330:, Daniel Eilon contrasted the variable quality and experimental nature of the first seven stories with the next five, which he called the "real achievement of this work", and the final two shorter pieces. While suggesting the collection could have benefited from some editing out of weaker material, he described "Logopandocy" as "an extraordinary feat of imaginative insight." Theo Tait, in
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The second part of the "Axletree" story begins two thousand years after the events of the first. Generations of work on the building culminate in reaching the sky, which is a physical object. Competing teams of scientists from different nations try to be the first to penetrate the sky to explore what
259:. In this first part, an emperor ruling a vast circular swathe of territory conceives a building project which will be his tomb and symbol of power, and the building of which will provide a perpetual central focus for the empire.
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The story examines the power of state artists Bohu and Tohu to make a political difference in a hierarchical society where whole sectors of the population are declared "unnecessary people". It was inspired by a line from
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by
Douglas Gifford, was released in 2010. "Logopandocy" is retitled "Sir Thomas's Logopandocy", and "Prometheus" as "M. Pollard's Prometheus" in this edition. In 2012 the entire work was included in Gray's collection
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paperback was issued in 1984. "Five
Letters from an Eastern Empire" was issued as a stand-alone work in 1995 as part of Penguin's
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A revised edition with the extra stories "A Unique Case" and "Inches in a Column" in thirteenth and fourteenth place, and a new
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about a star falling into an urban back garden. Written when Gray was a teenager, it was first published in
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features in a story, written as a television script, about a 1930s cult when people dressed up as bears.
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lies beyond. When they succeed, an enormous flood washes away the building and the entire civilisation.
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slip was inserted into the first edition that read "This slip has been inserted by mistake." A
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A radical intellectual discovers the limits on his ability to change how language is used.
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384:#55, calling it "an uneven but excellent collection of fantasies and parables, mostly."
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of
Cromarty, who is trying to create a "multiverbal logopandocy", or universal language.
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368:"Work as if you were living in the early days of a better nation" in the book.
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Some bored art school students dig a tunnel with terrible consequences.
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278:: "Moping around the Emperor's court, waiting for the order-to-write".
360:, Angel Gurria-Quintana compared Gray's illustrations with those of
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is Gray's best short-story collection, and is influenced by Kafka,
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552:"Every Short Story from 1951 to 2012 by Alasdair Gray: review"
413:"Lanark man short on double vision: 'Ten Tales Tall and True'"
216:
A sexual comedy set in the 1950s, involving a woman and a dog.
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486:"Every Short Story 1951–2012 by Alasdair Gray – review"
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196:A man has an unsatisfactory conversation with the
123:was released as a Canongate hardback in 1983; an
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108:is the first collection of short stories by
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243:The two "Axletree" stories are inspired by
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576:Gurria-Quintana, Angel (18 August 2007).
312:"A Likely Story in a Nonmarital Setting"
224:Vague McMenamy invents an enhanced duck.
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315:"A Likely Story in a Domestic Setting"
264:"Five Letters From An Eastern Empire"
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221:"The Crank That Made The Revolution"
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205:"The Cause Of Some Recent Changes"
174:Collins Magazine for Boys and Girls
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411:Taylor, Paul (10 October 1993).
184:A riveter who begins to undergo
484:Tait, Theo (14 November 2012).
392:Cheltenham Prize for Literature
605:(July 1984). "Critical Mass".
550:Martin, Tim (9 January 2013).
286:Written in the persona of Sir
213:"The Comedy of the White Dog"
1:
631:literature.britishcouncil.org
777:1983 short story collections
627:"Alasdair Gray – Literature"
527:Eilon, Daniel (3 May 1984).
240:"The Start of the Axletree"
155:Like Gray's best-known work
145:Every Short Story 1951–2012
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578:"Unlikely Stories, Mostly"
303:"The End of the Axletree"
181:"The Spread of Ian Nicol"
168:A fantasy in the style of
712:The Fall of Kelvin Walker
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19:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
696:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
388:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
376:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
338:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
121:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
105:Unlikely Stories, Mostly
533:London Review of Books
327:London Review of Books
229:"The Great Bear Cult"
782:Canongate Books books
727:McGrotty and Ludmilla
251:story. They satirise
112:, published in 1983.
529:"Unnecessary People"
556:The Daily Telegraph
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320:Critical responses
247:'s telling of the
116:Publishing history
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720:Something Leather
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30:First edition
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734:Poor Things
608:White Dwarf
587:24 December
561:24 December
381:White Dwarf
245:Franz Kafka
170:H. G. Wells
165:"The Star"
133:Penguin 60s
771:Categories
398:References
270:Ezra Pound
257:capitalism
233:Pete Brown
140:postscript
394:in 1983.
374:reviewed
54:Publisher
390:won the
351:Rasselas
176:in 1951.
135:series.
77:Scotland
366:epigram
186:fission
151:Summary
125:erratum
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158:Lanark
36:Author
672:Works
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