tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post3608153945232268202..comments2024-03-13T16:33:53.563+00:00Comments on <b>Dr Tony Shaw</b><br>: Joshua Cohen: Witz (2010)Dr Tony Shawhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-30825909196724950952014-01-30T17:36:19.190+00:002014-01-30T17:36:19.190+00:00Thank's a lot – I've a good idea where to ...<b>Thank's a lot – I've a good idea where to look now.<br /><br />(Doesticks and Ockside, I imagine, were trying to do a more comical <i>Pickwick Papers</i>, but unfortunately they weren't Dickens.)</b>Dr Tony Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-31762781074945059532014-01-30T13:36:09.672+00:002014-01-30T13:36:09.672+00:00'Paths of Glory' was out of print the last...'Paths of Glory' was out of print the last time I checked the Friends of Kensal Green website (I joined them last year, they cashed my cheque, sent me an envelope with five postcards of the cemetery and I haven't heard from them since). Ballard and Pinter are almost next to each other so if you find one you can't miss the other. Ballard’s is easier to spot (http://www.flickr.com/photos/31505964@N08/8469285212/) just because Pinter's is a flat slab and if the grass hasn't been cut it is easy to overlook. They are both behind the first line of big memorials on the main path that leads up to the Anglican Chapel from the main entrance - you've got Ducrow and Hobhouse and Casement on one side but Pinter and Ballard are on the other behind John St John Long, Gibson, quite close to Mulready if I remember correctly. If you are looking in that general area behind the big tombs you'll find them easily enough. <br /><br />Doesticks sounds intriguing, I will have a look ('The History and Records of the Elephant Club' is a great title). <br />David Binghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09520734437016132336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-54428820375017880932014-01-30T08:01:03.434+00:002014-01-30T08:01:03.434+00:00I've just remembered that – quite by chance – ...<b>I've just remembered that – quite by chance – I stumbled on the grave of the writer Ethel Parton in a cemetery in Newburyport, Massachusetts, which led to me discovering the writing of her father, who wrote under the pseudonym Q. K. Philander Doesticks. Doesticks, along with Knight Russ Ockside, published <i>The History and Records of the Elephant Club</i> in 1857. The book suffers from wilful (as opposed to natural) eccentricity, but it's certainly worth looking at a few random pages of it: my link here gives links to two books by Doesticks: http://tonyshaw3.blogspot.co.uk/2011/10/ethel-parton-was-writer-born-on-on-1.html</b>Dr Tony Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-20713015702869527612014-01-29T20:09:16.313+00:002014-01-29T20:09:16.313+00:00Yes exactly - it's chance that rules, and I...<b>Yes exactly - it's chance that rules, and I've come across some of my most interesting graveyard/cemetery finds by pure luck. However, I don't know if you have the Friends of Kensal Green Cemetery's <i>Paths of Glory</i> (not updated since 1997) but I've still to find the graves of Wilkie Collins and Anthony Trollope. That doesn't bother me as it's fun for a future occasion, but obviously the book doesn't give an indication of where Ballard's or Pinter's graves are: any clues would be most welcome!</b>Dr Tony Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-66349387703722427582014-01-29T17:52:23.071+00:002014-01-29T17:52:23.071+00:00I remember going to Abney with my ex wife back in ...I remember going to Abney with my ex wife back in the 90's (we lived ust up the road at Manor House) and the cruising then was much worse than it is now. Like your partner she was very intimidated which is ironic really as the predatory males there aren't remotely interested in them. <br /><br />I am not a systematic grave searcher - I keep my eye open for people I know are buried but I like to leave things to chance. I generally take pictures and then research to see if I can find something out. Obviously when I trip over JG Ballards headstone or spot Byron's Hobhouse I know who they are but it is the digging up of stories about people I know nothign about which appeals most to me. Having said that I have a list of people I have to find but I am hopeless at locating those - I couldn't find David Jones until I saw it on your blog.<br /><br />I've always kept my eye pen for George Borrow as well - now I know why I never spotted him! <br /><br />I'll almost certainly be at Abney before August so I'll keep my eyes open for Robertson and Banks. David Binghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09520734437016132336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-39888801085802837562014-01-29T10:55:21.103+00:002014-01-29T10:55:21.103+00:00Ah, I remember you mentioning The Vorrh, but I'...