[lit-ideas] Re: The hilarity of Fichte
- From: "Phil Enns" <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 2 Oct 2004 23:33:55 -0400
Robert Paul wrote:
"Fichte is almost as good as Jim Dixon's Merrie England speech."
Jim Dixon, slightly drunk, at the end of his public lecture on Merrie
England:
"What, finally, is the practical application of all this?' Dixon said
in his normal voice. He felt that he was in the grip of some vertigo,
hearing himself talking without consciously willing any words. 'Listen
and I'll tell you. The point about Merrie England is that it was about
the most un-Merrie period in our history. It's only the home-made
pottery crowd, the organic husbandry crowd, the recorder-playing crowd,
the Esperanto ...' He paused and swayed; the heat, the drink, the
nervousness, the guilt at last joined forces in him. His head seemed to
be swelling and growing lighter at the same time; his body felt as if it
were being ground out into its constituent granules; his ears hummed and
the sides, top, and bottom of his vision were becoming invaded by a
smoky, greasy darkness. Chairs scraped at either side of him; a hand
caught at his shoulder and made him stumble. With Welch's arm round his
shoulders he sank to his knees, half-hearing the Principal's voice
saying above a tumult: '... from finishing his lecture through sudden
indisposition. I'm sure you'll all ...'
I've done it now, he managed to think. And without even telling them
... He drew air into his lungs; if he could push it out again he'd be
all right, but he couldn't, and everything faded out in a great roar of
wordless voices." (_Lucky Jim_, Kingsley Amis)
Sincerely,
Phil Enns
Toronto, ON
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