Wednesday 29 December 2010

Pass the crisps

And on it goes... the festive season... my, how it can drag...

I try to read something really unseasonal at this time of year (a form of escape!) and right now I am ensconced with Quentin Crisp and his "The Naked Civil Servant" (1968). A friend left it here for me to read a couple of years ago and I've only just managed to reach for it recently. It looks something like this:





Crisp is eminently quotable (and not for the tiny-minded...) but so far my favourite quote is in the first chapter:

"... keeping up with the Joneses was a full-time job with my mother and father. It was not until many years later when I lived alone that I realized how much cheaper it was to drag the Joneses down to my level."

I've missed one Poetry Bus but might make the next one at the weekend (prompt here).

x

11 comments:

Niamh B said...

great quote, a man after my own heart!

The Solitary Walker said...

That quote is brilliant, and the whole book also - I read it some time ago, and it left a memorable, and salty, impression.

Rachel Fox said...

I read at the wiki thing that C4 got Crisp to do their first alternative (to regal) Xmas speech in 1993. Wonder if that's online anywhere...
x

Rachel Fox said...

Of course it is... it's here (long ad at the beginning, I'm afraid).

Anonymous said...

A book I've never read, but I now feel I must. I saw the film, of course, with John Hurt.

Kat Mortensen said...

Oh, that is definitely one to put to memory!

Rachel Fox said...

I'm especially enjoying the way the book gives a very different angle on England in the first half of the the 20th Century.

Anonymous said...

I love that quote. Hope your Christmas has been a good one, Rachel and that it's not too cold for you. Have a wonderful New Year !!

Rachel Fox said...

Thanks Selma. Temperatures are up a bit this week... nothing under 0!
x

The Bug said...

I am all about having low expectations. However, Dr. M insists on doing things he knows the neighbors expect (like mowing).

I've written my bus poem - now I'm working up the courage to sing it.

Domestic Oub said...

Oh what a brilliant quote! I must have look at the book...