I’m glad that Kerensa has found the Corbetts, and impressed that she has kept a record of when she read it. Last week’s discussion has started me thinking about books I read in hospital. More particularly, I am reminded of a book which I read just after coming out of hospital (probably still an out patient).
Way back in the mists of time, my first attempt at achieving a degree foundered one Christmas, when instead of returning to university I found myself in the psychiatric ward of a general hospital. Initially, I guess, I responded well to the treatment regime, which included antidepressants, and sessions of group therapy (somewhat scary: 40 or more patients, plus one or more psychiatrists, seated in a great big circle). After a few weeks, I became a day patient, but not knowing what to do next, because it wouldn’t have been practical for me to resume my studies at that point.
If recollection serves me right, “Catch 22″, by Joseph Heller, was a birthday present from my uncle. Reading it was devastating. Maybe I was vulnerable – under different circumstances would have taken it in my stride. I think that what it did was to blow away my whole understanding of courage, and duty. I had grown up with the bomber and fighter pilots of the RAF in World War II (not literally – but through the media of books, comics, and films). Their sacrifice had inspired me. And along comes Yossarian (am I right?), to whom the whole thing is a joke.
The funny thing is, I enjoy reading Joseph Heller. And the phrase “catch 22″ is one that I use frequently …
Response
Was “What happened to the Corbetts” written as a children’s book? When I read it, I was an adult psychiatric patient, which may be colouring my recollection of the book. I feel that in some ways it foreshadows “on the Beach”, with its graphic description of the consequences of bombing raids on a British city. Amazingly, it was written before the onset of the Second World War.
Not all of Nevil Shute’s books are depressing. Most recently, I read “in the Wet” (again, with a strong Australia / New Zealand connection). The story has a clever twist, which, of course, I shan’t reveal …
Response
Do people nowadays read the novels of Nevil Shute? I am reminded of “on the Beach”, whose starting point is a conflict during which the countries of the northern hemisphere have wiped each other out, and which takes place somewhere in Australia. It was made into a film, as was “No Highway”, which had James Stewart playing the part of engineer Theodore Honey. Nevil Shute had been an engineer himself, as revealed in his autobiography “Slide Rule”. I think that, eventually, he emigrated to Australia …
Uncategorized
Last night, I managed to watch part of a documentary on More4. It was the first of a series entitled “Engineering Britain’s Superweapons”. This programme told the story of the V bomber force, whose original role was, simply, to deliver nuclear weapons in the event of a war with the Soviet Union. We were reminded that, of course, there would be American ‘planes with a similar objective, which conjured, for me, the picture of our ‘planes cruising over Eastern Europe while Armageddon erupted around them. I was telling my daughter that this was the world I was born into – the sound of a jet ‘plane overhead was, basically, frightening.
And I was reminded of a book I once read, called “Fail Safe”, which offers the scenario of a flight of American bombers accidentally receiving the order to ‘go’, and the consequences thereof …
Journal
to thank you all for your kind comments …
Response
She was ill; she had cancer; but the news was unexpected. I don’t usually post family photos here, but, this evening, I make an exception:
Journal
Thanks for the comments – much processing still to be done.
A Pokemon game (eg Pokemon Platinum) is an adventure. As you play the game, you go places, acquire and train Pokemon, gain distinctions. Your achievements are stored in the game. The 2cm by 2cm card is irreplaceable.
Readers of this blog may recall a real life adventure, when son and I travelled to a big city, and downloaded a unique Pokemon. Now, somebody else has that Pokemon. Or quite possibly, the game has been wiped, the record deleted.
Son has been (in my book) honest. There are ways to get ahead, often called ‘cheats’. He tells me that everyone else uses them. Until now, he has accepted that no son of mine is going to cheat. But what now? He would like something called an Action Replay, which I gather is a device which ‘helps’ to gain credits which otherwise would take time, effort, and skill to achieve. Arguably, we would be redressing an imbalance. But to me it would still be cheating …
Uncategorized
On Saturday, our car was broken into. We don’t know how – the police think that we must have left a door open – although I don’t think that we did – I certainly locked the car.
Two games consoles (a Nintendo DS Lite, and a DSi), several games, and a case were taken. Also, as I discovered later, money had been taken from my wallet. The most significant loss wasn’t the actual goods, which can be replaced, and may be covered by insurance, but over a year of invested effort stored in the games which have gone. Son, along with his friends, spends much of his time playing Pokemon games – training and developing the characters within the games. As an IT professional, I’ve been for a while uncomfortable, knowing that valuable data was being stored, and that there was no way of backing it up. What happened this weekend, admittedly, I didn’t anticipate (although, strangely, I felt on Saturday that something bad was going to happen) …
Uncategorized
On so many levels! I like agath’s suggestion – in many situations it could well communicate better, and avoid stigma (Is stigma too strong a word? perhaps a topic for another post).
This morning, I witnessed a scene that could have come straight out of Fly Away Home. A microlight was leading a skein of (unseasonal) geese over Holyrood Park …
Uncategorized