Captain Najork
Jul. 4th, 2003 10:12 amI bitch a lot about my job, but every so often something brilliant happens. Like last week, when I found a large collection of children's stories containing (among others) How Tom Beat Captain Najork and His Hired Sportsmen, written by Russell Hoban and illustrated by the inimitable Quentin Blake. I'd read A Near Thing for Captain Najork many years ago (in another children's anthology, no less) and had all but forgotten how delightfully surreal these stories are.
"She fancies you," said Tom. "I can tell by the way she looks at you sideways from underneath her iron hat."
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"After them!" cried Captain Najork. He and his hired sportsmen hopped into his pedal-powered snake and away they undulated.
And how can you not love a character named Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong Najork?
Both books are in print in the eminently fortuitous nation of Great Britain. With any luck I'll be able to get them in at work, though.
"She fancies you," said Tom. "I can tell by the way she looks at you sideways from underneath her iron hat."
---
"After them!" cried Captain Najork. He and his hired sportsmen hopped into his pedal-powered snake and away they undulated.
And how can you not love a character named Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong Najork?
Both books are in print in the eminently fortuitous nation of Great Britain. With any luck I'll be able to get them in at work, though.