<b>Ah, I remember you mentioning <i>The Vorrh</i>, but I'd just assumed you were talking about another door-stopper.<br /><br />Well, you certainly cover what I call problems: overgrowth of vegetation can obviously be a big one, and the gay cruising is another. The first time I went there I was lucky to find – apart from the more obvious and well-known ones – William Hone's grave, but on my way back a guy tried (only verbally, admittedly) to entice me into the undergrowth: it didn't make me feel too confortable about being there. The second time I went with my partner, but – having found Eric Walrond's grave – she wanted to leave as she felt very uneasy about all the single males wandering around for no apparently obvious reason.<br /><br />I don't find the grave section numbers listed in the Abney Park Cemetery index to be <i>very</i> useful, but Robertson's is K09: oddly, although his age on death (42) is the same as that given everywhere else online, the index gives the year of his birth as 1871 as opposed to 1869. Banks's is D06. We're probably going to London for a few weeks this August and I'm still determined to find these graves, but please let me know if you find anything out before - neither of the graves appears to have photos online, which would of course make finding them so much easier. But it may well be – as in the case of George Borrow's grave in Brompton Cemetery, from what I can tell - that these graves have just been taken over by nature and are at the moment unlocatable.<br /><br />And you're right to buy a hard copy of <i>Infinite Jest</i> as part of the fun is diligently reading the crazy footnotes! (If you like reading essays, his <i>Consider the Lobster</i> is very interesting reading as well.)</b>Dr Tony Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-75501800542545740732014-01-28T23:10:52.186+00:002014-01-28T23:10:52.186+00:00The other book was "The Vorrh" by Brian ...The other book was "The Vorrh" by Brian Catling which you just happened to mention as an example of the continuing influence of Raymond Roussel. <br /><br />I'm not familiar with either Thomas William Robertson or Isabella Banks so I've never noticed their graves. When I was looking up who they Wikipedia says Isabella Banks' grave is on Little Elm Walk which is the path that runs due north from the chapel, on the opposite side to the Isaac Watts memorial. If Wikipedia is right (and I know it isn't always) then she shouldn't be too hard to locate. I'm not sure when I'll be up there again but I'll have a look when I am. <br /><br />Problems at Abney Park? The rampant undergrowth? Dangerous trees? Storm damage? Gays cruising for rough trade? Local youths exercising their pit bulls? I think Abney Park is probably the dodgiest of the magnificent 7 for a whole variety of reasons! <br /><br />Looking forward to 'Infinite Jest' - I almost bought it on Kindle until I saw an Amazon review that said "navigating around the end notes was almost impossible, buy a hard copy." David Binghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09520734437016132336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-51542426376693158572014-01-27T17:54:13.960+00:002014-01-27T17:54:13.960+00:00Without errors this time, I hope. Many thanks for ...<b>Without errors this time, I hope. Many thanks for this comment, and I'm sure you won't regret buying <i>Infinite Jest</i>: it really is a book of wonders. What was the other book, by the way?<br /><br />I'm merely a quarter way through <i>Witz</i> and so far it vies with Gaddis's <i>The Recognitions</i> in terms of difficulty: phew!<br /><br />Changing the subject, have you ever come across the graves of either Thomas William Robertson or Isabella Banks in Abney Park Cemetery? I know approximately where they're supposed to be but you're obviously aware of the problems there.</b>Dr Tony Shawhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07565448709541046337noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8955844379699946887.post-62884468728427538732014-01-27T13:03:12.653+00:002014-01-27T13:03:12.653+00:00"Infinite Jest" sounds so tempting that ..."Infinite Jest" sounds so tempting that I've just ordered it from Amazon. This is will be the second door stop sized magnum opus that casual references in your blog have made me read. David Binghamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09520734437016132336noreply@blogger.com