MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
No. 003 – July 2025
Quotes for the month: (For information about the authors go to Google)
On Discipline:
“Discipline is the refining fire by which talent becomes ability.”
Roy L. Smith
“With self-discipline most anything is possible.”
Theodore Roosevelt
****
Book of the Month:
I am recommending two books this month, for reasons which will become apparent.
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R J Ellory.
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON by Mikhail Sholokhov
My reviews are below.
Movies / TV Series:
LEE (2023). Biopic of Lee Miller, war correspondent / photographer.
Kate Winslet, Andy Samberg, Alexander Skarsgard.
When Norma and I saw this at the theatre on 4th November 2024 I noted on my Movie Spreadsheet – “Definite AA front runner”. I think this is the best movie Kate has made and she wasn’t even nominated for an Academy Award – crazy.
We watched it again last week and I still feel the same.
We have been re-visiting ONE FOOT IN THE GRAVE, the early 1990s British sitcom with Richard Wilson as Victor Meldrew and Annette Crosbie as his long suffering wife, Margaret.
The footage of the Galapagos tortoises with Eric Idle singing his lyrics over the credits at the beginning and end was inspired. A nice light half hour to finish off the evening, particularly if we have earlier watched LEE or SCHINDLER’S LIST.
***
Two remarkable forks in the road came together during June. Consider the chance of the following sequence of events.
ONE.
A little over five years ago I was routinely checking a spreadsheet I have of some 50 authors in case one of their books has been recorded and is available on Audible. AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON by Mikhail Sholokhov was there and I bought it immediately. I listened to it with increasing pleasure and posted a review on March 14, 2020.
The next morning, Stefan Rudnicki, the narrator, sent me a Friend Request on Facebook. We struck a chord and maintained contact. Late last year, with the publication as Ebooks of my Fork In The Road series Stefan and I started moving towards the possibility of him narrating the Boxed Set of Volumes 1 to 5. And now, he has completed recording the 106,000 words - 25 stories, made numerous positive comments about various characters and stories, sent me a file of the recording, and written a 3 – 4 minute Introduction. THE FORK IN THE ROAD – Five Decades will be launched on July 15 and available on Audible – 11 hours and 14 minutes of my stories.
TWO.
Saturday, August 15, 2015 I was listening to A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS by R J Ellory on Audible. I had heard the Prologue and the first four chapters and thought: “What a great book, I have to let this guy know how much I am enjoying his book. As the novel is set in 1939 America I presumed he was American – not so, he is a British writer. I found an email address and sent him a message about 8:00 pm. 20 minutes later he replied: “Dear Eric, I received your e-mail with great joy. I am in Rotterdam working on the release of a book with another author. When I return to England (tomorrow) I shall respond properly.
Your e-mail has quite made my day!”
From that small beginning we have struck up an enduring friendship, Norma and I have read the bigger percentage of his 21 novels and I have reviewed 8. In the now almost 10 years we have exchanged over 300 emails, many 500 to 1000 words or more. He has read many of my stories and kindly agreed to make a comment to quote on the Ebook and audiobook editions.
Stefan’s Introduction.
It’s nearly a year since Eric and I began the email correspondence that led to the audiobook you’re now listening to.
Through this truly topsy turvy year, at least for me, that correspondence has provided insights, perspective, and even a few revelations. About literature, films, culture and people…friendship…myself…
Since I first began reading in the English language, I’ve been a great fan (potentially an addict) of short fiction. With the encouragement of the school librarian at Van Wyck Junior High School in New York (middle school by today’s reckoning) I consumed anything and everything that I could finish reading during the hour spent among their books a couple of days a week. From O’Henry to Isaac Asimov to Algernon Blackwood. From Shirley Jackson to chapters in Rosamund DuJardin novels (she didn’t write short stories). This was especially brave, because the “boys” books were placed along one wall, and the “girls” books along the opposite, facing each other down.
My love of short fiction persists today, in my career as a narrator, fed by around 15 years producing and often narrating the Lightspeed Magazine Podcasts. What an opportunity for a performer? To venture into narrative styles and character voices that no one could sustain in long-form.
Enter my friend Eric J. Drysdale. With an array of 25 stories spanning a dozen genres as varied as primal myth and sitcom. Each story displaying emotional range, philosophical thinking, and intricate plotting. And, oh wonder of wonders! REAL PEOPLE. Recognizable by their obsessions, their fears, their passions and their utter and complete humanity. Most set in Australia, Eric‘s home planet, and pretty alien to me, as I’ve not yet had the opportunity to visit except in some Peter Weir films.
For me, Eric shares qualities with several of my favorite “classical” story writers, most specifically Nikolai Gogol, Guy De Maupassant, Heinrich Von Kleist, Katherine Mansfield, Virginia Woolf, and yes Shirley Jackson, all of them tied inexorably to their home languages and cultures, but comfortable taking or finding their stories elsewhere.
One final comment…During the writing of this little essay, I called Eric in Sydney, and had a great chat with him and his partner Norma. Not such a different planet after all, and I’m delighted to share it with folks like them. Enjoy!
