on a giant eagle and he lands back in Egypt, where Robin Hood and Venus greet him.… (més)
½
 
Marcat
raizel | Aug 1, 2016 |
The Ugly Duckling, illustrated by Jonathan Heale.

Hans Christian Andersen's original fairy-tale about a cygnet mistakenly hatched by a duck, who is convinced by the cruelty of his peers that he is ugly and abnormal, is retold here in free verse by Adrian Mitchell, and accompanied by gorgeous woodcut illustrations by Jonathan Heale. The effect is quite pleasing, with a narrative that reads well, and artwork that offers an immensely satisfying visual feast, sure to please woodcut lovers in particular.

This may, in fact, by my favorite edition of The Ugly Duckling, which is, admittedly, not saying much, as it has never ranked amongst my favorite fairy-tales. Still, Heale's illustrations are a real pleasure to behold, with their bold black outlines and lovely watercolor embellishments. I think I may look for more of his work!
… (més)
 
Marcat
AbigailAdams26 | Apr 2, 2013 |
Perfectly fine but not awesome anthology.

Pluses: Edward Lear, Lewis Carroll, William Carlos Williams, Bessie Smith
Minuses: Lennon-McCartney's Yellow Submarine, the DIY poetry section, and illustrations
 
Marcat
beckydj | Mar 31, 2013 |

Premis

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Autors associats

Estadístiques

Obres
73
També de
9
Membres
853
Popularitat
#30,001
Valoració
4.0
Ressenyes
10
ISBN
170
Llengües
6
Preferit
1

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