Eschewing the Roman Model.

Having just self-published my novel, maybe now is the time to say that I sometimes think we ascribe too much gravitas to the book. I like books, but only for what they say. Where I have a problem is with the tendency to venerate the book itself as the great icon of civilisation. To me, it smacks of Roman supremacy: ‘our culture is superior to yours because we write things down.’ It goes along with the passion for such things as classical architecture, extreme hierarchical awareness, and the pre-eminence of classical music.

This is a personal proclivity, not an opinion. I simply dislike the fact that the oral tradition, the predominance of the vernacular, and the taste for simplicity are regarded as inferior. It seems to me to divide people into two groups: the trained and sophisticated on the one hand, and those perceived as being low or bucolic on the other. And where does that lead but to the defining of personal worth according to the class system or the level of education?

I suppose I must be a pagan and a peasant at heart. So why do I write? Don’t know. Nothing’s ever simple, is it?