'And the lights upon the allotment,' said Soap, 'what would you take those to be?' [return]'The work of the council,' said Omally firmly, 'another plot to confound honest golfers.' [return]Soap burst into a paroxysm of laughter. Tears rolled down his pale cheeks and he clutched at his stomach. [return]'Come now,' said Pooley, 'it is no laughing matter, these lads have it in for us.' [return]'Have it in for you?' gasped Soap between convulsions. 'You witness a test run of laser-operated gravitational landing beams, the product of a technology beyond comprehension, and you put it down to the work of Brentford Council?'[return]'If you will pardon me,' said Pooley, somewhat offended, 'If it is the product of a technology beyond comprehension I hardly feel that I can be blamed for finding it so.'[return]'Quite', said Omalley.1) The Antipope2) The Brentford Triangle3) East of Ealing4) The Sprouts of Wrath5) The Brentford Chainstore MassacreI decided that I should try to fit in some re-reads of old favourites over the next few months, and I started with The Brentford Trilogy since I've got two linked books on my TBR shelf. I liked book 1 of this series, but it was book 2 that got me hooked. On the surface Brentford may appear to be a normal West London suburb, but it's actually a centre of weirdness and a magnet for the uncanny. So it's lucky that the mysterious Professor Slocombe, and local layabouts Pooley and Omalley are ready to tackle evil whenever it rears its head, with the help of the inventive genius Norman Hartnel, hollow-earther Soap Distant and the other regulars of The Flying Swan pub.
What can be said about Robert Rankin's Brentford Trilogy (now approaching ten books...).That's probably a good indicator of what this series is like, actually. It's a trilogy with at least ten books, probably more. And it's balls-to-the-wall absurdity, old jokes, puns and far fetched nonsense. And it's wonderful. Rankin's books are not technically brilliant, not always laugh-out-loud funny, but they are wonderfully crafted surrealist brilliance, and they will always hold a special place in my heart.
