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Brian Aldiss - Charles Monteith – a kindred spirit (17/79)

383 views · Published 22 May 2017 · 1:34 · Indexed 20 September 2026

Channel: Web of Stories - Life Stories of Remarkable People · 2017 · Entertainment

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To listen to more of Brian Aldiss’ stories, go to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLVV0r6CmEsFz9eyoxSk8DdLNHllsrLXYf

Writer Brian Aldiss (1925-2017) was best known for his science fiction novels and short stories. 'Non-Stop', his first science fiction novel, was published in 1958. His many award-winning titles include 'Hothouse', 'The Saliva Tree' and 'Helliconia Spring'. [Listener: Christopher Sykes; date recorded: 2014]

TRANSCRIPT: I just loved Captain Justice, and curiously enough, when I was becoming a writer and Faber first wrote to me and asked me if I would like to make a book of the 'Brightfount Diaries', I then came under the magisterial help and supervision of Charles Monteith. Charles Monteith was a splendid guy, absolutely amazing, with a wide circle of friends, very, very humorous. And we had two things in common: one thing was, we had both fought in Burma, and Charles was injured in the leg and that injury stayed with him and troubled him for the rest of his life. The other thing we found we had in common was that we had both been reading 'Modern Boy'. I never met anyone else who'd even heard of 'Modern Boy', but Charles and I had been reading it. And so that was something we had in common, and Charles also liked Captain Justice.

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