Have a Good One

Happy New Year. I have failed to post since Christmas Day. The season stunned me into silence. Two people I know died. Harold Pinter and I were friendly enough in a remote kind of way until he threatened to kick me in the balls. Apparently I wasn't showing him enough respect. It's difficult to know how much is enough. As far as his literary status is concerned, Nige got it about right. Other than that, I think I was pretty respectful but, as one or two Xmas guests may have noticed, I can turn sullen at short notice. The other death was that of Sam Huntington. A man of immense wisdom and learning, Sam was very good company on beaches. Thin, bespectacled and grinning, on a few occasions he sat in the sand on Martha's Vineyard with me and one or two others. He reminded me of a hyper-intelligent Olive Oyl. He was one of those Americans who periodically make me want to leave the blasted heath that is Blighty. Oh and I gave up on W.G.Sebald's Austerlitz. It just seemed too easy. Two thirds of the way through I resolved to fling the book aside if the phrase 'said Austerlitz' cropped up once more. A minute later, I flung the book aside.