Archive for September 2006
Friday, 22nd September 2006
Anything but Revision
On 16th October I am scheduled to sit my exam for my latest course through the Open University. This year I have been studying State, Economy and Nation in nineteenth-century Europe. I completed my final essay on August 25th and so had a good 7 weeks or so to revise. However, as I am sure most of my readers would quickly recognise in themselves, I have a tendency to procrastinate when it comes to revision, finding many other things (with the notable exception of repairing the stairgate that Isaac broke off the wall) to do around the house instead. I have never found a way of revising that works particularly well for me. I tend to reread just about everything and make copious notes which I should have taken when reading the text the first time around. In the end, I came to the conclusion that the best thing to do was to read something completely unrelated to my course following my last essay. After all, was I really likely to remember things I revised 7 week ago. I doubt it! So, I picked up a book that my sister bought for me for my birthday. I remember at the time being somewhat taken aback when I received the book because I hadn’t asked for it, nor did I know that he had written the book. However, Chris Patten’s Not Quite the Diplomat turned out to be a great read and I can now thank my sister for her inspired choice.
Patten’s experience of working in the European Commission offered a thoroughly enlightening glimpse into the world of European politics. Ironically, had it not been for the course that I had just completed, many of Patten’s anecdotes may have gone over my head. The book also gave an excellent insight into Britain’s relationship with America, a nation that Patten has a close affiliation to yet he is equally scathing towards many aspects of its administration and particularly of those in positions of power (such as Dick Cheney who Patten is especially antipathetic towards). Most worrying is Patten’s projected analysis of the role of India and China on world politics and the global economy. I suggest that we begin to teach our children Chinese at the first opportunity if they are to compete on the same economic level as the Chinese.
When I finished Not Quite the Diplomat on September 9th I still had approximately 5 weeks to revise. So what did I do? I picked up a book that I had bought to give to my brother for Christmas, extracts of which I had heard a few weeks previously on Radio 4′s book of the week; I Was Vermeer by Frank Wynne. This is the story of Han Van Meegeren, arguably the worlds most notorious forger. Van Meegeren loved the works of the Dutch Golden Age of Pieter de Hooch, Rembrandt, Hans Fral and most of all Johanne Vermeer of Delft. His own work sought to emulate these great artists of the 17th century however he failed to make it in a world of art that was adopting the modernist works of Picasso, Chagal, Cezanne, Dali et al. in the early 19th century. In order to challenge and expose the art critics that had ridiculed him, Van Meegeren painted what was supposedly one of Vermeer’s greatest pieces that had lain undiscovered for 3 centuries. The Supper at Emmaus was completed in 1937 and was so good that it even passed as a genuine Vermeer when scrutinised by the great Vermeer expert, Abraham Bredius. Van Meegeren’s plan was to wait until the painting hung on the wall of a prestigious art gallery before revealing his fraud and thus exposing the art world for the hypocrite that it was. All was well, for The Emmaus was indeed hung upon the walls at the Boijmans Museum in The Hague; only greed prevented Van Meegeren from revealing the truth.
This fascinating true story is a must read and not only for art lovers. As well as being a great story, the book also offers a fascinating insight into the chemisty of art, in how to make one’s own paints that were used in the 17th century and how to make a forgery stand up to the highest level of scrutiny in the days of X-rays and forensic testing. I found this book so compelling that I finished it within a week, leaving me 4 weeks to revise.
However, of all the books that I have read whilst avoiding revision, the best by far was Cranky which I have read to my son at least 2 dozen times. It is a story of rivalry, bitter jealousy and ultimately, sweet revenge on the pertetrators of injustice. This is the story of Cranky the Crane who works at the harbour on the island of Sodor. Thomas and Percy regularly receive the loads taken off the ships but Cranky, being the Cranky that he is, ridicules Thomas and Percy, calling them ‘useless little bugs’. Oh but Cranky soon gets his comeuppance when one night a storm hits the island and cranky comes tumbling down to earth, quite literally. Who helps to pull him to his feet, only Thomas and Percy. Yet, it is not long before Cranky forgets the debt that he owes to the little engines below and not before long he is again calling them names.
Cranky is the story of the proletariat triumphing over the ruling aristocracy of an unjust, absolute state. Thomas and Percy’s actions are clearly governed by Marxist philosophy, cooperating as one in a suppressed society. The triumph of the bourgoisie is heartening to all fans of Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends who are sick and tired of seeing the Fat Controller judge the little man for accidents that are entirely out of his control. When will the drivers of these engines ever get sacked or better still hauled before a public enquiry. As a shareholder in Sodor railways it breaks my heart, not to mention my bank balance, to see the disgraceful state of affairs regarding the public utilities of the railways on Sodor.
Enough said, after all I have a lot of revision to catch up on.
End.
Posted by Daddy @ 8:32 PM
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