Yet another project for our uncertain so-called "Future" ! And totally do-able whilst we're locked in for 8 years. As regular readers should know , I've been a long-time campaigner for the compulsory inclusion of birds in works of fiction. They're much better for it, for many reasons ... and here's a few ..... [a] More people would buy them, because we are always being told that we are a nation of nature-lovers. [b] Us experts are more motivated to read them. [c] Admittedly, that's mostly because we want to pick holes in their accounts of the birds they include..... it gives us a warm feeling of superiority. [d] ..and even better, we can also have a larf at all those fictional depictions of birdwatchers of all types, from " nature lovers" to " compulsive mega-twitchers." But what we need is a database of bird-filled fictional books .... so we have a baseline from which to expand our campaign. And my first question is .. "How many birds appear in the Sherlock Holmes stories ?" It's the sort of "fact" that you just can't find by googling it .... .. nobody, I assume, has "done" it ! ... but I've made a start .... .... in the story " The Gloria Scott" several "hen-pheasants" appear. .... also, a rather vague "wild duck." If you want to include mammals, there's a Mongoose right at the end of " The Crooked Man." It even includes a description in case the BMRC sticks its nose into this innocent pursuit of knowledge. So ..that's another "lockdown" project for you .... So what I want you lot to do, is, pick one of the stories, or a single chapter, and make a list of said birds .... and then tell me about them. .... or you could "do" it with any work of fiction ... conservative party manifestos, anything written by Trumpy, the Noddy books .. the world is your Oystercatcher. [email protected] Or, of course, as a comment. And let's not forget, there's billions of hidden-away birds in all those thousands and thousands of works of fiction just waiting to be "spotted /"ticked" by us lot. And then there's other questions ....... What's the rarest bird depicted in fiction ? Were there more in the past ? Do female authors favour passerines ? Do male authors prefer raptors ??? With your help, we might, one day in the far future, actually know. So ... I'm hopeful that within 340 years we might have a list. Meanwhile ... some lovely music from DCFC ...
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AuthorThat's the author up there ... I was young and sprightly then. Archives
October 2022
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