This Gambling Life

The trouble with writing a book blog is that I discover so many books I want to read, and I'm like a child in a sweet-shop with ten cents in the hand, what to choose first!

A library cast-off called 'A Herb for Every Ill', by Audrey Wynne Hatfield, with 24 drawings by the author, is definitely not your run-of-the-mill book on herbs. It's published by J.M. Dent & Sons Limited of London in 1973, and is as usual defiled by 'withdrawn from stock' stamps and glue residue, but once I opened it I was lost to the world. There are a lot of the usual herbs such as borage and rosemary in it, but also many we are used to calling weeds – for instance, you know that plant called cleavers, the foliage of which clings to your clothes whenever you meet it, or couchgrass, the bane of many orderly gardeners' lives, known as scutch in Ireland, or how about chickweed, lesser and greater bindweed, burdock (the one with the prickly seedcases that come in on dogs and trouser legs), well, according to this book these are all useful medicinal herbs. I must admit that I would be slow to try them myself, but at the same time reading about them is entrancing and educational. Dioscorides, the medical officer of Nero's armies, swore by plantain for curing ulcers, sores and wounds. However, I must say I was a bit put-out to see convallaria recommended for various uses in the book. Known by its common name of Lily of the Valley, I understand it can be fatal if taken internally. I was a bit surprised to read that it has often been used as a substitute for Digitalis (foxglove) “and some doctors prefer it because it does not accumulate in the blood and is not poisonous.” I wouldn't be too sure about that. So I'll just be reading this book, definitely not trying the plants out for myself.

'Toasts for Every Occasion' by Jennifer Rahel Conover, published by New American Library, New York, in 2001, is a nice little paperback which I seem to remember being given as a gift years ago. It's full of snippets like - 'Hangovers - Here's to the good time I can't remember! ' - Irish -

Well, naturally, it would be! We know all about good times we can't remember, not all alcohol-induced, I assure you, not since the boom bombed. Here's something Ingrid Bergman apparently said “Happiness is good health and a bad memory.” How about this - “The love you give away is the only love you keep” - Elbert Hubbard. I've no idea who he was, but there is a lot of truth in that. I can't resist these two about psychiatrists:

“To my psychiatrist,

  He finds you cracked
  And leaves you broke."

And:

"To the psychiatrist,
A person who doesn't have to worry
As long as other people do.”

Ok, I promise I'll stop there.

The Irish in Love', another library throw-out complete with the remains of torn-off labels, paste and goodness knows what else, was written by Sean McCann and published in 1972 by The Talbot Press of Dublin. On the inside we read that it was printed on Caxton Antique Weave paper – oh, how have the mighty fallen. I haven't read much of it, but I plan to. The chapters have titles such as: “The Eye of the Beholder”, “Woman's Place”, “Hatches and Matches”, “The Way to Get a Man”, “How to Get a Woman”, “The Dowry”, and “Proposal and Wedding”, I saw a couple of funny stories in there. One was of a man who went with the matchmaker to a house and found the lady he fancied absent visiting an aunt. While the matchmaker got on with his business, the would-be groom got talking to the lady's sister who was knitting in the corner, and before the night was out, he decided he might as well have her instead. And they say women are fickle! Another story was of a match made, everything arranged, and the bride at the altar. The groom didn't appear, and eventually a report came to the wedding party that he had been seen driving cattle towards the local fair, obviously having forgotten his appointment. The groomsman, having had time to study the bride at his leisure, volunteered himself in place of the groom, the bride accepted, and the job was done. Apparently those made matches were often very happy, who is to say they were less fortunate than a lot of legalised partnerships today!

I was very much struck by “The Penguin Book of Historic Speeches”, edited by Brian MacArthur for The Penguin Group, London, in 1996. It is a thickish paperback in very good condition, and I think I recall finding it at the recycling centre. The speeches date from ancient times – Moses, Pericles, Socrates etc., right through to a speech in 1994 by Nelson Mandela. I glanced through and found a very topical contribution by Mirabeau in September 1789 which shows that times haven't changed all that much where a nation's bankruptcy is concerned, and that the wealthy are as little eager to come to the aid of their nations:

Here is the start of a speech by King James 1 of England which is stunning by today's standards for its sheer arrogance:

“The state of monarchy is the supremest thing upon earth; for kings are not only God's lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon God's throne, but even by God himself they are called Gods...".

You know what they'd say to that fellow nowadays: “Get over yourself, love!”

