And yes, like every other sod in the blogsphere, I too went through my phase of discovering the wonderful writings of George Orwell as an adolescent. (And there was me thinking of myself as such a unique type at the time.)
Living in a one bookshop town, I didn't have a lot of choice when it came to what political literature I could buy and read when the political bug first bit me but luckily it was a couple of years after 1984 and that meant that you couldn't go into this bookshop without tripping over remaindered copies of Orwell reprints. In a short space of time I devoured all the Orwell that I could get my hands on (though I've never be able to bring myself to read Burmese Days, and I'm saving Coming Up For Air for a rainy day.)
I know most people will cite Homage To Catalonia as their favourite Orwell book - and I love it too - but I've also always had a soft spot for Down and Out in Paris and London.
2 comments:
Hello F.N Brill,
The 'one-bookshop town' refers to my adolescent upbringing in Hemel Hempstead, which my Dad had to move to when he got on his proverbial 'bike' to find work. (I know living in America you may not get this reference but it stems from a famous speech that the Tory Employment minister of the early Thatcher era, Norman Tebbit, when referring to his father unemployed in the thirties, said: "My father didn't riot, he got on his bike and looked for work.")
How does one best describe Hemel Hempstead?
If it ever gets mentioned on television, it is either because of the 'Magic Roundabout' or it's the punchline to a joke in a sitcom.* ("Martin is acting a bit peculiar - he says that he wants to move to Hemel Hempstead." (Cue - canned laughter).
Mmm, no one ever seems to claim to be from Hemel. Maybe because it was one of the post war New Towns to absorb the overspill from London, so everyone is either "really from London, ya know?" or from Scotland or Ireland, etc etc. Anywhere, but actually admitting that they are Hemel, born and bred. ;-)
A Leftist Trainspotterish fact, that may or not be of interest, is that British Leftist Trainspotter extraordinnaire Terry Liddle - not so much a Trainspotter, as someone driving the bloody train - told me that the intellectual guru of the CPGB Jack Conrad/John Bridge/Jack Chamberlain (the guy has more pseudonyms than I have Smiths albums) was originally a member of the Young Communist League in Hemel Hempstead. Born and bred, in fact. Maybe it's my inverted snobbery but I can't help feeling that he is probably from Longdean Park in Hemel - a place so posh they don't even have pavements in the streets, in case it encourages the unwashed to walk through there ;-). I may be wrong; he may claim to be a horny handed man of the working class by claiming to be from Adeyfield, Highfied, Bennetts End or Woodhall Farm - places that mean absolutely nothing to you - but I doubt he is.
So, the next time you see a blog post from me with the gratuitous references to Irn Bru, Peter Mullan, GLASGOW CELTIC!!!, just remember that I am coming down with a bad case of the 'Sean Connery's' - a condition written up in the British Medical Journal, The Lancet, a few years back where a person becomes more Scottish the further they get away from Scotland. A milder form of this affliction is also known as 'Roderick Stewartisnosis'.
* First time I ever heard Hemel Hempstead mention on television was in an old episode of the brilliant British sit com, Porridge. Yes, it was a punchline and it did a raise ;-)
"magic roundabout"?
Oops - I meant to write Funny Roundabout. It is also that mention of "Bobby Dylan, the young Bobby Dylan". I came across old Zebedee for a second, there. My apologies.
Post a Comment