Caldwell
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I have 162 stories published in
10 collections on the site.
My stories have been read 164993 times
and 165 of my stories have been cherry picked.
31 of my 255 comments have been voted Great Feedback with a total of 32 votes
Christopher Caldwell
I grew up in England and have since made a home in France, on the banks of the Loire. My writing explores how family, place, and history leave their traces on us.
My stories
My first new beginning
As a young boy, I grew up in a small village in leafy suburban Surrey, where hedges were trimmed and cars taken for their Sunday wash. When my...
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- 9 comments
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- 668 reads
In response to Luigi's Morning Mail
I want good news, but not the kind doled out like cute puppies to blot out massacres, sunsets to obscure famine. No. That’s comfort served not as...
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- 12 comments
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- 509 reads
There's an element of The Two Ronnies about this
[Courtroom set. Barker (Counsel) rises, papers in hand. Corbett (Professor Plomb) is in the dock, looking dignified but slightly bewildered.] Barker...
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- 199 reads
The time I tried acupuncture
The practitioner was a Romanian woman, about my age, with jet-black hair and a round, sweet face that carried a natural compassion. Before our...
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- 6 comments
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- 325 reads
School friends
I was never much for friends. In primary school I was a loner, though I didn’t have the word for it then. My younger brother was the one with a...
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- 4 comments
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- 261 reads
Woman of the hour
Posted on Thu, 24 Oct 2024
I watched a 2023 film the other night called Woman of the Hour set in 70s LA. Though it's about a serial killer targeting women, it's actually a study on outdated attitudes towards women in general and unfortunately, there is evidence that these...
Read full commentPosted in You picked the wrong time to ask.
A stark and painful image of
Posted on Thu, 24 Oct 2024
A stark and painful image of womanhood. You capture the cyclical nature of violence, loss, and survival with visceral language—“hollow-eyed blossoms of rape,” “orphans, widowers,” and the repeated “begetting” convey a history of suffering passed...
Read full commentPosted in You picked the wrong time to ask.
Wonderful. Seamus Heaney's
Posted on Mon, 21 Oct 2024
Wonderful. Seamus Heaney's earthy textures, but sparser and more sensual and questioning. "through truffled scurf" and "saltmist warped the wood" are just fantastic.
There's a songwriter I used to listen to called Joanna Newsom who had a...
Read full commentPosted in Figurehead
Yes, fireworks were a key
Posted on Tue, 24 Sep 2024
Yes, fireworks were a key highlight for me too. And running around with sparklers but so scared of that hot metal. I was a '70s kid so a bit later - we had indoor fireworks too as a pre-show before the big ones outside. My dad more than anyone...
Read full commentPosted in Tom Tom Turnaround (2)
Your poem reminds me of
Posted on Wed, 25 Sep 2024
Your poem reminds me of something.
There was a German advert featuring a Mr W for a wind energy company called Epuron. I don't know if you've seen it. It's easy to track down on YouTube.
He is large, awkward and looks like a mime...
Read full commentPosted in Visible signs of the invisible
Good old Mrs Cooper.
Posted on Sat, 21 Sep 2024
Good old Mrs Cooper. Entertaining kids without even trying.
Read full commentPosted in Tom Tom Turnaround (1)
Very atmospheric. I can feel
Posted on Tue, 24 Sep 2024
Very atmospheric. I can feel it all. It's all very familiar, except my dad didn't rule the house with an iron fist.
Read full commentPosted in Tom Tom Turnaround (2)
Excellent. I had such
Posted on Sat, 14 Sep 2024
Excellent. I had such compassion. I was cheering with the others even before you/she got to the finish line. Very real and so well told.
Read full commentPosted in How much is still left
Fabulous
Posted on Wed, 14 Aug 2024
I enjoyed this profoundly. Not only the fact that like most, I can relate totally, but your lucid dream is so very close to the kind of dreams I experience. I am also indebted to you for reminding me of Lord Acton's quote. For a while now I have...
Read full commentPosted in Leviathan
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