The review of the story John the Barman by
Speaking about a setup, the intrigue is rather evenly distributes throughout the narrative, which reminds me a TV show Cheers, where the frequenters come to the bar and discuss their ongoing business; with the only caviar that the customers of the bar are not mortals, but gods, demigods, angels, demons and other personas of religious epos.
The underlying conceptual premise of the tale is a satire on the common religious “boxed up” perception of what deity is. They are nice and funny characters, who only doing their work, playing their corresponding parts, in Paradise, Hell and in the subspace of religious and cultural mythology. Other than that, they have their little personal flaws, likes and dislikes and weird hobbies. Lucifer, for example, likes ballet dancing, while Death is trying to get a date. The tale is written with dry English humor that reminded me of Monty Python.
Philosophically speaking, as the title of the tale “Hell on the budget” suggests all the holy and evil jobs are run by the same management and are on a strict budget. In my estimate, this is a hint pointing to the modern bureaucratic and mercantile shift in religious management. Or rather, as if it ever been holy, this shift became more noticeable in a public eye due to the public demand for openness and transparency.
Apparently, religion in England is quite dormant. I am speaking of Christianity, of course. Thank God, the author didn’t make fun of Allah and his prophet Mohammad or else he could have been considered a racist. LOL
Stylistically this piece is written inventive and smooth, quite different from American writing style, with many expressions and words that are indigenous to England and the atmosphere that is, somehow, particularly British.
I would advise this tale to all the non-native speakers as a great sample of free-flowing, witty English writing.
