50 x 50
THE MINI-SAGAS
BRIAN ALDISS
Contents
COUNTABLE INTRODUCTION BY BRIAN ALDISS
19. THE SHORT LIFE OF ROSETTA STONE
20. THE CALL OF THE WILD: in verse
24. THE SUBJECT UNDER DISCUSSION
36. RETURN OF DEAR OLD GRANNIE
44. THE LENIENCY OF THE LORD ALMIGHTY
45. GLAMOROUS SMILE, BRAVE GOLDFISH
EPILOGUE: CAN YOU FEEL ANYTHING?
About the Publisher
COUNTABLE INTRODUCTION BY BRIAN ALDISS
A fifty-word story? Isn’t that magical? The creation of all fictions is part magic. For a fifty-worder, you must be numerate as well as literate. The Daily Telegraph took to my idea; ‘Mini-sagas’ ran there for six years! Here are my own interpretations.
With an Introduction of... how many words?
On a remote landing in Grandfather’s castle hangs a certain portrait. It dominates my life. Two heavy-breasted women, one nursing a fox, dance to an unseen musician. Does my wife hear that obscure music? Do I? Life itself is an obscure music. But how can I describe in only fifty—