Nowadays the shoe is on the other foot. It takes a sturdy and sterling character to be a royal personage in this age. Who would enjoy the countless comments on one's ears and other features considered outside the norm, the note taken of skirt length and grey streaks and dark roots; the nation takes it on itself to criticise diet and the amount of liquor consumed on the part of its royals – they are a kind of toy for the citizens; their lives in many respects must be unbearable; and then, to crown it all, forgive the pun, every penny they spend must be accounted for, everything they say scrutinised and analysed. I'm not sure that is any life at all, and the only escape is by dying.

When we read that in 1641 Thomas Wentworth, the Earl of Strafford, was beheaded before a crowd of 200,000, (having made a couple of fine speeches for this Penguin volume in preceding days), the first thought is that that is not so long ago – hopefully nations that now allow the same type of bloodsports will soon cop on to themselves and realise that all men should be treated with dignity no matter how much you disagree with them; the second thought is: how did they know it was 200,000? Who was counting?

Anyway, for anyone interested in history, this is a great book, and even for those who are not, there's lots of food for thought here.

Lastly I come to a gift from the government, the Irish government, I must clarify, to each and every household in the nation. It is I suppose a booklet more than a book, not bound, just stapled together, and it is entitled 'The Stability Treaty – Your Guide' - with 'Stabililty' in large yellow letters on a sombre navy blue background. This is indeed a sombre and sobering matter. Here we are, swimming in a morass of debt – not all of us, believe it or not – but the powers that be would have it so – and once again we are to vote in our own good old democratic way for a change in the Constitution (or against it, of course – let's have balance here) and if we vote 'No' there is little doubt that we will be voting again, and again, until we get sense and give the right answer. I feel sad for my countrymen because some seem to think if they vote 'Yes' the boom will come back; others will vote 'Yes' because they are scared silly. So, is that any state of mind to be in when you are voting for or against a change in your nation's Constitution? The fact is that we are children. It is only a matter of years since we got the right to govern ourselves. We didn't make too bad a job of it at first, I'll give you that much.that is, when we got over killing one another. We had our own sugar factories, we survived on our small farms; if we had had religious freedom too it would have been really something. Now our world is turned upside down. I was shocked to hear a government minister say on TV that Greece had little to do with us, we didn't put many Greek goods in our supermarket baskets. And he laughed. Is that what Europe is about? I thought it was about co-operation and standing together and facing the world as a unit. I didn't vote for it, but I thought that was what it was about. So take up your little book that the government sent you, and don't look a gift-horse in the mouth, read it, right through. Then go out, find a good horse who doesn't have such a big mouth, and put your shirt on him. You could do a lot worse.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZfzAOooEOU

I would like to thank my wonderful son Sam for all the great book photos he has taken for me over the course of the last few months.

A Sturdy Constitution

I found “The Public Speaker's Treasure Chest – A Compendium of Source Material to Make Your Speech Sparkle” by Herbert V. Prochnow, in the recycling centre. It was published in 1959 by A. Thomas & Co., Preston, and is full of jokes, epigrams, and phrases to help make a 'sparkling speech'. There is a section with enough biblical quotations to confound any proselytizer who might come to your halldoor, that is, if you are the type of person who enjoys such engagements. Nowadays the world and his wife are used to public speaking, judging by the numbers who ring in to radio talk shows and discuss just about anything without a seeming tremor of embarrassment. Perhaps that is why someone chucked this book into the recycling centre, where not many clamoured to reclaim it. Here is a joke I found and enjoyed, although perhaps you may not share my amusement, since I am considered to have no sense of humour:

'Heard at the Zoo

A huge elephant and a tiny mouse were in the same cage at the zoo. The elephant was in a particularly ugly and truculent mood. Looking down at the mouse with disgust he trumpeted, “You're the puniest, the weakest, the most insignificant thing I've ever seen!” “Well,” piped the mouse in a plaintive squeak, “don't forget, I've been sick.” '

There I also found “Bunreacht na hÉireann – Constitution of Ireland” published in 1990 by Irish Government Publications, nestling companionably beside an Irish Labour Party publication of James Connolly's “Socialism Made Easy”. Perhaps some socialist has passed on to a more just world, or someone has followed a political disagreement by disavowing all connections with his/her former comrades, Whatever, I brought them home. I think everyone should have a copy of the Constitution, and I will be able to give this to someone who hasn't. James Connolly's little book, published first in 1909, I would keep if only for the fact that he was so ignobly shot while crippled and unable to stand, following the Easter Rising of 1916. It is very well-written, in concise and persuasive English. I know where I stand on such things, I believe all should have a reasonable amount of land for themselves and their family, to do with as they think best provided that it is used and not left as a danger to health. I do not believe that large tracts of land should be allowed to be in the hands of just a few, and passed on down through generations of their families, to be used for their own personal gain. Mine is quite a simple outlook, simplistic, I know some would say. But there is one belief of mine that I never see in books on economics or anywhere else, unless I am reading the wrong books: I do not believe in the charging of interest on money loaned. I believe it is at the bottom of all financial troubles, and that it is morally wrong. However, very few ever mention this, but take it as a law of Nature that interest should be charged on loans. It is a dreadful evil which exists almost without question in the western world. Anyway, here is a quote from Connolly's little book:

