"The Casual Vacancy" (and the critics)

Out of sheer curiousity I pre-ordered J.K.Rowling’s new book ‘The Casual Vacancy,’ knowing I would have preferred it if she had written another book set in the magical world and not in Muggle-land. I tried to read it as if she was just another writer and after a few pages that got easier. She’s a natural story-teller with a sharp eye for the physical presence of people and an acute ear for dialogue. The characters turned out to be people I have known, or at least seen around town, worried, confused, pained, their self-imposed mores and prejudices as tortuous as human beings in the western world can contrive. It has grim humour - is a black comedy really - and there is a terrible inevitability to Part Five when the comedy leaks away. I read all through the night and that, for me, is the sign of a good book.

Yesterday I read what the critics said. J.K.R. doesn’t have to be concerned with them, her fortune and her reputation is made, so for me it was more  case of the critics themselves being under scrutiny. I’ve bought a couple of novels after reading reports on them by the critic in the Independent and both times been disappointed and bored. For ‘The Casual Vacancy’ his piece was given the whole of page three of the ‘News‘ section. He makes a precis of the story then swings in at the author blaming her for ‘clunky‘ work and an obsession with geographical detail, both puzzling complaints. What exactly does he mean by ‘clunky’ for a start? (That’s rhetorical - I use the word myself but he is a literary critic and  I would expect something a bit more precise from him.) Is it a lazy way of saying he doesn’t like her technique? It’s a term more fitted to an engine so I suppose he means it doesn’t run smoothly. Well, something kept me reading all night despite the bumps, and as for ‘geographical detail’ I didn’t personally notice any more than were strictly necessary to the creation of place and atmosphere. Some people just hate success in another.  

From what I saw of other critics it seems some became obsessed with the social morals in the tale. Well, they were there but, glory be, there were no sentimentally sainted underdogs, none of the characters came off well; there were victims in all the homes, lots of prejudice on all sides, cruelty in both directions, and no heroes, except possibly one.

My new friend Herman: Day One.

This isn't a cake to be made on a whim. In ten days time I should have enough starter dough to share between myself and three friends and then we can bake a cake each! Hence the name, Herman the German Friendship cake.

There is a snag. I don't know three people who will thank me for a portion of uncooked Herman, however friendly, and as Chloe gave me the recipe I don't think SHE wants to be blessed with dough - only a nice firm fruity cake.

The other possible snag is my history with 'yeasty goods,' prompting remarks such as that made by an Irish friend after tasting my Chelsea Buns: "Now, what went wrong Carol?'

Autumn Equinox and time for celebrating natures last dramatic colour show and anticipating domestic warmth. The sweet peas brought by a friend do look, as she said, a bit 'fin de siecle' but the smell is wonderful and I'm determined to grow some myself next year. I have plenty of fencing. Beside them sit two of my harvest from the new apple tree, not bad for a beginner, (the other four went into a spiced apple cake).

Orchids can look more plastic than plastic but this is a pretty one, and then, for the inner person - mostly Sandy - I have to recognise the influence of Aussie culinary skill on my household. Do you recognise it Gillian?  I've only tried about a third of the extraordinary muffin and scone recipes but there is one particular savoury three cheese muffin that deserves an award.

Shop life

I haven't taken any photos of the shop since it opened. Today I thought how nice it is looking (all my daughter's work, not mine) so fished the camera out from the crumbs at the bottom of my bag. The space isn't any bigger - damn these stone walls, they just don't grow - but we've got more into it and boast a small cool cabinet to house flavoured tofus, no-cheese cheese, sensitive probiotics, cool drinks and concentrated cherry juice for arthritics and gout sufferers (and people like me who just enjoy it on yoghourt.)

The flow of customers continues to be a daily source of information and amusement. Fortunately I don't have to do the hard work of ordering, restocking, book-keeping; I sit comfortably doing my crossword puzzles and catching up on the mayhem in the world. Sometimes I wish I had more free time but on the whole I think it's good for me because I would probably hide away at home and never see anyone. Today I learned, not from the newspaper, that there is a plague of bedbugs sweeping the USA, biting people in even the most costly hotels, the tasteless cads, (hope you've avoided them Glen!) A customer about to travel Stateside came in for clove oil which she has been assured they hate. I wished her a bite-free visit.

