Folio Archives 385: The Lady in the Van and Three Stories by Alan Bennett 2006
Talk Folio Society Devotees
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1wcarter
The Lady in the Van and Three Stories by Alan Bennett 2006
This is one of the Folio Society’s quirkier publications. A collection of four entertaining, and very different short stories (or novelettes – when does a short story become a novelette?) that cover everything from the perfect robbery, to a rather unusual funeral and a poignant look at homelessness and mental illness.
The stories are the titular The Lady in the Van, The Laying on of Hands, The Clothes They Stood Up In and Father! Father! Burning Bright.
It is a book that can be bought cheaply on the secondary market and is well worth adding to your library just to read these well written and rather unusual stories.
There are only four full page line drawings in the book, one for each story, by Helen Smithson. The 244 page book is bound in green cloth blocked with a wrap-around image on the covers and spine. The endpapers are dark green. There is no introduction or other paraphernalia, just the stories. The slipcase is a plain dark green and measures 22.2x14.3cm.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
This is one of the Folio Society’s quirkier publications. A collection of four entertaining, and very different short stories (or novelettes – when does a short story become a novelette?) that cover everything from the perfect robbery, to a rather unusual funeral and a poignant look at homelessness and mental illness.
The stories are the titular The Lady in the Van, The Laying on of Hands, The Clothes They Stood Up In and Father! Father! Burning Bright.
It is a book that can be bought cheaply on the secondary market and is well worth adding to your library just to read these well written and rather unusual stories.
There are only four full page line drawings in the book, one for each story, by Helen Smithson. The 244 page book is bound in green cloth blocked with a wrap-around image on the covers and spine. The endpapers are dark green. There is no introduction or other paraphernalia, just the stories. The slipcase is a plain dark green and measures 22.2x14.3cm.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed here.
2HonorWulf
The timing certainly made sense. Alan Bennett had a banner year in 2005 with The History Boys winning the Olivier Award for Best Play (and, later, the Tony Award), and was himself awarded the Society of London Award. Nicholas Hytner also had The History Boys movie in development for a 2006 release, his second collaboration with Bennett following the successful The Madness of King George. Ironically, The Lady In the Van would end up being their third film collaboration, with the movie coming out in 2015.
3cronshaw
>1 wcarter: A short story generally has fewer than 10,000 words, a novella usually more than 10,000. A 'novelette', a term much less used, hovers the border twixt the two.
