The History Man

Here is a picture of the brilliant Anthony Sher as the stupendously odious Howard Kirk in the BBC dramatisation of Bradbury's The History Man. If you haven't seen it (and I admit it was a long time ago) try to look it out. I've searched YouTube in vain. Kirk is a great creation - sociologist, socialist, sociopath, university teacher and utter knob, a true representative of his age, the barren 1970s. The televised version ended with a delicious postscript informing us that in the 1979 general election Kirk would vote Conservative. I mention all this simply because sometimes a thing lurks in the back of your brain and the image of Kirk has been like that for me. Things have, of course, moved on and in the 2010 general election Howard Kirk most probably voted Liberal Democrat. Howard holds strongly to the view that the likes of The Overgraduate are irredeemably stupid and will fall before his superior wit. Well yes, to a degree Howard. I am a dullard but this morning I recognised you Howard. Through a glass darkly. I should have recognized you sooner but your rebirth had blinded me. I am a silly. But here's the news my old fruit, borrowed from advertising of an earlier age, Weebles wobble but they don't fall down. I, Howard, am your Weeble.

If you have read this and somehow think you may be Howard, don't worry you're not. Howard wouldn't get the allusion and most definitely would not recognize himself. Come to think of it there is no chance that he would deign to read the blog of a clueless mature student. Much less would he understand the proper lament of the middle-brow middle classes,

Smile at us, pay us, pass us; but do not quite forget;
For we are the people of England, that never have spoken yet.

However we will labour the point a little further and musically at that. This one goes out to you Howard


The rest is silence. For the time being.