KEV67

My son has a new favourite called 'There's a Bear in your Book' by Tom Fletcher. This book is unusual in that it is quite interactive. You have to shake the book, flap the book, rock the book, and imagine sheep, all in order to get the bear ready for bed and off to sleep. I alsk bought him another Julia Donaldson book called The Highway Rat. It reminds me of a poem, but I cannot remember which. Maybe it is The Owl and the Pussycat.

I took Adrian to the Unitarians' meeting this afternoon. He was as good as gold. The old women liked him. I let him run about after the service. I sometimes wonder whether the pastor is studying an Open University course. The topic of the sermon was the Third Disruptor. He told about how a Victorian doctor used the application of logic to track down a source of cholera to a water pump in a London street. Then I wondered, from what he was saying, whether a third disruptor was akin to a third body in a three body system, which is chaotic and unpredictable. Then he mentioned climate change and diversity, equity and inclusion, and said Unitarians should be active in it. Horlicks to that I thought, or something similar. If the Unitarians have no religious doctrine I am not signing up to any political one. I think Heraclitus was mentioned, who established that change was inevitable. I am unfamiliar with Heraclitus, but I will look him up. Edit: Third Attractor, not Disruptor.

I have to admit there are lots of nuggets of information in this book. For instance, I just read that Peugeot cars always have a '0' in the middle of their model number, because that was where the hole for the crank lever was on the early models. They were going to name one of their early cars '21', which was something to do with horse power, but they put the 2 and the 1 either side of the crank lever socket.

No, but I bought my mother two books. One was about a walk that commemorates Queen Eleanor, who was Richard the Lionheart's and King John's mother. I also bought her a book about a queen or duchess who was highly involved in the War of the Roses, but I cannot remember her name or which side. Then I bought Little Adrian four books, all by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet.

This book is about the Rolls Royce Merlin, which powered Spitfires, Huricanes, Mosquitos, Lancasters, P51 Mustangs and numerous other aircraft. Definitely the most important aircraft engine produced in Britain during WW2. I am about half way through. It is a bit different to what I was expecting. I thought it would be about superchargers, carburettors, high octane fuels and compressor ratios, rare metals, coolant temperatures, etc, etc. Instead, it started off with gliders, the development of the internal combustion and the early days of flight. Then it recounts how Henry Royce met Charles Rolls who formed the company, Rolls Royce. Then it proceeds through WW1, the interwar years, and then WW2, which I am getting to now. The book is not so much about the engineering, but the pretty wide characters that got involved along the way. For example, there is a chapter on Lady Lucy Houston, who started off as a chorus dancer in Paris and monkey branched her way into the British aristocracy. She put up the money for Britain's Scheider Cup entry for flying boats after the Labour government pulled its funding in 1931. So far my favourite character is Henry Royce himself. He started off as a humble apprentice. He would look at at a piece of engineering someone else had done and find a way of improving it. These days Rolls Royce cars are about opulence, but back in the early days, Rolls Royce cars gained the reputation for reliability and smoothness. Henry Royce was a perfectionist. He insisted that his engineers get their designs right on the draught board, before going to the next stage and attempting to fix it then. I used to be a computer programmer, and on the software engineering course I attended, we were taught to get the specifications right, before the high level design, and then the high level design before the detailed design, and then the code. It was very difficult to do. Henry Royce reminded me a bit of some of the very clever engineers I met. He could just do things and think of solutions. Apparently Royce said he did not invent things; investors went broke. He just improved things. Stylistically, I find the author's asides jar. For example, he breaks off to say he closed off some apparently redundant exhausts on a Ferrari to find the engine did not sound as musical. On another aside, he says he talked to a survivor of the Guernica bombing. The Nazis were testing their bombers on ordinary citizens. It was nothing directly to do with the Merlin.

I took Adrian back to the United Reformed Church in Bury St Edmunds. I waa going to tell them I had decided to look for another church more able to cater for little people. As it happened, Adrian behaved well this time and people seemed glad to see him again. So, I didn't tell them that. The main thing I remember from the service was one of the elders telling a story about a Comanchee girl called 'She Who Sits Alone' because she was an orphan. There was a drought, and, I can't remember exactly, but someone went up a mountainside and received a message from the Spirit in the Sky that He'd been watering the earth, but what had he been getting back? Nada, that's what. Therefore, if they wanted rain they have to sacrifice their most valuable possesions. However, the brave did not want to put his best bow on the fire. He needed it to hunt with so tribe would not starve. The squaw did not want to burn her blanket. Without it her children might freeze. The medicine man did not want to give up his bag of remedies, because he needed them to treat people when they became sick. 'She Who Sits Alone' decided she must cast her treasured doll, which she had received from her parents, of the sacrificial pyre. When she did that it started raining so she was renamed 'She Who Saved Her People'. I am not sure why I didn't like that story.

