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For a discussion on antipopes, see Antipope. An antipope ( Latin: antipapa) is a person who makes a widely accepted claim to be the lawful Pope, in opposition to the pope recognised by the Roman
The Antipope

Corgi Adult (1991 edition) cover
Author Robert Rankin
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Series The Brentford Trilogy
Genre(s) Fantasy novel
Publisher Pan Books and Corgi Adult
Publication date 1981 (Pan), 1991 (Corgi)
Media type Print (Paperback)
Pages 249 (Pan edition)
288 (Corgi edition)
ISBN ISBN 978-0-330-26503-4 (Pan edition)
ISBN 978-0-552-13841-3 (Corgi edition)
Followed by The Brentford Triangle

The Antipope is a comic fantasy novel by the British author Robert Rankin. Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British humorous novelist The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Brentford Trilogy is a series of eight novels by writer Robert Rankin. Fantasy literature is Fantasy in written form Historically speaking the majority of fantasy works have been literature Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Pan Books is an Imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Comic fantasy is a subgenre of Fantasy that is primarily humorous in intent and tone A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Robert Fleming Rankin (born 27 July 1949) is a prolific British humorous novelist It is Rankin's first novel, and the first book in the "now legendary" Brentford Trilogy (which, as of November 2006, consists of 8 novels). The Brentford Trilogy is a series of eight novels by writer Robert Rankin. Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. The book was first published in 1981 by Pan Books, and from 1991 by Corgi books, an imprint of Transworld Publishers. Year 1981 ( MCMLXXXI) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link displays the 1981 Pan Books is an Imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers Year 1991 ( MCMXCI) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian Calendar. Although typically found in the Science Fiction section of bookshops, it is a difficult novel to categorize;[1] Rankin himself wanted to create a new genre of fiction, called "Far Fetched Fiction", so that he would have his own book shelf in Smiths. A genre (ˈʒɑːnrə also /ˈdʒɑːnrə/ from French "kind" or "sort" from Latin: genus (stem gener-) is a loose set This article is about the retail chain for people of that name see William Henry Smith. [2]

Contents

Plot introduction

The Antipope charts Brentford's anti-heroes' (Jim Pooley and John Omally) drinking, work avoidance, drinking, womanising, and further drinking as they try to foil the eponymous antipope in his demonic attempt to establish a new Holy See. Brentford is a suburb in the London Borough of Hounslow at the Confluence of the River Thames and the River Brent in West London James Arbuthnot Pooley ( Jim Pooley) is a fictional character in The Brentford Trilogy written by fantasy/humour writer Robert Rankin. An antipope ( Latin: antipapa) is a person who makes a widely accepted claim to be the lawful Pope, in opposition to the pope recognised by the Roman The Holy See is the episcopal jurisdiction of the Bishop of Rome, commonly known as the Pope, and is the preeminent Episcopal see of the Roman Catholic [3]

From the back cover

“ 'Outside the sun shines. Buses rumble towards Ealing Broadway and I'm expected to do battle with the powers of darkness. It all seems a little unfair. . . '

You could say it all started with the red-eyed tramp with the slimy fingers who put the wind up Neville, the part-time barman, something rotten. Or when Archroy's wife swapped his trusty Morris Minor for five magic beans while he was out at the rubber factory.

On the other hand, you could say it all started a lot earlier. Like 450 years ago, when Borgias walked the earth.

Pooley and Omally, stars of the Brentford Labour Exchange and the Flying Swan, want nothing to do with it, especially if there's a Yankee and a pint of Large in the offing. Pope Alexander VI, last of the Borgias, has other ideas. Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja ( . .

”

Plot summary

Jim Pooley and John Omally live in the London borough of Brentford, spending much of their time drinking in the Flying Swan, backing horses, womanising, and being generally feckless. Their problems start when Archroy's wife sells his beloved Morris Minor for five magic beans. Or perhaps they start when a hideous tramp appears in the neighbourhood, putting the wind up Neville the part-time barman something rotten. To cut a long story short, the tramp is none other than Pope Alexander VI, the last of the Borgias, and the beans grow into hideous homunculi, whose only purpose is to serve their dark master, the Antipope.

Pope Alexander takes up residence in the local Seaman's Mission, and eventually there is a final showdown between the forces of good and evil, with Alexander and his bean-men on one side, and the massed might of Brentford on the other, including Pooley and Omally, Professor Slocombe, Father Moity, and Archroy, now a master of Dimac, a deadly martial art. Before the denouement, though, there are numerous sub-plots such as Channel-wading, a cowboy night at the Flying Swan, a trip underground with Soap Distant, and meetings with several other interesting characters, like builders Hairy Dave and Jungle John, and the elusive Other Sam. [4]

Characters in "The Antipope"

Literary significance & criticism

During the 1970s, Rankin wrote a number of short stories. James Arbuthnot Pooley ( Jim Pooley) is a fictional character in The Brentford Trilogy written by fantasy/humour writer Robert Rankin. Having been introduced to cultural icon Alan Aldridge, then at Aurelia Entertainment, he submitted some of those stories in the hope of getting a publishing deal. Despite liking the work, Aldridge was of the opinion that the short stories couldn't be published, and asked Rankin to write a novel. Rankin spent the next 6 months merging several of his short stories, resulting in The Antipope, which Aldridge took to Pan Books who bought and subsequently published the novel. Pan Books is an Imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers [5][6]

