Monday, March 23, 2009

Kidnapped--The Limerick Reprise

For a reason that cannot now be reconstructed, I was discussing limericks about books with a friend who has a fondness for the form. We agreed to do one apiece. Life has been a little hairy for her of late, but not so much for me. Accordingly, I did one on the last book I had actually finished:

There once was a nice lad named Davie
Whose uncle would have him a slave be
But after high seas and Highlands
And desolate islands,
In the end, Davie's life was all gravy.


True, it doesn't begin to capture the friendship with Alan Breck Stewart, which is sort of the main point of the book in my opinion, but we do what we can. Also there are spoiler elements, but I think they are forgettable.
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12 comments:

  1. adrian mckintyMarch 24, 2009 at 1:08 AM

    great stuff

    but you left out the cold porridge too.

    ReplyDelete
  2. seana grahamMarch 24, 2009 at 9:13 AM

    You're right.

    In the heather there isn't much storage.
    And really not too much to forage.
    If your status is dire,
    And you can't light a fire,
    There's nothing so good as cold porridge.

    I really should have rhymed it with 'parritch', but I don't have all day.

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  3. adrian mckintyMarch 24, 2009 at 3:00 PM

    isnt there also a bit where he eats drammach (sp?) which is just oats mixed with water? sounds vile, but I'll bet if you just ate that you could lose a ton of weight and detox. I mean we could make a killing selling the Davie Balfour diet. Or even the Davie Balfour detox spa. Oats, water and highland walks. Its gold.

    ReplyDelete
  4. seana grahamMarch 24, 2009 at 3:36 PM

    Actually, that's what I thought you were talking about. But I couldn't come up with the word 'drammach' of the top of my head. Now you say it, I see it in the glossary in back.

    The plan is indeed gold. The only possible improvement I can think of is to throw in some Highland games and make it a reality show.I mean 'running' through the heather on your hands and knees is a contest that requires absolutely no further capital investment.

    But I'm really only adding that to try and claim some part of the fortune this idea is going to make.

    Good thing we're talking about this just amongst ourselves, and not out in public anywhere.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Peter RozovskyMarch 25, 2009 at 12:08 AM

    I labored mightily for minutes to come up with a limerick based on the last book I had read. I could not, so I gave up. But I once did compose a haiku about a Quizzo pub quiz.
    ==============
    Detectives Beyond Borders
    "Because Murder Is More Fun Away From Home"
    http://www.detectivesbeyondborders.blogspot.com/

    ReplyDelete
  6. seana grahamMarch 25, 2009 at 8:28 PM

    Peter, haiku is a great popular form too. A book I liked a lot in the last couple of years is Abigail Friedman's Haiku Apprentice, where she, a diplomat of some standing, nevertheless has the humility to attempt to learn to write haiku in Japan.

    I would say that it makes you want to try your hand at it, except for me, it hasn't, really.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Sucharita SarkarMarch 31, 2009 at 11:08 PM

    A limerick is all about leaving a lot of things out and putting only some in, isn't it? We have a blog of limericks, called http://limerickwala.blogspot.com/ where I am but a sporadic contributor, but it always gives an interesting view of many things Indian.

    ReplyDelete
  8. seana grahamApril 2, 2009 at 8:40 AM

    Sucharita, I've checked out Limerick Wala and think it's a neat idea. I often don't know enough about Indian politics to follow, though.

    ReplyDelete
  9. john bakerApril 12, 2009 at 7:32 AM

    I know this is not the right place to make a comment like this, but . . .
    I just thought this was a wonderful idea for a blog. There are so many reviews and so much talk about the new stuff all the time, so to have a page which tries to keep the old stuff going (four months, for goodness sake), is simply brilliant.
    Thank you. It's a great treat.

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  10. seana grahamApril 12, 2009 at 11:16 PM

    Thank you, John! And of course, a post of a review in limerick form is a post that is open to almost any kind of comment whatsoever...

    But, seriously, I'm happy that you like the idea of the blog. As a bookseller, I see so much focus on and anxiety about new books, but as a reader I really hate being constrained by all that stuff.

    I should say while I'm at it that if anyone ever wants to review an older title that they are passionate about and can't somehow find a place to do so, I am more than happy to accomodate it here, and of course give the reviewer all due credit. No cash, unfortunately, but lots and lots of credit.

    Just so's you know.

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  11. AnonymousMay 31, 2009 at 7:37 PM

    RLS spells it "drammach" but the usual spelling is "drammock". As adrian mckinty says it's cold water and oat meal, not really cold porridge at all.

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  12. seana grahamMay 31, 2009 at 8:32 PM

    Thank you, anon. I was mixing up the cold porridge at home and the cold whatever it is out in the rough.

    Care to make yourself a little bit more of a personality here? Not asking you to reveal your core identity or anything, but you could just post as 'drammock' and no one would be the wiser.

    Well, they would be a little bit wiser, but your true self would go all untouched.

    Thanks for commenting.

    ReplyDelete

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