All You Decent, Well-meaning Gentlemen, Let Me

He Chose A Certain Path In Life, It Proved To Be A Misguided One, But There, He Chose It, He Can Say That At Least. As For Myself, I Cannot Even Claim That. You See, I Trusted. I Trusted In His Lorship's Wisdom. All Those Years I Served Him, I Trusted I Was Doing Something Worthwhile. I Can't Even Say I Made My Own Mistakes. Really - One Has To Ask Oneself - What Dignity Is There In That?

I Still Have A Suspicion Of Charity And Think The State Has A Role To Play In Many Areas. And Although For Most Of The Years Since I Have Been A Rather Privileged Writer, I Identify More Closely Than Perhaps I Should With Those Social Workers. Had I Not Become A Writer That Would Have Been Me. Lots Of Our Friends Are Still In That World And I Do Feel Part Of That Generation Of People Who Were Rather Idealistic In The 70s And Became Disillusioned In The 80s. Not Just About Social Services Issues, But The World.

I Can See,’ Miss Emily Said, ‘that It Might Look As Though You Were Simply Pawns In A Game. It Can Certainly Be Looked At Like That. But Think Of It. You Were Lucky Pawns. There Was A Certain Climate And Now It’s Gone. You Have To Accept That Sometimes That’s How Things Happen In The World. People’s Opinions, Their Feelings, They Go One Way, Then The Other. It Just So Happens You Grew Up At A Certain Point In This Process.’ ‘it Might Be Just Some Trend That Came And Went,’ I Said. ‘but For Us, It’s Our Life.

I Felt Slightly Superior To Student Politics, For Instance. I Had No Reason To Think This, But I Thought Of Myself As Slightly More Seasoned. I Became Quite Cynical Talking To My Student Friends.

When I Was Younger, I Didn't Read That Much. I Was More Interested In Film And Music. Now I'm Curious. I Want To Know What It's All About.