George Bowling’s insect-memory is filled with the sound of buzzing. That buzzing sound begins in the kitchen, accompanied by the smell of bins. I am reminded of Joni Mitchell’s wonderful line to a wonderful song, ‘The hissing of summer lawns…
Read MoreThe teeth seem to topple off the end of the sentence. If you read the sentence out loud you fall more heavily on really came to me. Then the sentence starts
Read MoreIt is surprising how few writers know how to finish a sentence well. George Orwell’s sentences usually end quite firmly, with something quite definite, usually a concrete noun…
Read MorePoor George Bowling has had a shock. He has returned to his childhood haunts of Lower Binfield — the ‘bin’ part is important — and found nothing as he left it. Shock is a passing emotion but it’s also timeless…
Read MoreOrwell’s essay has been a relief from thinking about politics. Instead, it has allowed me to imagine small, awkward and absurd things: creatures going about the ungainly business of sex, which is to say spring…
Read More