Stefan Rudnicki, June 2025
Roger’s Quote.
"So very rarely does one find a writer with a truly identifiable style. I spend my life looking for writers that make me think, "I wish I'd written that", and here - in the numerous stories from Eric Drysdale - that thought has crossed my mind on many occasions. Insightful, engaging and altogether very human, the prose has a rhythm and clarity that elevates these tales above so many others. I, for one, highly recommend these works, and I have no doubt you will enjoy them just as much as me."
R J Ellory, Award Winning, International bestselling author of A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS and numerous other novels.
I am deeply honoured that Stefan and Roger saw and felt so many of the elements that I did in many of my stories, and expressed their appreciation in such glowing terms.
***
The reviews:
AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON
Mikhail Sholokhov
HISTORICAL FICTION AT ITS BEST
·
Mar 14, 2020
It is difficult to extol the virtues of this fine novel, and equally fine narrator too highly.
Sholokhov was born in 1905 and grew up in the Don area of Russia, which he depicted in remarkable detail in his most famous novel, AND QUIET FLOWS THE DON, and various other novels about the Don Cossacks. He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1965.
The Novel: Sholokhov worked on the novel for 14 years from 1926 to 1940. Set during the First World War and the Russian Revolution, it became the most widely read work of fiction in the new Communist State and presented the Don Cossacks to Russia and the world as never before. I was most impressed with the evocation of time, place and people, and the economy with which he achieved this. We get to know the various characters, the land in which they live during summer and winter and the challenges they face in peacetime and in war. Readers who enjoy historical novels that transport them to places and people long buried under the sod turned by the plough of time will be most satisfied taking this journey.
The narrator: Stefan Rudnicki is rare even among professionals. Many fine male readers do an excellent job with the prose and the male characters, but not as good with the female characters. Stefan is outstanding across the spectrum: male, female, young, old. The prose is presented in his mellifluous voice and the characters individualised by nuance and expression. A case of the writer’s intention and the narrator’s ability in perfect harmony.
Having read over 2300 books in the past 20 years, the majority on audio and from Audible, I average over 100 books a year and believe, even at this early stage, that this will be my book of the year. Highly recommended.
Happy reading. Eric. E: ericjdrysdale@gmail.com
****
A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS
R J Ellory
THE BEST NOVEL I HAVE READ IN 20 YEARS.
·
Jun 17, 2018
As many of you know I believe strongly that the quality of our life and the pleasure in our days is immeasurably enhanced by our exposure to and appreciation of books, movies and music. There is great joy in finding the book, movie or piece of music that resonates with you and even takes your breath away. This happens all too rarely, but it happened for me in August 2015 with R. J. Ellory’s masterly A QUIET BELIEF IN ANGELS. I was immersed in Roger’s prose within the first few paragraphs and couldn’t believe my good fortune when it just kept going page after page after page. Rarely have I read a book that evoked the time place and people so beautifully.
12 year old Joseph Calvin Vaughan is growing up in rural Georgia in 1939. His young life is assaulted by the death of his father and the murder of a young girl, the first of many. The book is told from Joseph’s viewpoint, and his struggle to come to grips with his radically impacted home and community life as the number of girls taken increases, provides the basis for the symbolic title.
The sheriffs in six counties, Joseph, and we, the readers, are all at a loss as to the identity or motives of the murderer. But Death walks the rural backroads, leaving behind him suspicion, anger and fear, and an increasingly hostile community. Over the decades the story moves between Georgia and New York and is anchored by a powerful evocation of the war and post-war years.
This is the best book I have read in 20 years. Remarkably it has vaulted into the top half dozen in a lifetime of reading and over 5,000 books read. This is right up there with THE GRAPES OF WRATH, THE EGYPTIAN, THE PRINCE OF TIDES, LOOK HOMEWARD, ANGEL and PLOUGH THE SEA. If you only read one book this year, which, in itself would be sad, give yourself a treat and read this one.
I originally wrote this Review late in 2015 and sent it to some 500 clients. Having recently bought AQBIA from Audible with the excellent Vincent Marzello narration, it seemed appropriate to share my thoughts on this outstanding novel again. It is also one of only three novels I have read, then immediately read again to savour the pleasure of the experience.
One of the reviewers mentioned being impressed that he emailed Roger and received a prompt response. This is not an isolated incident as I had the same happen to me within 20 minutes of sending the email. I am honoured that Roger and I have subsequently exchanged in excess of 160 emails and forged a friendship, despite the fact that I live in Australia and he in the UK. This is a bond that has prompted me to dedicate my novel THE PRICE TO PAY to him in appreciation of the hundreds of hours of reading / listening pleasure he has provided me with his diverse bank of novels.
Although AQBIA remains my favourite of his books I am sure that any discerning reader will find a rare treasure trove in these surprisingly broad ranging novels.
I will be delighted to hear any comments or observations. Email: ericjdrysdale@gmail.com
Happy reading, Eric.