From archive (archive)
Subject: Mr Da V Rides Also In...
From: ddern@ccb.bbn.com (Daniel P. Dern)
Organization: Rutgers Univ., New Brunswick, N.J.
Date: 2 Oct 86 14:46:52 MET



 

Another short story with Leonardo da Vinci is one of Gerald Kersh's.
The title is "The Ape and the <something>", or vice versa.  It explains
why the Mona Lisa is smiling peculiarly, BTW.  I think it's in Kersh's
MEN WITHOUT BONES collection.

Gerald Kersh is (was?) a British writer who wrote everything from 
strange and quiet grisley horror to tales of the seamier side of London
life -- a cross between Nelsen Algren and Damon Runyon is a first
approximation.  His characters speak with delightful voices; Kersh has
a good, phonetic ear for the British language, and a raft of experiences
that I certainly don't expect to get first-hand.  

As you may gather, he's one of my favorite authors.  He's a bit hard to
find these days.  Books I can think of off-hand include:

  NIGHT AND THE CITY -- Perhaps his best known.  May have been a movie.
  SONG OF THE FLEA   -- I think a semi-sequal to above
  SERGEANT NELSON OF THE GUARDS -- One of my favorites.  Situated in
    world war I.  Reminds me a lot of STARSHIP TROOPERS without the
    hardware or the rhetoric, i.e., the characters are footsoldiers.
  THE SECRET MASTERS -- arguably sf, re a plot to conquer the world
  MEN WITHOUT BONES  - story collection
  NIGHTSHADES & DAMNATIONS - "

I'm glad I cruised the used bookstores heavily for Kersh a decade ago;
even the libraries don't stock him for the most part anymore.  But then,
they barely have Phillip Wylie's "Crunch & Des" collections, either.

daniel dern
ddern@ccb.bbn.com