A Kingsman

Hanif Kureishi was at KCL just ahead of me. I'm not aware that we have ever met. He does not boast of his alma mater on his dustjackets. Neither do I - but then again I don't, of course, have any dustjackets to boast from.

I have just finished reading Kureishi's Something to Tell You. It is a substantial novel, both literally and figuratively. It contains occasional solecisms, which I can only take to be deliberate (it has a first person narrative) but which I confess I found distracting. That minor quibble aside it is thought-provoking and manages to be both funny and serious. A fine novel then. Its final short chapter commences with words that neatly summarise the novel's central theme (don't worry, spoiler alert not needed):

I am no longer young, and not yet old. I have reached the age of wondering how I will live, and what I will do, with my remaining time and desire. I know at least that I need to work, that I want to read and think and write, and to eat and talk with friends and colleagues.

In our very different ways (his eminent, mine not) we seem to have arrived at a similar place. Especially the eating and talking part.