Pop, Pop, Pop

The season for shooting partridges opens on September 1 and the season for pheasants on October 1, the season for grouse opened on August 12 (the "glorious" twelfth) but I didn't think we had grouse round here; in addition it is illegal to shoot any gamebird on a Sunday; in spite of all this somebody- and surely more than a single somebody- is pop-pop-popping away like Billio somewhere within earshot. So what are they shooting at- plates?

It's not a sound I like to hear.

The Uses Of Literacy

Patrick Melrose hides his fear of almost everything behind a mask of contempt for almost everything. In "real life" I'd avoid spending time in his company (because apart from everything else he'd be horribly if wittily rude to me) but as a character in a novel I find him fascinating.

This is one of the uses of fiction: it introduces us to people we would never otherwise encounter- and even takes us inside their heads. It's no substitute for direct, living experience but serves as a valuable supplement.