THE JOY OF DISCOVERING AN AUTHOR I HAD NOT HEARD OF BEFORE - MARGARET KENNEDY (1896-1967)

 I cannot fully recall exactly how the discovery happened. There I was, in mid-Google about a month ago, and I saw that a book which told a tale of a buried seaside hotel in Cornwall had recently been republished. It was called 'The Feast' and set in 1947.  Written by Margaret Kennedy, it had been published in 1950. The cover carried the accolades of the Guardian: 'Magic' and the Observer: 'The miniature charm of a Baby Austin'. It also quoted Anita Brookner who claimed the author was 'not only a romantic but an anarchist' and Elizabeth Bowen whose judgement was: 'Exquisite comedy ... Tense, touching, human, dire and funny'. Within a week, a copy from Waterstone's online service was safely in my hands.

Margaret Moore Kennedy

Yesterday I completed my reading of this clever and extraordinary tale. I am very impressed and would like to share my discovery. 

My ignorance about Margaret Kennedy may be shared by some of you. Writers move in and out of fashion and perhaps female authors may have been more vulnerable to disappearing from the literary

THANKS TO OUR LEADER AND HIS MINIONS WE REALLY ARE WORLD-BEATING NOW

First, a cartoon to set the mood: 

Acknowledgements and thanks to RL Oppenheimer for this cartoon that was published last year in the Dutch daily newspaper, NRC, mocking Johnson using a reference to Churchill. 

 

Next, an image of a FB post that was circulating on 13 March this year - a reminder of the chronic failure of empathy in the character of the man who masquerades as our prime minister:

And now I share this post from SKWAWKBOX that appeared this morning (SKWAWKBOX have been telling the truth and exposing this horror ever since it began back at the start of 2020 - my version of

WHAT'S WRONG WITH BRITAIN - THE VOICES OF ANGRY PEOPLE GIVE US THE ANSWERS

 

I copied the statement below from the site of Jeremy Corbyn's 'Peace and Justice' project. This movement - to which I subscribe -  is supporting the People's Assembly national demonstration this Saturday - 26 June 2021 - in London.  JC is still around - and so too are his values - the socialist 'threat' hasn't gone away The Peace and Justice project was launched six months ago. The title of my book: 'The Road to Corbyn' (2016) has become a metaphor for our journey in search of peace and justice for a world in which the interests of the many are prioritized and the few are held to account.    So why are we angry? 'The pandemic would always have been a crisis. But every Tory government decision has made it worse. We have faced: One of the world’s worst pandemic death tolls, heightened by existing health inequalities caused by our low wage, low rights economy; outsourcing, cuts, and privatization damaging the response; and Boris Johnson’s repeated decisions to put profits before safety.  A public sector pay freeze, the lowest sick pay in Europe, and a pitiful pay offer for nurses, alongside no action on disgraceful fire-and-rehire contracts - all whilst ministers hand out huge public contracts to their friends without scrutiny.  No action on every serious issue we face, whether it’s out-of-control rents and a crippling housing crisis, or the climate emergency. Growing authoritarianism, such as attacks on our right to protest.'   It's worth dwelling on each point of outrage for a few seconds. In the great rush of contemporary life, the sheer magnitude of this neoliberal assault on the shape of our country may get overlooked. The

'ALONE IN BERLIN', A MASTERPIECE BY HANS FALLADA - AND A WARNING TO US ALL

Back at the end of March this year, nearly three months ago, I published a blogpost that indicated Fallada's book was having quite an impact upon me. Here's a link:

https://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2021/03/what-kind-of-society-do-i-want-and-is.html

In this extract below, you might pick up on the fear that was developing as I began reading through nearly 600 pages:

'Sam Munson in The National wrote that Fallada's work is 'the great novel of German resistance ... (and) deserves a place among the 20th century's best novels of political witness'. Philip Hensher in the Independent describes the book as '(Fallada's) heartbreaking tale of futile resistance in Nazi Berlin'. I am fifty pages in; there are around 600 pages in all. I am hooked. It is gut-wrenching.'

It became so horrific as I read on, I had to limit my time with the book. Emotionally, I could not stomach more than one incident in one reading session. It must have taken a good month before I finished.

Could such horror happen here in our country? Take a trip back in time to 1927 and ask any German citizen whether such things that became commonplace during the Nazi dictatorship (1933-45) would ever occur in their Weimar republic and nearly all would be shocked and deny the possibility. But economic crises turn the world upside down. Those who have power and wealth and control capital and production thrive on the chaos created by such turmoil. Patterns of behaviour can be transformed so

THE FACE THAT GIVES THE GAME AWAY - HANCOCK, CUMMINGS, JOHNSON: THEY ARE ALL RESPONSIBLE FOR THIS SOCIAL MURDER

My thanks to the Skwawkbox for this gem, today.

