Careless People

Bruce Dern, Sam Waterson, Mia Farrow, Robert Redford in The Great Gatsby

Ralph, Sam, Tom and Daisy
There are some moments in reading that caused me such profound and deep shocks of instinctive understanding that they emerge regularly in the way I see the world:

• Ralph weeping at the end of Golding’s Lord of the Flies: “for the end of innocence, the darkness of man’s heart”
• Sam, because of his innate goodness, unable to kill Gollum on the slopes of Mount Doom in Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings: “he could not strike this thing lying in the dust, forlorn, ruinous, utterly wretched. He himself, though only for a little while, had borne the Ring, and now dimly he guessed the agony of Gollum’s shrivelled mind and body, enslaved to that Ring, unable to find peace or relief ever in life again.”
• The final verdict on Tom and Daisy Buchanan in F Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby: “They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Andy Serkis, Sean Astin and Elijah Wood in The Lord of the Rings

Brexit Day Comes & Goes
After voting Remain back in 2016, I have been thoroughly expecting to Leave because I am a fan of democracy, although am now ready for – and believe we should have – a fairer form of proportional representation. But, against my political instinct, I respect the result of the Referendum, however much I think it was skewed by misinformation and however much I resent the 13 million who never turned out to vote. I DO think Leave should have meant Leave on March 29th 2019. But the government since 2010 has been, I believe, incapable of managing a whole range of serious matters (Welfare, Housing, Health, Education, the Environment, Criminal Justice, Foreign Policy, Industrial Investment, Brexit…. You name it!) And, it also seems that, under Theresa May’s leadership, the government (cabinet? Just Theresa May herself?) has been quite tone-deaf.

James Aubrey in Lord of the Flies

Feeling like Ralph and Sam
Today I feel like Ralph weeping for the inexplicable evil in the human race. I feel like Sam staring at the Gollum of the UK and pitying its broken, wretched shriveled reputation, waiting to plunge into the volcano….

• Do I blame John Bercow or parliament for the mess we are now it? NO. They are following historical, legal precedents and are open to find a way through the impasse.
• Do I blame the DUP? NO. They are consistently sticking to their principles (unlike many others), principles dating back centuries to protect their hard-won place in the United Kingdom.
• Do I blame Labour or Conservative parties en masse? NO. Because the votes are volatile and split both parties – the parties are just as divided as the country.
• Do I blame Leave voters? NO. They voted democratically.
• Do I blame Remain voters? NO. They voted democratically.
• Do I blame the 13 million voters who COULD have voted in the Referendum but chose not to? NO, although I wish we made voting mandatory – for historical and citizenship reasons.
• Do I blame the EU? NO. They want to get on with other priorities, for example passing the regulations that will stop rich people avoiding paying tax…. (Oooh, surely that didn’t motivate some Brexiter campaigners?)
  

Which Toms & Daisys do I blame?
Where does the blame lie for the current UK debacle? These are the (alphabetical) names of the people I think are responsible for where we are now (and they’re not all Conservatives and they’re not all politicians): Aaron Banks, Stephen Barclay, David (Porky) Cameron, Nick Clegg, Jeremy Corbyn, Dominic Cummings, Paul Dacre, David Davis, Matthew Elliott, Nigel Farage, Liam Fox, Daniel Hannan, Kate Hoey, Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom, Brandon Lewis, George Osborne, Dominic Raab, Theresa Mayn’t, Patrick McLoughlin, Jacob Rees-Mogg, Roland Rudd, Will Straw, Gisela Stuart. (If you don’t know who they are, look them up.)
Vast carelessness
“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.”

Should I blame?
Should I blame Nick Clegg for forming an unnecessary coalition in 2010 allowing Cameron/Osborne and the architects of austerity to ferment the cruelty and discontent that led to the atmosphere resulting in Brexit? Should I blame the sloppy social media moderation that allowed manipulation, lies and misinformation to spread during the Referendum campaign? Should I blame the Media for stirring up alt-right finger-pointing? Should I blame hardline Brexiters (from both main parties)? Should I blame Labour for being vague about their oppositional policies and tactics? Should I blame Theresa May and her advisers for arrogantly calling a general election and recklessly losing the government’s majority? Should I blame Theresa May for not forming a cross-party Brexit cabinet after triggering Article 50 – a Brexit cabinet who could negotiate a deal that would pass through parliament? (All of these factors attract blame, in my opinion.) What happens next? As I’ve said before, Time Will Tell. I would love to see a History book from 2119 and read the paragraph summing up the events of the past two years. I am 100% convinced that neither David Cameron nor Theresa May will appear in the top 50 UK Prime Ministers of all time….

One can only hope....