“.....the question to be settled by Socialism is the effect of private ownership of the means of production upon the well-being of the race;........Personally I am opposed to any system wherein the capitalist is more powerful than God Almighty........No worker is compelled to enter a church and to serve God; every worker is compelled to enter the employment of a capitalist and serve him.”

I could not possibly give you Connolly's ideas in one small review, nor would I want to. If you are interested, please find his book for yourself. But to most of us nowadays, these are truths and are self-evident. But still, not much changes, and the majority of workers are still counted among the poor, both categories usually being spoken of as interchangeable.....and with good reason.

I found Cyril Connolly's “Enemies of Promise” in a secondhand bookshop, stamped all over in red ink for fear that the reader might return it for resale. This practice always mystifies me, since even if the book is purchased secondhand, if it is well looked after, surely it could just as easily be resold with further profit. I have never read anything by Cyril Connolly, and the first page I opened was sad, I was touched by his words:

“The new school my parents chose for me was on the coast. At first I was miserable there and cried night after night.My mother cried too at sending me, and I have often wondered if that incubator of persecution mania, the English private school, is worth the money that is spent on it or the tears its pupils shed. At an early age small boys are subjected to brutal partings and long separations which undermine their love for their parents before the natural period of conflict and are encouraged to look down on them without knowing why......I have never met anybody yet who could say he had been happy there. It can only be that our parents are determined to get rid of us!”

I realise that children in England or Ireland rarely are sent to these schools now, but I have often wondered what the difference between them and orphanages could be. I speak as one who actually disapproves of most forms of schooling, and who believes that we should keep our children about us and educate them ourselves, as the law allows us to do. Particularly in these days of internet, there should be no need to farm our children out to the care of others. Of course that would not suit those who need women to work outside the home for wages far below those paid to men, as is still generally the case, according to research published in the last few days. I'm sure you will be able to find it for yourself if you search online. Now here is a link to just one of many websites which you will be able to use to home-educate your children if you so desire. For literacy and language, they need only simply read books: http://www.khanacademy.org/ will take care of all other subjects. You will save money on school textbooks, school uniform, shoes, and school transport, there will be no need to ferry them to and from school, and you will not need to pay an au-pair or housekeeper to look after them. This could save your sanity and your marriage.

“How to be a Nigerian” is another little book from the recycling centre, written by Peter Enahoro, a journalist in Lagos, and published by The Daily Times of Nigeria Limited 1966. It is written in a light-hearted way, and from it I learned, guess what, that Nigerians are just like the rest of us, except for one thing, tribalism. Nigeria, Enahoro explains, was a country invented by Europeans for their own use and benefit, but it is actually an area in which live a large number of tribes, and all the members of each individual tribe unite for the good of their own people. He says:

“The Nigerian society is strictly organised into a variety of tribes. So consuming is the devotion to tribe that if St. Peter were a Nigerian, four-fifths of us would be wasting our time in church and Heaven would soon spill out The Gatekeeper's tribal group of Nigerians. Tribes transcend individuality.” When a Nigerian names a certain person as being a member of a certain tribe....”the reference to his tribe already points to the kind of man he is certain to be. The gentleman in question may never be known by name throughout the conversation, but the fact that he is Yoruba, or Ibo, or Efik is sufficient to identify him.” I cannot say personally if this is all true, but if so, I presume Enahoro is talking about types rather than actual personalities, as it has a racist ring to it otherwise. Other than this assertion about tribalism, it seems to me that there is no difference between ourselves in Ireland and people in Nigeria. Some of the drivers are terrible, some of the customer service people are rude, some who work in service industries are corrupt, what's new?There does seem to be corruption in government, certainly more overt than in these islands. I suppose there will always be areas in which countries differ to a greater or lesser degree. Personally speaking, I had Nigerian friends years ago, and spent evenings in the Overseas Club in Dublin playing cards with them, and they were genial and funny companions. I often wonder how they fared later in life.

Finally, straight to you from the junkyard:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdSQQo_5el0

Have a good week, all!