A pretty Japanese woman  (they all look so ridiculously small and young but she has a 12 year old daughter and is a qualified vet) told me that vets in Japan use homeopathy and flower essences to treat their patients. She is here on a sort of working holiday so had just spent a week on a pig farm in England (what fun!) where she had been unable to convince the farmers to try alternative remedies on their porkers. I assured her she would have no better success in this part of the world but she's about to do a FF Experience Week so doesn't have to face that particular challenge.

Then the bandy-legged satyr with no front teeth came in for his Horny Goats Weed. I haven't dared ask him yet if it's working - he would probably tell me.

It's an odd moment to have caught the sisters but I'm not good at timing, or photography really. We were determined Sophie should get some of the best of the north to take back with her and the weather obliged with a break in the cloud.

Hidden Agenda

I’m not a lover of books or films that arise out of war. Mostly I feel that once a war is over it’s best to get on with life and forget something that is fundamentally shameful and reveals the deep flaws in human nature. Certainly I dislike dramas made out of the carnage for entertainment. Even if they claim to be showing the ‘true horror’ they are still capitalising on terror, pain, loss, and injustices.  

So would never have bought it but borrowed it out of curiosity: “Hidden Agenda’ by Martin Allen. Subtitled ‘ How the Duke of Windsor Betrayed the Allies’ the book emerged from  the author’s research into the life and times of Charles Eugene Bedaux, a Frenchman  suspected of spying for the Germans in WW1 who went on to become very rich in the USA, earning the reputation as a philanthropist whilst continuing to have pro-German leanings developing, during the 30’s into Fascist ideals, and active support for Hitler. 

 As Martin Allen looked through the papers owned by his historian father, he found more and more references to ex-king Edward and an increasing body of proof that the  pro-German, pro-Fascist monarch helped Hitler at every opportunity. His sympathies were already so plain even before his coronation that when the opportunity arose over the king’s wish to marry the twice divorced Mrs. Simpson, Prime Minister Baldwin forced Edward into a corner to ensure that he had no option but abdicate. 

When war broke out Edward, now living in France as the Duke of Windsor (on a handsome stipend from the English coffers) had himself made a British major so he could inspect Allied installations and posts  and be in a position to influence the process of the war so radically that he virtually gave the Ardennes and France to the Germans. His information caused Hitler to change plans and Panzer divisions surrounded the Allies creating a situation so disastrous that the war in the West would have been over. That it was not, that there was time to put into effect the contingency plans already made back in England for evacuation, has never been fully explained. Just as the the Panzers were in position for the final assault Hitler, to the bafflement and frustration of his generals, halted them, giving them no reason for the order. In retrospect it seems likely he expected the English, confronted with the imminent loss of almost all their forces, to negotiate a ‘peace’  rather than see them decimated. The Fuhrer, it was reported was enraged when, instead of the words of surrender he was expecting, he heard Churchill’s famous speech declaring his intention to fight every step of the way. 

I’ve heard recordings of that speech so often over my lifetime, either whole or in part, often mimicked in jest, the heavy, measured cigar-slurred tones of the man whose sheer force of will drove the British forward from that moment of virtual annihilation to victory. When I read it in the context of what had gone before I wept.

Those were different times, the monarchy not as toothless and still revered by the majority of the population, even so the efforts made during and after the war to cover the ex-king’s betrayal were extraordinary. According to Allen the destruction of all files, recorded messages, transcripts, computers, etc., at Bletchley Park  ordered by Churchill after the war happened with this end in view, that the people of Britain should never know how close they had come to being sold out to Nazi Germany by one of their royal family. 

The same efforts were made to destroy letters and documents remaining in Germany. Anthony Blunt was sent over to see to this task, thereby adding black humour and an element of despairing naivety to the good intentions. Anthony Blunt turned out to be amongst those spying for the Russians. He had subsequently to be protected by the British government because of what he knew as a result of this special mission!

Afterthought: Today the monarchy is, I imagine, toothless in the face of the Government, but their opinions make waves. Will the Prince who was a devotee of Laurens van der Poste, (godfather to Prince William), the prince who spoke out in favour of Alternative Medicine in a speech to the BMA, who will call an architectural carbuncle a carbuncle, and who, believing like Sir Laurens, in the essential sameness of all religions, declared his intention to be known as ‘Defender of the Faiths,’ ever be allowed to be king?