In spite of Aldridge's and Pan's initial enthusiasm, Pan declined to publish any novels beyond the first 3 books of The Brentford Trilogy. Rankin's editor moved to another publisher, and his writing career came to a halt until 1988 when Sphere Books (under the Abacus imprint) reprinted the original trilogy in one volume (ISBN 978-0-349-10028-9). Sphere Books was a British Paperback - Publisher from 1961 to 1990. [7]

Despite this inauspicious start, Rankin and The Antipope have since attained something of a cult status, with the following two review extracts printed on the back cover of the Corgi edition:

'Wonderful…A heady mix of Flann O'Brien, Douglas Adams, Tom Sharpe and Ken Campbell, but with an inbuilt irreverence and indelicacy that is unique - and makes it the long-awaited, heavy smoker's answer to The Lord Of The Rings' - Time Out[8]

'Wonderfully entertaining…reads like a Flann O'Brien rewrite of Close Encounters' - City Limits[8]

There remain little in the way of "professional" reviews of the novel, however there are many fan's reviews to be found on-line, such as the one at the Sproutlore web site [4]. Brian O'Nolan (Brian Ó Nualláin (5 October 1911 – 1 April 1966 was an Irish novelist and satirist best known for his novels An Béal Bocht, At Douglas Noël Adams (11 March 1952 &ndash 11 May 2001 was an English author comic Radio dramatist Tom Sharpe (born 30 March 1928 is an English satirical Author, born in London and educated at Lancing College and at Pembroke Time Out is a Publishing company based in London, England. The company's best known product is the Time Out weekly listings Magazine City Limits magazine was founded in 1981 in London by former staff members of the weekly London listings magazine Time Out, after

Cover art

The original Pan Books release of the novel features a different front cover, shown to the left, by artist Alistair Graham. Pan Books is an Imprint which first became active in the 1940s and is now part of the British-based Macmillan Publishers owned by German publishers [9] It depicts five of the main characters of the book, with The Flying Swan in the background and the figure of the resurrected Pope Alexander VI looming ominously over everything. Pope Alexander VI ( 1 January 1431 &ndash 18 August 1503) born Roderic Llançol, later Roderic de Borja i Borja (

The stylized drawing of a bull on the more recent Corgi cover represents the red bull of the Borgia coat of arms,[10] with Archroy's five magic beans scattered across it. A coat of arms or armorial bearings (often just arms for short in European tradition is a design belonging to a particular person (or group of people Jack and the Beanstalk is an English Fairy tale, closely associated with the tale of Jack the Giant Killer.


Other media

In addition to the paperback novels, The Antipope has been released as an audio book, first published by Smartpass Ltd in October 1993 (ISBN 978-1-903362-24-2) and narrated by Rankin himself. The audio book stars David Gooderson, Lucy Robinson, and Nick Murchie. David Gooderson is a British actor who has appeared in several television roles Lucy Robinson is a British Actress working mostly in Television.

Oneword Radio broadcast the Smartpass production of the novel, read by Robert Rankin, in 21 instalments, during November 2006. Oneword Radio was a British commercial digital radio station featuring Books, drama, comedy, Children's programming Year 2006 ( MMVI) was a Common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. [11]

In 2004, the Dreaming Theatre Company produced the first ever stage adaptation of The Antipope; the production toured across the UK playing in venues and festivals. [12] It was adapted by Lee Harris and Scott Harrison, and starred the following cast:

  1. John Omally - Aidan McCarthy
  2. Jim Pooley - Andrew Welch
  3. The Antipope - John Buckeridge
  4. Professor Slocombe - Roger Andrew
  5. Neville, the part-time barman - Scott Harrison
  6. Archroy - Matthew Freeman
  7. Norman Hartnell - Jamie McKeller

Trivia

Robert Rankin's books feature a recurring set of in jokes, some of which are introduced in this novel:

Magus to the Hermetic Order of the Golden Sprout, 12th Dan Master of Dimac, poet, adventurer, swordsman and concert pianist; big game hunter, Best Dressed Man of 1933; mountaineer, lone yachtsman, Shakespearian actor and topless go-go dancer; Robert Rankin's hobbies include passive smoking, communicating with the dead and lying about his achievements. Jamie McKeller, born August 17 1980, is an English Actor & director, based in the North of England. An in-joke (also known as an in joke or inside joke) is a Joke whose Humor is clear only to those people who are "inside" a social He lives in Sussex with his wife and family.

References

  1. ^ BBC's H2G2 article on Robert Rankin [1]
  2. ^ A quote from an interview at the Octocon conference in 1999, a transcript of which is available here
  3. ^ One fan's review of The Antipope
  4. ^ Plot summary taken from a review of the audio book; Full review can be found at this web site
  5. ^ British Fantasy Society interview with Robert Rankin
  6. ^ FTL interview with Robert Rankin
  7. ^ Another BFS interview with Robert Rankin
  8. ^ a b Book details from Transworld Publishing [2]
  9. ^ Sproutlore article about Rankin's original 5 releases
  10. ^ William Manchester's "A World Lit Only by Fire - The Medieval Mind and The Renaissance" - Little, Brown & Company, 1992 [3]
  11. ^ Oneworld schedule for November 2006
  12. ^ Archived e-mail providing details of the stage play, and its touring schedule

External links

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