Friedlander, the great Max Friedlander, is very good on this. ‘Correct attributions’, he says, ‘generally appear spontaneously and “prima vista”. We recognise a friend without ever having determined wherein his particular qualities lie and that with a certainty that not even the most detailed description can give.’ [Frayn – Headlong]
I went to an all-boys school in the centre of London. I can’t say that I liked it. It had its moments but I missed my last year of my much-loved Primary School and got a scholarship to a grand establishment – The City of London School just near Blackfriars Bridge. I threw up on the front steps on the first morning. I remember a new Maths teacher. Our Maths book was written by a man called C.G.Nobbs. The new teacher strode in with great aplomb, complete with robe, because that’s what the teachers donned in these hallowed halls with cloisters and all, and commanded the class, “right boys get your Nobbs out!” This was not a good start. Mayhem, Lord of the Flies, Mutiny on The Bounty in a classroom of 14-year-old pubescent boys. What a cruel mess ensued and continued! More than 50 years on, it makes me squirm to think of that poor teacher.
Continue reading “Seventeen – Knowing Me , Knowing You”