Tuning in…
Tuning in…
Castaway
1 appearance
A writer and editor.
On the island
Eight records
The Dance of the Blessed Spirits
Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part
Since there's no help, come let us kiss and part
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2
Slavonic Dance in E minor, Op. 72 No. 2
Look how the floor of heaven (from The Merchant of Venice)
Adagio for strings and organFavourite
Adagio for strings and organ
In conversation
Presenter asks
5:06You had a very strongly developed sense of the past. How did that creep into your life?
My parents wrote a successful series of Social Histories, called a history of everyday things in England and everyday life. in which they studied history from a non-political but from a social An artistic point of view. That's to say. They didn't deal with battles and treaties, but with the evolution of common objects like ploughs, carts, windmills, houses, castles. so on. Mhm. So we've entirely surrounded at uh at my home by relics of the past, by bits of pottery, by bits of medieval carving, and so on.
Presenter asks
6:38You were a very precocious and promising poet, but after only two early volumes your poetic muse seemed to desert you. Why was that?
So far as I can see, it was because in my uh youth and adolescence Writing poetry was a kind of automatic writing. I wrote under the pressure of an exciting emotion which had to be expressed. in rhythmic words. Later I found that I was merely manufacturing poetry, writing poetry, trying to put together lines and images. And um as I hate manufactured verse, verse as opposed to poetry I decided to give up.
Presenter asks
11:04You had a very varied writing career during the thirties, including a lot of advertising copy. Did you find that good discipline as a writer?
The keepsakes
The book
François-René de Chateaubriand
as being an extremely long book, but covers a remarkably wide range and is written in a peculiarly fine and readable manner.
The luxury
I'm in favour of a case of champagne, which I could keep cool in the lagoon. I know that one of the dangers of living in a tropical climate is that you feel extremely depressed when the sun sinks and the insects begin to croak. And it's then that I should hasten down to the lagoon and open a bottle.
Looking back at it, I think it was extremely good discipline, because one had to choose an exact number of words. not only words, but sometimes letters and spaces to fit into a given block of copy. And uh To have to do that I think is good for a writer. Otherwise he may um allow himself to run away in all directions. Yes, you don't throw adjectives around lightly, you don't have to do that. Certainly don't know.
Presenter asks
13:19How do you work on a historical biography? Do you prepare a big chronology or do you work on index cards or?
I'm afraid I'm not as uh systematic. As that, I just make a quant a large quantity of notes, read a large number of books, marking points of interest in the margin. And um then jump in.
Presenter asks
14:07You've just published the first volume of your autobiography, The Marble Foot. To what does the title refer?
It refers to a marble foot, a gigantic marble foot, which stands in the street of the Marble Foot in Rome. When I first visited Rome, I was still at school. This gigantic foot standing there on the pavement, surrounded by the debris of the present day, made a very deep impression on me. And in my book it symbolizes a memory that remains and that is worth preserving as distinct from the rubbish that fills the good the backrooms of one's memory.
Presenter asks
17:35Your suitability as a castaway. Have you any hobbies or experiences that would be useful?
I have never been very good with my hands. I suppose I could construct myself a rudimentary shelter which would protect me from the rays of the midday sun. But would be very little good during a tropical monsoon. So you would resign yourself to getting wet occasionally. Yes. Would you try to escape? I might think of escaping. but I doubt if I shall have the agumption to build a raft. Do you know anything about navigation or small boats? Nothing at all. Well, in that case I should I shall stay where I am.
“I've experienced extended loneliness in uh Large cities, but I've never experienced it on a desert island.”
“Writing poetry was a kind of automatic writing. I wrote under the pressure of an exciting emotion which had to be expressed in rhythmic words. Later I found that I was merely manufacturing poetry, writing poetry, trying to put together lines and images. And um as I hate manufactured verse, verse as opposed to poetry I decided to give up.”
“I was sacked from the fire service for smoking on a fire, which is one of the most dreadful offences that a fireman can commit, far more serious than looting a warehouse.”
“This gigantic foot standing there on the pavement, surrounded by the debris of the present day, made a very deep impression on me. And in my book it symbolizes a memory that remains and that is worth preserving as distinct from the rubbish that fills the good the backrooms of one's memory.”
“I know that one of the dangers of living in a tropical climate is that you feel extremely depressed when the sun sinks and the insects begin to croak. And it's then that I should hasten down to the lagoon and open a bottle.”