I liked some things about the book. I liked the Quilp, Swiveller and the Marchioness characters. I think Dickens was still refining his trade, because his later books were better. The humour was good. With the exception of Dick Swiveller, the fun characters were evil and the good characters were boring.

About three more chapters to go. Poor Nell is going to join the angels. Looks like she has consumption. Tuberculosis is an odd diesease. Would she have succumbed to it if she had not been forced to leave home and roam around the country? TB is an infectious diesease, but nobody seems to worry about being in her company. Mayve it is one of those dieseases that everyone is exposed to. I don't think much of the ending. I am not convinced Sampson Brass would have broken down like that. The first reason is that there is no real evidence against him, just the word of a servant girl. The second reason is whether he refeives immunity from prosecution he would be a ruined man if he confessed. I doubt those lawyer friends of Kit could have offered immunity from prosecution. I also doubt they could have got Kit's guilty verdict overturned. The other thing I did not like was the massive coincidende of one of the lawyers' brothers living in the quiet country village the other side of Birmingham where Nell and her grandfather fetched up. I wondered how they would track her down. If the single gentleman had hired some sort of detective I might have believed it.

I have been enjoying the section with Dick Swiveller, the Marchioness, and Kit's trial. I have been wondering whether this part of the plot is plausible. I would have thought that notwithstanding any extra information that came to light, once Kit had been found guilty that was it. I seem to remember it was very difficult to get a retrial or a verdict reversed. There was a programme called Rough Justice that used to bring attention to miscarriages of justice. One would think it would be even more difficult to get a verdict set aside in the Victorian era. Even if you could get a retrial, it would be the Marchioness' word against a solicitor's. I think Charles Dickens was an articled clerk, so one would have thought he would know. Dickens was not particularly keen on lawyers. He criticised them in The Pickwick Papers, Bleak House, David Copperfield, Great Expectations and, now, The Old Curiosity Shop.

I have finished. The last three letters were on Scotland. I thought he must have been quite bold to tour around some parts of the Highlands, because it was after the first uprising for the Old Pretender. He said that he was not in much danger, because he had got permission from the lords, who were always hospitable. That was in one place in the letter. In another, he said hardly anyone spoke English, and it was as well to let people think you were French. I wondered what he was up to. Whether all these tours were business or pleasure, or a mix of the two. Pity he never got to Ireland. He would have had to have been bolder still.

Dickens is foreshadowing Nell's death a bit thick. I am looking forward to getting back to Dick Swivener.

I saw Sophie Kinsella had died. I never read any of her books, but shocked at her age. I have not read any Joanna Trollope neither. I wondered if she was related to Anthony Trollope, which I supposed she must have been asked once or twice in her life.

Stanley Baxter, that's a blast from the past. I'd have thought he was about the same age as Dick Emery.

About another 50 pages to go. It is alright. I would say it is more fantasy than science fiction and not as good as his best graphic novel work. That is my opinion anyway. It is not as intellectual or as thought-provoking as the best sci-fi. It is more of a sci-fi / fantasy / esoteric yarn. It does have engaging characters. This looks like the first of a series.

The introduction said the reading public who were surprised by Nell's fate must not have been paying close attention, because clues and allusions were being steadily dropped. I am not sure I would have twigged it. I would have been worried about the schoolboy who died, because what was the point of those two chapters otherwise? I think there is a big hjnt in chapter 44. 'But before they had reached the corner of the lane, the man came running after them, and pressing hee hand, left something in it - two old, battered, smoke-encrusted penny pieces. Who knows but they shone as brightly in the eyes of angels as golden gifts that have been chronicled on tombs?' Not much mistaking that.

I am still only about half way through. I know it ends badly for Nell, so I thought I would read a bit of the introduction. It makes out Nell's character was based on Dickens' sister-in-law, Mary Hogarth, who died aged 17, sweet and pure and lovely. Dickens' weird lovelife kept leaking into his novels, if you believe his biographers. Dickens used to have a blind spot with writing pretty, young women, but he got better at them as he got older. Apart from Nell, the introduction reminded me that the plot with Nell's brother seemed to go nowhere. Nell's brother was plotting with Dick Swivener with the aim of Swivener marrying Nell so that they could get control of the old man's money. Then the next time we meet Dick, Quilp is introducing him to Sampson Brass and telling him to take him on as an apprentice. I wondered why Quilp did this, because it seems like he was performing friendly act. Why did Quilp help Dick Swivener out. I also now realise who the half-starved marchioness is. I saw her name on the blurb on the back of the book, but I had read half the book and she had not been introduced yet. It is unusual in novels to introduce major characters late on. I reckon I do know who she is, but Dick Swivener has not given her her nickname yet. .

One thing I've been wondering is that Kit's mother is a widow with two small children. She cannot work. Kit cannot earn enough to keep them all on his own. How does she get by? Does she get parish relief?

