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Breakfast in the Ruins and other stories
The third and final part of Gollancz's definitive collection of Moorcock's short fiction, this selection features some of his finest work. From 'The Time Dweller' to 'Breakfast in the Ruins', the stories here are incredibly varied in their style, execution and subject matter.
352 pages, Paperback
Published December 26, 2014
About the author
Michael Moorcock
1,242 books3,904 followersMichael John Moorcock is an English writer primarily of science fiction and fantasy who has also published a number of literary novels.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
Moorcock has mentioned The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Apple Cart by George Bernard Shaw and The Constable of St. Nicholas by Edward Lester Arnold as the first three books which captured his imagination. He became editor of Tarzan Adventures in 1956, at the age of sixteen, and later moved on to edit Sexton Blake Library. As editor of the controversial British science fiction magazine New Worlds, from May 1964 until March 1971 and then again from 1976 to 1996, Moorcock fostered the development of the science fiction "New Wave" in the UK and indirectly in the United States. His serialization of Norman Spinrad's Bug Jack Barron was notorious for causing British MPs to condemn in Parliament the Arts Council's funding of the magazine.
During this time, he occasionally wrote under the pseudonym of "James Colvin," a "house pseudonym" used by other critics on New Worlds. A spoof obituary of Colvin appeared in New Worlds #197 (January 1970), written by "William Barclay" (another Moorcock pseudonym). Moorcock, indeed, makes much use of the initials "JC", and not entirely coincidentally these are also the initials of Jesus Christ, the subject of his 1967 Nebula award-winning novella Behold the Man, which tells the story of Karl Glogauer, a time-traveller who takes on the role of Christ. They are also the initials of various "Eternal Champion" Moorcock characters such as Jerry Cornelius, Jerry Cornell and Jherek Carnelian. In more recent years, Moorcock has taken to using "Warwick Colvin, Jr." as yet another pseudonym, particularly in his Second Ether fiction.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
July 1, 2021
Ho letto
Breakfast in the Ruins and Other Stories
in due tempi (1-2/06/'21 e 29/06-1/07/'21) e ora lo recensisco in due blocchi, per il semplice motivo che il volume stesso è bipartito: è un'antologia composta da un romanzo "principale" e racconti ancillari.
Iniziamo quindi il romanzo Breakfast in the Ruins, prosecuzione di Behold The Man e motivo principale per cui ho comprato questo volume; il primo libro della dilogia mi aveva estremamente convinto e ho voluto continuare subito la vicenda di Karl Glogauer, il mio hippie bohémien ebreo preferito, e ho trovato un netto miglioramento: rispetto al già valido Behold the Man il secondo romanzo ha una prosa più rifinita, un ritmo più veloce, una varietà di toni e situazioni che lo rende un piccolo racconto mondo, un simpatico accenno di narrazione interattiva, quel gusto per il dramma in costume che mi manda in solluchero e quel tocco di surreale che sbarella il cervello senza diventare pretenzioso. Per parte mia, un solido 5/5.
Passiamo ora ai testi "minori", che sono stati chiaramente selzionati per via di uno filo rosso tematico: tranne una vistosa eccezione parlano di viaggio nel tempo, figure messianiche o ambedue le cose assieme.
1 & 2. I due racconti interconnessi "The Time Dweller" e "Escape from Evening" hanno certamente un'architettura di trama elementare, ma trasudano atmosfere di Terra Morente, mettono in campo del tecnogergo simpatico e il finale del dittico ha un piacevolissimo sapore dolcemaro; 3,5/5 contandoli assieme.
3. "A Dead Singer" è sostanzialmente un veloce spaccato di vita sulla cultura hippie e rock 'n' roll londinese degli anni Settanta (probabilmente con basi autobiografiche) e a furia di raccontare di gente strafatta induce un piccolo trip mentale "di riflesso". 3/5 direi.
4. "London Flesh" l'ho trovato abbastanza una poracciata: è un racconto giallo di terza fascia in omaggio ai racconti gialli di terza fascia che Moorcock leggeva da ragazzino e gioca tutto sui riferimenti a un worldbuilding pregresso, in cui Londra ha una tecnologia dieselpunk e c'è una gilda di banditi che rapinano i tram vestiti da briganti dell'età hannoveriana (sic); forse a leggerlo dopo i testi principali da cui dipende per il worldbuilding (principalmente Fabulous Harbours) si apprezzerebbe anche, presentato come testo a sé stante vale un 2/5 scarso. Per altro è il racconto "fuori tema" che accennavo in partenza, ergo proprio non capisco con che ratio l'abbiano incluso in questa antologia.
