(no subject)

"People like Lindsay Anderson can never learn what people like Alan Bennett should know in their bones: that common sense and a sense of humour are the same thing moving at different speeds. A sense of humour is common sense, dancing. Those who lack humour are without judgment, and should be trusted with nothing"

[Clive James, 1979]

Clive James is my favourite non-fiction prose writer, and this is an example of why. His ability to work on a thought until it makes fundamental sense, even when working to a deadline (this is from the weekly television column he wrote from 1972 to 1983), is phenomenal - or, to put it as he did much more sweetly, "All I can do is turn a phrase until it catches the light". The "all" in that sentence is misleading, because to do that is a tremendous talent, and is in some ways the goal of all prose writing, certainly jounralistic and transactional writing.

It also helps that agree entirely with the above sentiment. I worry most when I cease to find anything amusing, because that means I'm missing something important.

In the meantime, if I can write, just very occasionally, as lucidly as Clive James, and maintain an argument and a humorous line as well as he does, I will be well pleased...

(no subject)

I now have "Once More, With Footnotes" by Terry Pratchett. I was dithering whether to buy the copy ordered in, and was swung by one of the articles therein being titled "Elves are Bastards"

libellum - if you really want the book, and don't want to wait for it, I am happy to pass it on to you for the equivalent (£18) in book tokens, if we can arrange meeting up to exchange. On the other hand, I'm quite happy to hold on to it for myself...

Epiphan-ette

Just occasionally, turning on the television at a random point slings a phrase at you of such startling clarity (or, more usually, fatuousness) that you can't help but sit up and take notice.

In this case, the random pahrase was:

"Did suddenly having all this extra money make it easier or harder?"

With the possible exception of "claiming Social Security", I can think of almost nothing that would elicit the answer "harder"

Well, there is "entering the kingdom of Heaven", I suppose, but the Conservative Party's experiments with really small camels and really big needles are hoping to sort that one out in the near future...