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring

23rd March
Today always prompts reflection. It’s my Mum’s birthday – 23rd March – born in 1926. My memories of Annie Elizabeth Veronica Johnson (née Penn) usually centre on her devotion to me and my siblings, her sense of humour and her generous spirit of curiosity. My regular mind’s-eye-image of her is sitting on the rug in front of the fire, leaning on the cushion of an armchair, reading a historical novel or family saga. I always think it’s fitting that her birthday arrives soon after the official arrival of Spring with sunlight increasing, buds beginning to burst, lambs taking their first jerky steps around the Yorkshire fields and an atmosphere of rebirth, renewal, resurrection and regrowth. Happy Birthday, Mum!

What is all this juice and all this joy?
Sally’s birthday is less than a week before my Mum’s birthday. Having safely returned from the Trans-Siberian express with remarkable memories, I imagine this year felt extra-comforting to receive cards, flowers, books, toiletries and promises of future “experiences” involving chocolate and wine. Spring promises sun, promises the explosion of nature, promises more walks in the countryside. Winter is behind for a time. Spring feels to be earlier this year than last. To conclude I’ve copied below a Gerard Manley Hopkins sonnet about Spring, not an easy poem but a great one if you let the sounds enter your soul. He’s a peculiar poet with his sprung rhythm and exclamatory phrases that bounce into your brain without being grammatically attached to anything else. Time to spring into Spring.

Spring by G M Hopkins

Nothing is so beautiful as Spring –
    When weeds, in wheels, shoot long and lovely and lush;
    Thrush’s eggs look little low heavens, and thrush
Through the echoing timber does so rinse and wring
The ear, it strikes like lightnings to hear him sing;
    The glassy peartree leaves and blooms, they brush
    The descending blue; that blue is all in a rush
With richness; the racing lambs too have fair their fling.

What is all this juice and all this joy?
    A strain of the earth’s sweet being in the beginning
In Eden garden. – Have, get, before it cloy,
    Before it cloud, Christ, lord, and sour with sinning,
Innocent mind and Mayday in girl and boy,
    Most, O maid’s child, thy choice and worthy the winning.

Tastes of Beijing

From train sink to hotel sink to The Forbidden City

From sink to sink

The top left picture shows the shared sink on the Trans-Siberian Express and, by way of contrast, the top left is the elegant sink they are currently enjoying in China’s capital city. Tiananmen Square and The Forbidden City are key sights to visit in Beijing and Sally is seen above entering the World Heritage Site of the Imperial Palace complex. Maggie is shown below in the same place, alongside the appealing outdoor corridor and private ablution area of the quaint and welcoming Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel. The Sudoku book (look closely) travelled across Asia to be there; it doesn’t come as standard issue in the hotel.

Return to China

Sally has been to China before (with Emily, Harriet and me too) on an extended visit during a hot July and August back in 2009. That time we travelled widely and saw a total eclipse of the sun; this time Sally will be based in Beijing at the end of a journey with her pal, Maggie, from Saint Petersburg, via Moscow and the Trans-Siberian Express through Mongolia to China. As far as I know it’s the first time for Maggie in China, though she has recently travelled to Japan with her daughter, Amy. As I said in the first of these dispatches (by proxy) from the East, the world is at once a small place and an immense, unfathomable place.

The Double Happiness Courtyard Hotel

The images above are from the magical oasis where they stayed in China. After travelling 4,992 miles to reach their destination, rest, relaxation and restful lighting were all appreciated.

Ri Tan Park to Shipley

One less obvious place (not on the main tourist routes) visited by the dynamic duo was Ri Tan Park with extensive gardens, a small lake and dramatic “Star Gates.” The picture above has interesting vertical imagery with nature and man-made structures, ancient and modern, mingling on the eye…. All that remains is to trust British Airways to bring the intrepid travellers back to their families and friends in Yorkshire and the UK.... and the world....

Mission Impossible? Mais non....Mission Accomplished!

The Trans-Siberian Railway

Proxy Adventures
So I’m not there myself but into my phone arrive sporadic images from Sally and Maggie and their adventures across Asia. What can I glean?

• Passport and visa checks and compartment searches at borders
• Sunsets, Sunrises, Fascinating glimpses of life in remote corners of the world
• Forest, Snow, Steppes, Lakes, the Gobi Desert
• Stupendous Lake Baikal (biggest, deepest lake on the planet)
• Grumpy Chinese guard, hard beds, limited hot water
• Friendly fellow passengers (Dutch)
• Jolly Restaurant car staff who will (also) drink and dance
• Champagne, Beer, Wine and all types of vodka
• Borscht, Stroganoff, Pot Noodles, Chocolate
• Memories of the Romanovs passing through Yekaterinburg….

Next stop Beijing