 |
From
the right, Scruffy, Roddy, Millie, the three small bears, and a mouse dressed
for a ball. A S Byatt is my wife’s reading. Definitely not my cup of tea!
|
It seems
almost a mantra to some people – no matter what level their intelligence: “I
haven’t got time to read.” But I am never remotely convinced of the truth of
this. It suggests two things to me: a reluctance to make the effort to engage,
and a fear encountering uncomfortable or unsettling ideas. Yet the loss of
stimulation to the imagination seems to me to be a very heavy price to pay. Good
literature (fiction) can, I think, teach you some of the best lessons you are
ever likely to get. The consequences of people’s actions unfold before your
eyes – through the medium of words – and you learn about societies and places of
which – often – you have had no experience. All this, you may say, is
vicarious. Be this as it may, the impact is nowise diminished; and what you can
learn from the safety of your chair or the library can inform the experiments
you make in your life. “The journey is safer for the map”, writes Emerson. And so
it is – no matter what level of risk you decide is right for you.
_______________________
Newspaper
articles can be useful too – from the point of view of direct advice. I remember
some years ago a columnist advising what to do if you found yourself in a
railway carriage full of drunken football fans who suddenly decide to direct
their attention to you. The worst thing is to freeze. The best thing is to join
in:
“How are
you doing lads? Got any spare larger? I’m dying for a drink!”
“Who do
you support, then?”
“Peasmarsh
Wanderers.”
“Never
’eard of ’em.”
“Not
surprised, mate, they’re rubbish! But I couldn’t ’elp where I was born!”
Of
course, a different kind of reaction is required in a truly menacing situation.
The poet Louis MacNeice, confronted by some youths carrying flick–knives
outside a tube station late at night, simply stood where he was and spouted
complete nonsense. His would–be assailants melted away . . .
George Melly
adopted a similar strategy on leaving the back door of a theatre late at night,
and encountering some youths with broken bottles in their hands. He pretended
to be completely mad, and the youths fled!
The brother
of one regular reader of this blog, on being approached by a man with a knife
in a South American city, adopted a karate pose. The man backed off and walked
away, but my friend’s brother knew nothing whatsoever about martial arts!
No comments:
Post a Comment