Reading Rural

The Parson’s Pleasure describes a day in the life of Mr. Boggis, an antique collector who masquarades as a country parson. In the story, Dahl describes his approach:

”So Mr Boggis bought maps, large scale maps of all the counties around London, and with a fine pen he divided each of them up into a series of squares. Each of these squares covered an actual area of five miles by five, which was about as much territory, he estimated, as he could cope with on a single Sunday. “

”He didn’t want the towns and the villages. It was the comparatively isolated places, the large farmhouses and the rather dilapidated country mansions, that he was looking for.” p.17.

It is a marvellous story, with a surprising ending. The book has seven short stories.

Roald Dahl is one of the most successful and well-known of all children’s writers.

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Later in the week, I received a notice about the passing of a school friend from Chiswick, Robert Frith. His obituary was found in The Blackmore Vale. The newsletter is yet another example of ‘rural writing’ from the UK.

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PS
My previous blog post on Clacton-on-sea struck a chord with Sandra Barry. Particularly, the link to Elizabeth Bishop’s great uncle, the painter George Wylie Hutchinson who lived there for several years.

Acknowledgements

Andrew Ronay forwarded the link to The Blackmore Vale. Sandra Barry forwarded the link to The Elizabeth Bishop Centenary. Edward added the links and graphics. Heather provided her support.

References

Roald Dahl 1989, Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life: the Country Stories of Roald Dahl, Penguin Books.

Roald Dahl Museum and Story Centre: roalddahl.com

The Blackmore Vale link

The Elizabeth Bishop Centre link.

Post Script.

I wonder about a Museum and Story Centre in rural Nova Scotia ?