I'm One Of Those Unlucky People Who

I Had No Sense Of Any Reputation That What A Carve Up! Might Acquire - At The Time I Didnt Even Have A Publisher, So My Main Worry Was Whether It Was Even Going To See The Light Of Day Or Not.

But You Can Try To Read Books At The Wrong Time Or For The Wrong Reasons.

As Soon As You Start Writing About How Human Beings Interact With Each Other Socially, You're Into Politics, Aren't You?

I Was Going To Say 'my Friend Stuart', But I Suppose He's Not A Friend Any More. I Seem To Have Lost A Number Of Friends In The Last Few Years. I Don't Mean That I've Fallen Out With Them, In Any Dramatic Way. We've Just Decided Not To Stay In Touch. And That's What It's Been: A Decision, A Conscious Decision, Because It's Not Difficult To Stay In Touch With People Nowadays, There Are So Many Different Ways Of Doing It. But As You Get Older, I Think That Some Friendships Start To Feel Increasingly Redundant. You Just Find Yourself Asking, "what's The Point?" And Then You Stop.

Contemporary Britain Seems An Endlessly Fascinating Place To Me - But If I Knew A Little Bit More About Other Places, And Other Times, Maybe It Wouldn't.