I was wondering the other day how many humourous books lasted the test of time. A lot of old comedies and comedians do not seem so funny any more. Maybe, I was not thinking very clearly at the time. True, most the Carry On films do not seem so funny as they did, and I find it hard to believe anyone ever laughed at the likes of music hall comedians such as Arthur Askey and Tommy Trinder. On the other hand, Larry Grayson was sort of music hall, and he was hilarious. Porridge and other 70s sitcoms still hold up. Book wise, Scoop and Lucky Jim are still very funny. It is a long way of getting around to the observation that Charles Dickens could be funny, and it still holds up. For example, in chapter 34 of The Old Curiosity Shop, Dick Swiveler has to agree terms with a new lodger in the room above his employers' office. "Why, you see,' said Dick, 'my name's not Brass, and -' 'Who said it was? My name's not Brass. What then?' 'The name of the master of the house is,' said Dick. 'I'm glad of it,' returned the single gentleman; 'it's a good name for a lawyer. Coachman, you may go. So may you, sir.'

I am still only half way through. I get the feeling it is going to turn bad for Nell. Her grandfather has just gambled all their money. Just when things were looking up.

I took Adrian back to the United Reformed Church, but it did not go well. Adrian thinks we are going to the park to play on the swings when I take him into town, so he was dissappointed to be taken into a church. He started crying and would not stop. I took him outside, where one of the elders said she would unlock the church hall for us. I stayed in the church hall for the rest of the service. Adrian would not stop crying. First the elder came back and made me a cup of coffee. Then the others came in. I askee the elder about the possibility of having Adrian christened there. She pointed out the secretary and I talked to her. I was a bit surprised. I thought a church would rip my arm off to christen a child. She said that at present the church did not have a minister, although that could be got around. She said she would have to talk to me to ascertain why I wanted Adrian to be christened and to inform me of my responsibilities. Then she said there would have to be a church meeting to discuss it. She gave me her contact numbers and invited me to phone her about it later. I have to say I wonder about the future of the United Reformed Church. I went to three in Reading. Two had very elderly congregations. The other had a much younger congregation due to its immigrant community. The church in Bury St Edmunds is very elderly and they do not have a minister currently. The Anglican church I used to go to in the 80s had an elderly congregation. Maybe people start to return to the church when they become elderly. The congregation if the United Reformed Church in Bury St Edmunds will likely have mostly died in ten years' time, and so far as I can tell, they are not welcoming many children into the church. Another thing I have been wondering is how did churches deal with screaming children back in the old days. Did they just put up with it? Did someone stay home with the little ones and go to the evening service? The best system I saw was when I attended a Greek Orthodox service in Reading. The priest went through the ceremony, wafted the incense and pinged the bells, but the children were allowed to play. I can't see children just being allowed to play, for instance run up the aisles or up the stairs at most churches.

Alan Moore is about the greatest graphic novel writer ever. Before him, I think they were just called comics. Therefore, I was interested to start reading a novel I'd seen he had written called The Great When. It had a sort of prologue, which was so crummy I thought I would only give it one more chapter's chance. However, the official first chapter is not too bad. I will have to see how it goes. The blurb on the back made it sound a bit like a book by China Mieville called The City & The City.

I am quite enjoying The Curiosity Shop. I wonder wherher the old man was going senile. It strikes me Little Nell could get a job as a maidservant if she were not lumberee with the old man. I reckon his best chance was with the workhouse. It is not exactly a spoiler, but I have heard it does not work out very well fpr Little Nell. I reckon she was let down by people who should have looked after her better. Perhaps her grandfather was going senile, but her brother was very selfish.

I tried reading the page without showing it and he still walked across the room. He definitely remembers the words. Maybe he does not understand what they all mean, but he remembers them. In another Sue Hendra / Paul Linnet book, Nobot the Robot with no Bottom, there was a page in which Bear says he could not use Bernard the robot's bottom in his drum kit, because it made a funny noise. I used to look at Adrian and say, 'Does your bottom make a funny noise?' First, he laughed, which made me wonder how much he understood. Lately, he looks at me at me in a funny way when we get to that page. So far, the best clues I have of Adrian understanding any language is his sense of humour. I have been resisting buying any of the Supertato books by Hendra and Linnet. But since I am having difficulty getting Adrian to eat any fruit and vegetables, I bought one.

Barry, the Fish with Fingers, is another book by Sue Hendra and Paul Linnet. Adrian makes me laugh, because the other fish ask Barry what he can do with his fingers. While Barry explains he can cut paper chains, knit and play with finger puppets, Adrian has taken to walking across the room, because the next page says 'tickling'. This makes me think Adrian has started to recognise words, but it is possible he recognised the picture.

I was not aware you had had a child. Belated congratulations.