5. "Behold the Man" è la prima stesura, di lunghezza breve, del romanzo omonimo – e con "stesura breve" intendo che il romanzo esteso prende l'interezza della prima versione, parola per parola, espande alcuni paragrafi e inserisce numerose scene nuove laddove stanno bene. La trama è sempre quella e funziona, ma la redazione lunga secondo me è nettamente migliore. 2,5/3
Facendo tutti i conti, quindi, il volume propone un romanzo principale di altissima qualità e dei testi di corredo o validi, seppur non indimenticabili, o relativamente superflui e interessanti solo per i completisti. Si conferma comunque la mia preferenza per il Moorcock autore di sci-fi e/o roba psichedelica.
Iniziamo quindi il romanzo Breakfast in the Ruins, prosecuzione di Behold The Man e motivo principale per cui ho comprato questo volume; il primo libro della dilogia mi aveva estremamente convinto e ho voluto continuare subito la vicenda di Karl Glogauer, il mio hippie bohémien ebreo preferito, e ho trovato un netto miglioramento: rispetto al già valido Behold the Man il secondo romanzo ha una prosa più rifinita, un ritmo più veloce, una varietà di toni e situazioni che lo rende un piccolo racconto mondo, un simpatico accenno di narrazione interattiva, quel gusto per il dramma in costume che mi manda in solluchero e quel tocco di surreale che sbarella il cervello senza diventare pretenzioso. Per parte mia, un solido 5/5.
Passiamo ora ai testi "minori", che sono stati chiaramente selzionati per via di uno filo rosso tematico: tranne una vistosa eccezione parlano di viaggio nel tempo, figure messianiche o ambedue le cose assieme.
1 & 2. I due racconti interconnessi "The Time Dweller" e "Escape from Evening" hanno certamente un'architettura di trama elementare, ma trasudano atmosfere di Terra Morente, mettono in campo del tecnogergo simpatico e il finale del dittico ha un piacevolissimo sapore dolcemaro; 3,5/5 contandoli assieme.
3. "A Dead Singer" è sostanzialmente un veloce spaccato di vita sulla cultura hippie e rock 'n' roll londinese degli anni Settanta (probabilmente con basi autobiografiche) e a furia di raccontare di gente strafatta induce un piccolo trip mentale "di riflesso". 3/5 direi.
4. "London Flesh" l'ho trovato abbastanza una poracciata: è un racconto giallo di terza fascia in omaggio ai racconti gialli di terza fascia che Moorcock leggeva da ragazzino e gioca tutto sui riferimenti a un worldbuilding pregresso, in cui Londra ha una tecnologia dieselpunk e c'è una gilda di banditi che rapinano i tram vestiti da briganti dell'età hannoveriana (sic); forse a leggerlo dopo i testi principali da cui dipende per il worldbuilding (principalmente Fabulous Harbours) si apprezzerebbe anche, presentato come testo a sé stante vale un 2/5 scarso. Per altro è il racconto "fuori tema" che accennavo in partenza, ergo proprio non capisco con che ratio l'abbiano incluso in questa antologia.
5. "Behold the Man" è la prima stesura, di lunghezza breve, del romanzo omonimo – e con "stesura breve" intendo che il romanzo esteso prende l'interezza della prima versione, parola per parola, espande alcuni paragrafi e inserisce numerose scene nuove laddove stanno bene. La trama è sempre quella e funziona, ma la redazione lunga secondo me è nettamente migliore. 2,5/3
Facendo tutti i conti, quindi, il volume propone un romanzo principale di altissima qualità e dei testi di corredo o validi, seppur non indimenticabili, o relativamente superflui e interessanti solo per i completisti. Si conferma comunque la mia preferenza per il Moorcock autore di sci-fi e/o roba psichedelica.
September 8, 2021
This is the last volume of the Michael Moorcock Collection, and the only one I got. It includes mostly leftovers. One good thing I can say is that "Behold the Man" is better as a novella than as a novel. "The Time Dweller" and "Escape From Evening" are, while old-fashioned, still readable SF. That's more or less the only good things I can say about this collection.
"Breakfast in the Ruins", which takes most of the volume, is a collection of pointless short period stories wrapped in a backstory which I didn't get. The rest are forgettable pieces which, well, I forgot. Two stars out of five, mainly because I keep the one star for the really unreadable ones.
"Breakfast in the Ruins", which takes most of the volume, is a collection of pointless short period stories wrapped in a backstory which I didn't get. The rest are forgettable pieces which, well, I forgot. Two stars out of five, mainly because I keep the one star for the really unreadable ones.
October 13, 2018
The last of the 3 volumes of Moorcock's Best Short Fiction is focused on Karl Glogauer- the main character of both "Behold the Man" and the titular "Breakfast in Ruins". I reviewed "Behold the Man" previously, but it's important to note that this is the much shorter, original novella and not the expanded, standalone work- 60 pages, as opposed to about 140 of the expanded work.
So the focus here is on "Breakfast in Ruins". It's essentially a collection of period vignettes, covering each decade from the 1870s to the 1960s. each short vignette involves a different incarnation of a Karl Glogauer, across the world, each successive one being a year older, starting from a seven-eyar old boy trapped in the fall of the Paris Commune and ending with a 22-year old G.I. participating in a civilian massacre during the Vietnam War. The backdrop to all of this has some shoutouts to the Jerry Cornelius stories, as in 1971 London the neurotit Glogauer encounters an enigmatic stranger in the rooftop gardens of the Derry & Tom's Department Store. This man introduces Karl to the technique that allows him to experience the lives of his earlier incarnations. As Karl masters the skill, his incarnations gain progressively more agency over the events in their lives- and as they act out in increasibgly selfish ways, so does the "real world" Karl assume a progressively more vampiric role in the strange relationship with his benefactor.
"Breakfast in Ruins" is overall confusing, feeling very much a cacophony (sharing its tone with the bulk of the Cornelius works). However, in terms of individual vignette pieces, Moorcock's writing is top notch as always. While I didn't particularly care for the meta-plot (or the philosophical "What would you do?" dilemmas at the end of each chapter, the sheer variety of settings and the quality of writing was enough to make "Breakfast in Ruins" a fairly quick read.
Of the rest of the works in the collection, "London Flesh" I read before in "The Metatemporal Detective" collection, and "Behold the Man" is, as mentioned, a shorter version of the standalone work I reviewed earlier. of the other 3 pieces, the duology if "The Time Dweller" and "Escape from Evening" were interesting pieces of sci-fi, presenting a vision of an Earth far in the future, and the approaches various branches of humanity took to adapt to the increasingly hostile conditions.
I didn't really get much out of "The Dead Singer"- a story featuring a ghost(?) of Jimi Hendrix, but it's likely due to me missing the cultural significance of him and his music to the time at which Moorcock wrote the piece.
Overall, an interesting compilation to round off the Best of Short Fiction collection, but nothing truly standout, unlike the earlier volumes.
So the focus here is on "Breakfast in Ruins". It's essentially a collection of period vignettes, covering each decade from the 1870s to the 1960s. each short vignette involves a different incarnation of a Karl Glogauer, across the world, each successive one being a year older, starting from a seven-eyar old boy trapped in the fall of the Paris Commune and ending with a 22-year old G.I. participating in a civilian massacre during the Vietnam War. The backdrop to all of this has some shoutouts to the Jerry Cornelius stories, as in 1971 London the neurotit Glogauer encounters an enigmatic stranger in the rooftop gardens of the Derry & Tom's Department Store. This man introduces Karl to the technique that allows him to experience the lives of his earlier incarnations. As Karl masters the skill, his incarnations gain progressively more agency over the events in their lives- and as they act out in increasibgly selfish ways, so does the "real world" Karl assume a progressively more vampiric role in the strange relationship with his benefactor.
"Breakfast in Ruins" is overall confusing, feeling very much a cacophony (sharing its tone with the bulk of the Cornelius works). However, in terms of individual vignette pieces, Moorcock's writing is top notch as always. While I didn't particularly care for the meta-plot (or the philosophical "What would you do?" dilemmas at the end of each chapter, the sheer variety of settings and the quality of writing was enough to make "Breakfast in Ruins" a fairly quick read.
Of the rest of the works in the collection, "London Flesh" I read before in "The Metatemporal Detective" collection, and "Behold the Man" is, as mentioned, a shorter version of the standalone work I reviewed earlier. of the other 3 pieces, the duology if "The Time Dweller" and "Escape from Evening" were interesting pieces of sci-fi, presenting a vision of an Earth far in the future, and the approaches various branches of humanity took to adapt to the increasingly hostile conditions.
I didn't really get much out of "The Dead Singer"- a story featuring a ghost(?) of Jimi Hendrix, but it's likely due to me missing the cultural significance of him and his music to the time at which Moorcock wrote the piece.
Overall, an interesting compilation to round off the Best of Short Fiction collection, but nothing truly standout, unlike the earlier volumes.
Currently Reading
May 3, 20251. Breakfast in the Ruins. Another New Wave Moorcock book that I liked more than I expected to. The individual vignettes in this book are powerful early on, though they get to be a bit rudimentary as the book progresses. The conflict between innocence and victimhood is what makes the book particularly intriguing. [4/5]
2. The Time Dweller. An interesting post-apocalyptic story, though a bit heavy on the philosophy [3+/5].
3. Escape from Evening. More engaging than its predecessor, "The Time Dweller", which is set in the same world, but it fizzles out in an entirely philosophical finale [3+/5].
4. "A Dead Singer." A brilliant little story about Mo Collier touring a resurrected Jimi Hendrix around England. Except, not everything is as it seems, or not as it seems. [5/5]
2. The Time Dweller. An interesting post-apocalyptic story, though a bit heavy on the philosophy [3+/5].
3. Escape from Evening. More engaging than its predecessor, "The Time Dweller", which is set in the same world, but it fizzles out in an entirely philosophical finale [3+/5].
4. "A Dead Singer." A brilliant little story about Mo Collier touring a resurrected Jimi Hendrix around England. Except, not everything is as it seems, or not as it seems. [5/5]
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews