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A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair
Ten bittersweet fable-like short stories about a boy who lives in a park. Ten different parks, ten different boys, but always the same naive rascal, longing for a better life, but led astray by talking animals, charismatic strangers and his own too vivid imagination.
190 pages, Hardcover
Published March 3, 2020
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About the author
Richard Parkin
2 books2 followersRichard Parkin is a writer, filmmaker, and cartographer. He studied Philosophy and Literature at the University of Warwick and Acting at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School.
He lives in Matlock, Derbyshire.
He lives in Matlock, Derbyshire.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
January 8, 2020
I didn't quite have a whole hand in this, more like the tip of a pinkie finger, the curl of a toe, but definitely contact. I was familiar with the gestation of the book both the creative process and the bringing to publication. Indeed my name is appears in the volume as a backer and in the acknowledgements. I knew in what sad and challenging circumstances the book was finally completed and could recognise some of the influences and experiences which had contributed. I knew the book would not fit neatly into any particular category (other than literary fiction and short story)
And yet I very quickly forgot all of this and read the book on its own merits. I knew the FF Williams illustrations would be stunning and complement the stories, and the confidence was well placed. Reading the stories brought together in, as intended, a beautiful volume to hold in the hand, I experienced for the first time the gentle yet insistent and magical rhythm of 'Once there was a boy who lived in a park' repeated 10 times as the opening to each story. I understood too the rightness of the description 'Tales of wonder and despair' The boys are similar but not quite the same, partly subtle differences in themselves but also because of their environments and their encounters. The atmosphere is eerie: how can a young boy live all by himself in a park but contemporary enough to be living off packaged leftover café sandwiches and cans of cola? Yet it did not niggle at me like a toothache: the stories are told simply enough that there was no urge to interrogate them. I say simply, and they are certainly accessible to children as well as adults, but the language is beautiful. I shall for example never look at a sunset in the same way after reading of it melting into butter and raspberry.
And yet I very quickly forgot all of this and read the book on its own merits. I knew the FF Williams illustrations would be stunning and complement the stories, and the confidence was well placed. Reading the stories brought together in, as intended, a beautiful volume to hold in the hand, I experienced for the first time the gentle yet insistent and magical rhythm of 'Once there was a boy who lived in a park' repeated 10 times as the opening to each story. I understood too the rightness of the description 'Tales of wonder and despair' The boys are similar but not quite the same, partly subtle differences in themselves but also because of their environments and their encounters. The atmosphere is eerie: how can a young boy live all by himself in a park but contemporary enough to be living off packaged leftover café sandwiches and cans of cola? Yet it did not niggle at me like a toothache: the stories are told simply enough that there was no urge to interrogate them. I say simply, and they are certainly accessible to children as well as adults, but the language is beautiful. I shall for example never look at a sunset in the same way after reading of it melting into butter and raspberry.
November 14, 2020
My second reading of this book. Short stories which may start the same but certainly don’t end the same. Thought provoking. Themes of longing, loneliness & survival. Magical worlds in a park; Outsiders inventing their own worlds. Definitely dark at times and unconforming. Strong nods to fairy Grimm tales.
Enjoyed comparing which park the author might have in mind.
Good book to take to a park & sit & observe - places to make dens? Maybe find one in which to read this in.
Enjoyed comparing which park the author might have in mind.
Good book to take to a park & sit & observe - places to make dens? Maybe find one in which to read this in.
February 8, 2020
This is a beautiful book that deserves to be savoured slowly. For me, reading a chapter each night before sleep worked well. The author has a rich imagination which he brings to life in these stories about boys living rough, and having adventures. I think my favourite has to be 'The Apple Tree'.
April 27, 2020
The park can be a marvelous place to live.
It was easy to forget that these tales were about ten separate boys because every one of them had the same naive, mischievous, and insatiably curious personality. Not only that, the background details of their lives were either nonexistent or so vague that one boy’s life story often blended into the next. Even their names were a mystery. I’ve never read a collection like this and truly enjoyed jumping from one world to the next while knowing that the protagonists would always be comfortingly predictable.
One thing I do wish the author had been more clear about were the time periods everything was set in. Some characters seemed to live centuries ago when orphans were left to live on the streets in large cities and fended for themselves from very tender ages. Other characters had a much more modern feel to them. Even these were educated guesses, though, as the narrator was always reluctant about explaining background information clearly. That made it hard at times to picture who the protagonists were and why they were so alone in the world.
There were so many genres represented in this book that I’d be hard-pressed to narrow it down to only one. Some of the boys lived in gentle fantasy worlds. Others were more firmly rooted in the horror, paranormal, or mystery genres. It was pretty interesting to move between all of these different types of storytelling as well to shift from what appeared to be the past and the present.
A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair was a mesmerizing collection that I’d recommend to anyone who loves being given a lot of freedom to come up with their own interpretations about what’s happening in a plot.
It was easy to forget that these tales were about ten separate boys because every one of them had the same naive, mischievous, and insatiably curious personality. Not only that, the background details of their lives were either nonexistent or so vague that one boy’s life story often blended into the next. Even their names were a mystery. I’ve never read a collection like this and truly enjoyed jumping from one world to the next while knowing that the protagonists would always be comfortingly predictable.
One thing I do wish the author had been more clear about were the time periods everything was set in. Some characters seemed to live centuries ago when orphans were left to live on the streets in large cities and fended for themselves from very tender ages. Other characters had a much more modern feel to them. Even these were educated guesses, though, as the narrator was always reluctant about explaining background information clearly. That made it hard at times to picture who the protagonists were and why they were so alone in the world.
There were so many genres represented in this book that I’d be hard-pressed to narrow it down to only one. Some of the boys lived in gentle fantasy worlds. Others were more firmly rooted in the horror, paranormal, or mystery genres. It was pretty interesting to move between all of these different types of storytelling as well to shift from what appeared to be the past and the present.
A Boy in a Park: Tales of Wonder and Despair was a mesmerizing collection that I’d recommend to anyone who loves being given a lot of freedom to come up with their own interpretations about what’s happening in a plot.
October 14, 2020
If you like fable and dark fairy-tales, you’ll enjoy reading A Boy in a Park. The collection in fact features ten different boys, each in ten different parks, where their longings are exposed and exploited by shady park regulars or devious talking animals. On the surface, the volume looks like a children’s book with its simple dust-jacket and charming line drawings, but its themes of loneliness, love, pride and addiction – amongst others – are distinctly adult.
Parkin’s young protagonists all have a vision and work earnestly yet innocently to bring it to life. For instance, in the opening story, the boy tries to win the love of the girl on a swing who lives in the big house over the wall from the park. When he’s chased away by her father, he beats the ground in frustration, summoning a talking mole who agrees to help him, in return for a pocketful of earthworms. The mole then presents the boy with the girl’s heart, which he carefully stows in his (other) pocket, meaning that the girl will always want to be near him, and will see him as her hero and protector. But the boy has not considered the consequences for the girl, when, after a beautiful night together in the park, they are found and separated by her domineering father.
The stories are evocative, thoughtful and always poignant. Told in simple language, the dark undertones rise effortlessly to the surface. Often, they were there from the beginning, their sinister implications ignored in the trim and ordered world of the park.
Read it for yourself, lend it to a friend or discuss it in a book club: A Boy in a Park will both charm and haunt you.
Parkin’s young protagonists all have a vision and work earnestly yet innocently to bring it to life. For instance, in the opening story, the boy tries to win the love of the girl on a swing who lives in the big house over the wall from the park. When he’s chased away by her father, he beats the ground in frustration, summoning a talking mole who agrees to help him, in return for a pocketful of earthworms. The mole then presents the boy with the girl’s heart, which he carefully stows in his (other) pocket, meaning that the girl will always want to be near him, and will see him as her hero and protector. But the boy has not considered the consequences for the girl, when, after a beautiful night together in the park, they are found and separated by her domineering father.
The stories are evocative, thoughtful and always poignant. Told in simple language, the dark undertones rise effortlessly to the surface. Often, they were there from the beginning, their sinister implications ignored in the trim and ordered world of the park.
Read it for yourself, lend it to a friend or discuss it in a book club: A Boy in a Park will both charm and haunt you.
February 6, 2020
This lovely volume of ten short stories – vignettes of ten different boys who live in ten different parks – is incisively-observed, funny and haunting all at once. The book appears to be aimed at children, and the boys’ adventures would definitely appeal in terms of plot, but the themes are most definitely adult.
My favourite story, the Rose Garden, features a boy who questions all the people who come to the park, and tells them that their lives sound exciting and interesting. The boy – we could call him over-empathic – begins to dream about getting out of the park and becoming an accountant, an actor or a pilot. He shares these plans with the park attendants when he helps with their daily gardening tasks. They tease him a little, but this only strengthens his resolve to leave.
I mustn’t give a spoiler in a review, so I’d better stop there. I won’t tell you what happens when the boy plucks up the courage to leave the park and become a pilot …
What unites all the stories is that the boys glimpse another world, where they are no longer alone. Sometimes they are able to enter, sometimes not. The stories are charming, thought-provoking and poignant. Fables of loneliness and belonging.
My favourite story, the Rose Garden, features a boy who questions all the people who come to the park, and tells them that their lives sound exciting and interesting. The boy – we could call him over-empathic – begins to dream about getting out of the park and becoming an accountant, an actor or a pilot. He shares these plans with the park attendants when he helps with their daily gardening tasks. They tease him a little, but this only strengthens his resolve to leave.
I mustn’t give a spoiler in a review, so I’d better stop there. I won’t tell you what happens when the boy plucks up the courage to leave the park and become a pilot …
What unites all the stories is that the boys glimpse another world, where they are no longer alone. Sometimes they are able to enter, sometimes not. The stories are charming, thought-provoking and poignant. Fables of loneliness and belonging.
November 21, 2020
Our parks, so familiar and yet almost overlooked, come to life in this collection of beautifully written short stories.
Here you will come across a wonderfully cynical mole, squeeze under hedges in pursuit of a white rabbit, hopelessly chase a shiny red bicycle, trip into a myriad of sunsets, witness the ultimate loneliness of a 'living' ghost, and more.
Your heart will go out to all the boys in this book as they search for love, companionship, adventure, peace and all the many other experiences life brings. AP
Here you will come across a wonderfully cynical mole, squeeze under hedges in pursuit of a white rabbit, hopelessly chase a shiny red bicycle, trip into a myriad of sunsets, witness the ultimate loneliness of a 'living' ghost, and more.
Your heart will go out to all the boys in this book as they search for love, companionship, adventure, peace and all the many other experiences life brings. AP
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews