Mutual Friend, by Nigel Jarrett
FictionPosted by editor Sat, December 08, 2012 22:17:28Reaction to and reflection on Mutual Friend, by Nigel Jarrett.
NIGEL JARRETT is a freelance writer and winner of the Rhys Davies Prize for short fiction. In October 2011, Parthian published Funderland, his début collection of stories, which was widely praised in the national press and elsewhere and shortlisted for the Edge Hill Prize. His short stories, poetry and journalism appear widely in newspapers and magazines. His stories have been anthologised in Signals-2 (London Magazine Editions), Mother’s Baby, Papa’s Maybe (Cambrensis/ Welsh Arts Council) and Tilting at Windmills (Parthian), and several of his poems are catalogued in the South Bank Centre’s national poetry archive. He reviews poetry for Acumen magazine and jazz for Jazz Journal. He is a lifelong member of the National Union of Journalists and co-led union members at the South Wales Argus in the lengthy national pay strike of the 1970s.
Posted by Sophie Whitley Flavell Sun, February 24, 2013 16:14:50
This is one if those stories that upon re-reading reveals multiple levels. A sub-title of a book is mentioned: 'Transformations, Escapes and Other Stories' - this is apt as the two brothers at the centre of the book are undergoing transformations and escapes themselves. We see the first brother escaping the responsibility of caring for his ailing father by transforming from braun to brain, while the second brother escapes the guilt of not caring for their father by transforming from brain to braun. A well told tale.