OK, thanks for the challenge - this might not work on the page (sic) but I was reading a short story by Muriel Spark yesterday and this made me laugh out loud. It's from 'Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse', one of the stories in 'The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories' (Penguin, 1963). A flying saucer has just come in through the window...
'Promptly, it made as if to dive dangerously at George's head. He ducked, and Miss Pinkerton backed against the wall. As the dish tilted on its side, skimming George's shoulder, Miss Pinkerton could see inside it.
"The thing might be radio-active. It might be dangerous." George was breathless. The saucer had climbed, was circling high above his head, and now made for him again, but missed.
"It is not radio-active," said Miss Pinkerton, "it is Spode."'
Thank you for this new feature, Alistair, and what a wonderful piece by Fiona Forsyth! Interestingly, Geoffrey Trease was a resident of my home town, Malvern, and founded the writers’ group I belong to. Sadly I didn’t meet his books as a child, though.
OK, thanks for the challenge - this might not work on the page (sic) but I was reading a short story by Muriel Spark yesterday and this made me laugh out loud. It's from 'Miss Pinkerton's Apocalypse', one of the stories in 'The Go-Away Bird and Other Stories' (Penguin, 1963). A flying saucer has just come in through the window...
'Promptly, it made as if to dive dangerously at George's head. He ducked, and Miss Pinkerton backed against the wall. As the dish tilted on its side, skimming George's shoulder, Miss Pinkerton could see inside it.
"The thing might be radio-active. It might be dangerous." George was breathless. The saucer had climbed, was circling high above his head, and now made for him again, but missed.
"It is not radio-active," said Miss Pinkerton, "it is Spode."'
Thank you for this new feature, Alistair, and what a wonderful piece by Fiona Forsyth! Interestingly, Geoffrey Trease was a resident of my home town, Malvern, and founded the writers’ group I belong to. Sadly I didn’t meet his books as a child, though.
(Remembers manners) Oh and thank you very much!
For me, Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams command the world of humorous literary quotes.