Spike Milligan (1918–2002)

By turns amusing, laugh-out-loud hilarious and odd, this is definitely an unusual assortment of writings from the pen of Mr. Milligan: poems, drawings, letters, fairy tales and short stories. Your enjoyment of this collection will depend on your tolerance for absurd humour. For me, what I like best about Milligan's work is his war memoirs, so my favourite pieces in this collection were the ones that most closely resembled them (the letters to Harry Secombe, for instance). I also really show more enjoyed the fairy tales that closed out the collection and wanted to march out immediately and read them to my friends' children. The rest of the collection was a bit hit or miss for me. My favourite of the poems was "So Fair is She", and the story "The Violin" reminded me of Roald Dahl. Overall the feel is similar to John Lennon's, with fewer instances of inventive spelling and grammar.

If you're just starting out with Milligan's work, I would suggest trying one of his war memoirs (my favourite is Volume 2, "Rommel? Gunner Who?") or listening to a couple of episodes of The Goon Show (via BBC Radio 4 Extra). Then try this collection and see what tickles your fancy. show less

This must be the second or third time I've read Puckoon.

The gaps between reads are long enough for me to have completely forgotten the whole thing. Given the sheer quantity of inane one line laughs there are in it, it's not surprising how much gets lost in time.

It's dated but still funny, still anarchic, still irreverent and still worth a read.

I read it in one evening and an afternoon, had I started in the morning I could have read it in a day. If you haven't read it and are old enough to show more remember Spike, then Puckoon is a shrine to his sublime sense of the absurd. show less

The Prologue Milligan wrote for this book in one of the most memorable and funny that I have ever read. In Thucydides' account of the events of the Peloponnesian war he apparently "describes nothing but what I saw myself, or learned from others of whom I made the most careful and particular enquiry "
Of this account of World War II, Milligan admits "I've just jazzed mine up a bit."

I really glad he did. His witty and poignant account is very powerful, giving a unique insight into events from show more the viewpoint of the ordinary men caught up in the war. Wonderful to re-read and enjoy it as much as my 18 year old self. show less

When their cow Lucy goes missing, Tim and Rose set out to track her down, eventually finding themselves in the nearby forest. Here they encounter a variety of magical adventures, finding shelter overnight with Binkle-bonk the tree goblin, being towed across a river by Mud-wiggle the worm, and joined on their journey by the talking Dingle-mouse. When the three travelers are captured by the evil Bedjelly the witch, who threatens to turn them into sausages, Dingle-mouse escapes and runs off in show more search of his massive eagle friend Jim. With Jim's aid, as well as the helping hand of God, the children escape, Badjelly is destroyed, and all ends happily...

Originally created by comedian, poet, playwright and actor Spike Milligan as a fairy-tale for his two young children, Badjelly the Witch was first published in 1973. The story, which is on the long side for a picture-book, is hand-lettered by Milligan, and contains his own illustrations. Although sometimes unimpressed by celebrity-authored children's books - what can I say? they often seem to owe their publication more to their creator's name, than to any particular virtue of storytelling - I found this title charming. It's a madcap story, full of quirky characters and matter-of-fact magic. I understand that it was made into a children's play in New Zealand, where it is a perennial favorite, and has been broadcast many times on the radio. Because of the treasured place it holds in many New Zealanders' childhoods, I decided to add it to my 'New Zealand children' shelf, even though I would normally only do so if the book were originally published in that country. Leaving that aside, I also understand it has been made into a movie by the BBC, and that the moviemakers insisted on leaving God out of the story. How terribly sad, not to mention disrespectful of Milligan's vision. Recommended to fairy-tale lovers young and old, and to fans of Spike Milligan. show less