Inside out
He was a kindly old gentleman. He was supportive, generous, sympathetic, and humble to all. Nobody would say anything ill of him.
Well... that’s not strictly true. Along with his most kindly attributes, perhaps because of them, he was spectacularly ugly... the kind of ugliness making people avert their gaze. Of this he was completely unaware as he commissioned a portrait of himself, for posterity.
At the sitting, turning this way and that, “Which is my best side?” he asked the artist.
“Truly?”
“Truly indeed!”
“Inside!” was the whispered reply.
The handsome man recorded on canvas told the inside story.
- Category: General / Misc
8 comments add one below
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Christopher over 3 years ago
Excellent, Neville. Love it!
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Neville Hunt over 3 years ago
Thanks Christopher. You’ve made my day!😊
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Neville Hunt over 3 years ago
(I’ve been reading a lot of Anthony Trollope’s novels recently - Barchester Chronicles series - and I think this must have been prompted by these!)
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Christopher over 3 years ago
I've never heard of him. I'll look into it. I picked up a copy of the complete Sherlock Holmes stories recently. I just got into The Hound Of The Baskervilles. I also picked up an old noir novel from the early 60's by Lawrence Block called "A Diet Of Treacle," about a chick who gets mixed up with Beatniks and drug dealers in Greenwich Village. I'm looking forward to getting stuck into that lot soon!
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Neville Hunt over 3 years ago
I like Trollope’s novels as I like his writing style. They are period pieces (c1850) and there is always romance. He breaks the fourth wall and talks to the reader, to whom he announces his heroes and heroines in advance. (I have been known to do this myself.) The Barchester Chronicles novels are six in number and characters reappear (sometimes) from novel to novel although each is an entity in its own right. Very English life of the time. One tends to love the heroines!
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Jamie Clapperton over 3 years ago
He must be a Saint! Just enjoyed second or third reading. Thanks Neville. ☺ 🐝
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Neville Hunt over 3 years ago
Thank you too Jamie!
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Neville Hunt over 3 years ago
Thanks Drew!