Simon Stevens, the head of the NHS, is not one of the good guys. He has been intimately involved with the privatization of the National Health Service. But when asked whether he had confidence in the Minister for Health, Matt Hancock, his face said so much more than words ever could. This was classic body language, declaring 'Yes, this man really is utterly hopeless!' The man who leads this misgovernment in our land expressed such a view, according to a document revealed by Dominic Cummings a couple of days ago.   

The Health Secretary with a penchant for messaging

 

“You’re not really going to answer that? OK”

NHS boss Simon Stevens has been asked on camera whether he agrees that Health Secretary Matt Hancock is totally useless. His reaction is priceless:

Stevens has played a full part in the ongoing americanisation, privatisation and rationing of the NHS, but even he can’t bring himself to pretend Hancock is not a disaster.

That disaster – and Boris Johnson’s willingness to leave him in post for political appearances – has cost more than 150,000 lives needlessly lost in the pandemic. They should both be in the dock.

The day before my 72nd birthday in September last year, I published this blogpost with its two videos and text that highlight the extent of the misgovernment in this country. Such malfeasance has been responsible for the failure to avert this pandemic and for its awful death-toll.  

Here is the link to this blogpost:

http://robdonovan.blogspot.com/2020/09/johnson-and-hancock-lessons-for-all-of.html

The man who misleads this country should try swotting-up on some elementary psychology and

THE ENCHANTMENTS OF MAMMON - HOW CAPITALISM BECAME THE RELIGION OF MODERNITY

 The title for this blogpost is the title of Eugene McCarraher's magisterial book, published in 2019 in the USA. I bought my copy last year as soon as I discovered that this 800-page work that has taken two decades to produce had been published. McCarraher is an associate professor at Villanova University, a Catholic research institution in Pennsylvania. 

Professor Eugene McCarraher - Villanova University

Here are extracts from the insightful review by Julian Coman, published in the Observer newspaper on 22 December 2019, with some commentary from myself:

To begin, I should point out that a volume with this title was bound to attract my attention. In my book: 'The Road to Corbyn' (2016) - [copies available using this link here] - Mammon soon makes his appearance. This work, after all, is my reworking of John Bunyan's 'The Pilgrim's Progress' for our 21st century times:

'The Lady Hope had warned him that there would be moments of testing on his journey in search of truth. He must have passed through the archway that marked an election victory and found himself in this celebratory fair. Pilgrim could feel the sense of a past recalled sweep through him. Another journey, another place, another fair... Souls sold for commercial gain... The merchandising of every human activity and all things... A fair dating back to the beginning of time and ruled by Mammon, the grasping figure of greed who controlled the human species through love of money. Vanity Fair. (16) - p.15

16. 'Mammon' is a term used to describe gluttony and unjust worldly gain in the Christian Bible. it was first personified as a false god in the New Testament of that Bible. (Mt. 6.24; Lk. 16.13.)'

I should also note that I first became aware of Professor McCarraher's book and ordered my copy as I struggled with my own disappointment with the Tory landslide victory in the December 2019 General

WE NEED HOWARD BECKETT AS THE LEADER OF THE UNITE UNION - WE NEED A SOCIALIST WHO TELLS IT AS IT IS

 Thanks to SKWAWKBOX for this material - I loved working my way through text and video - I am sure some of you will too. (You will find a reference to LoveActually which I think is magnificent cinema, fit to be valued in a generation or two as a film of cultural significance - Howard Beckett could be heading for a similar place in the history books.)

Breaking: Beckett on ballot

Howard Beckett - a socialist for our times

News confirmed via ‘Love Actually’ style tweet (though really it’s far more directly Bob Dylan)

Left favourite Howard Beckett has this evening confirmed his place on the ballot of Unite members to choose the next general secretary of the giant Unite union.

Beckett has withstood huge pressure, as the left machine tried to lever him off despite coming second in nominations and the determination of all other candidates who passed the threshold to take up their place – and his decision is the one the union’s members, the wider movement and the country need.

In typical style, the announcement came couched in humour and with a dig at the Establishment on both sides of the House of Commons:

In typical style, the announcement came couched in humour and with a dig at the Establishment on both sides of the House of Commons:

Questions have been raised about the nomination totals for other candidates, where transparency has been lacking and complaints from disenfranchised members numerous. Beckett, by contrast, announced every one of his nominations and thanked those who voted for him. Now members will have their say and the chance to choose the candidate who stands head and shoulders above the rest.

                                             Feck it, vote Beckett.

We need socialists - we need Howard Beckett

That's a message of concern for the neoliberal Tories