Fowler's End
A brilliant, funny book. Published in
1957, it's fresh and relevant now.
While I was slowly reading it, between
library loans, certain parts really hit home. There was a paragraph,
that I came across while the news broke about the couple who shot
their burglars being banged up for three days, about English police
stations being designed to strike fear in the hearts of the innocent,
while making criminals feel right at home.
Then, as the news about the
Hillsborough cover-up came out, I read Kersh's mocking account of a policeman
during the concluding Fowler's End riot outside the playhouse.
Disturbed by boiling water thrown from a window heating up his
helmet, he has a flashback to his training for dealing with rabid
dogs. He thrusts his hand into his helmet, and this in turn he
thrusts into the face of a nanny out buying nappies inadvertantly
caught up in the riot. “Later he swore by the Almighty that she was
frothing at the mouth, and had a tail”.
In Sam Youdenow, the dodgy owner of the
playhouse and other parts of Fowler's End, Kersh has predicted the
typical footballer's or estate agent personality blueprint.
Sweet Tooth
Finished this last week. I make sure I
get hold of all Ian McEwan's books as they come out. This is a second
look at the MI5 / MI6 black arts, and a great exploration of the
human side of the agencies personnel and their efforts to get results
through influencing the arts and the media.
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