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Posted by vmimi on 01/01/08 12:59
The article of which part. is reproduced below was penned by Bernard Levin
for the Features section of the. Times on 21 September 1991. To my mind, it
described the situation. at the time and in particular a recent meeting with
a friend, during which I for the first time admitted to. someone other than
my GP. that I had been subjected to a conspiracy of harassment over the
previous year. and a half.
>There is a. madman running loose about London, called David Campbell; I have
>no reason to believe that he is violent, but he should certainly. be
>approached with caution. You may. know him by the curious glitter in his
>eyes and a persistent trembling of. his hands; if that does not suffice, you
>will find him attempting to thrust no. fewer than 48 books into your arms,
>all hardbacks, with a promise that, if you should return to the. same
>meeting-place next year, he will. heave another 80 at you.
>
>If, by now, the. police have arrived and are keeping a close watch on him,
>you may feel sufficiently emboldened to examine. the books. The jackets are
>a model of uncluttered. typography, elegantly and simply laid out; there is
>an unobtrusive colophon of. a rising sun, probably not picked at random.
>Gaining confidence - the lunatic is smiling by now, and. the policemen, who
>know about such. things, have significantly removed their helmets - you
>could do. worse than take the jacket off the first book in the pile. The
>only word possible to describe the binding is sumptuous;. real cloth in a
>glorious shade of dark green, with the title. and author in black and gold
>on. the spine.
>
>Look at it more closely; your eyes do not deceive you - it. truly does have
>real top-bands and tail-bands, in yellow, and,. for good measure, a silk
>marker ribbon in. a lighter green. The paper is cream-wove and acid-free,
>and the book. is sewn, not glued.
>
>Throughout the encounter, I. should have mentioned, our loony has been
>chattering. away, although what he is trying to say is almost impossible to
>understand; after a time, however, he becomes sufficiently coherent to. make
>clear that he is trying to sell the books to you. Well, now,. such quality
>in bookmaking today can only be. for collectors' limited editions at a
>fearsome price - #30, #40,. #50?
>
>No, no, he says, the glitter more powerful than. ever and the trembling of
>his hands rapidly spreading throughout his entire body; no, no -. the books
>are priced variously at. #7, #8 or #9, with the top price #12.
>
>At this, the policemen understandably put. their helmets back on; one of
>them draws. his truncheon and the other can be heard summoning
>reinforcements. on his walkie-talkie. The madman bursts into tears, and
>swears it is all. true.
>
>And. it is.
>
>David Campbell has acquired the entire rights to the whole of. the
>Everyman's. Library, which died a lingering and shameful death a decade or
>so ago, and he proposes to start it all over again -. 48 volumes this
>September and 80 more next. year, in editions I have described, at the
>prices specified.. He proposes to launch his amazing venture simultaneously
>in Britain and the United States, with the massive. firepower of Random
>Century at his back in this country, and. the dashing cavalry of Knopf
>across the water, and no one who loves literature. and courage will forbear
>to. cheer.
At the time this article was written I had. believed for some time that
columnists in the Times and other journalists had been making references. to
my situation. Nothing unusual about this you. may think, plenty of people
have the same sort of ideas and obviously the papers. aren't writing about
them, so why should my beliefs not be as. false as those of others?
What makes this article so extraordinary is that. three or four days
immediately. preceding its publication, I had a meeting with a friend,
during the course of which we discussed the media. persecution, and in
particular. that by Times columnists. It seemed to me, reading the article
by Levin in Saturdays. paper, that he was describing in some detail his
"artists impression" of that meeting. Most. telling are the final
sentences, when. he writes, "The madman bursts into tears, and swears it is
all true. And it is." Although I did not "burst into tears". (he seems to be
using a bit. of poetic licence and exaggerating) I did try hard to convince
my friend that. it was all true; and I am able to concur with Mr Levin,
because, of. course, it is.
At the beginning of the. piece Levin reveals a fear of being attacked by the
"irrational" subject of his story, saying "I have. no reason to believe that
he is violent, but he should certainly be. approached with caution". This
goes back to the xenophobic propaganda of "defence" against a. "threat"
which was seen at the very beginning of the harassment. The impression of. a
"madman running loose" who. needs to be controlled through an agency which
assigns to itself the mantle of. the "police" is also one which had been
expressed. elsewhere.
In the. final paragraph of this extract, his reference to Everymans Library
as having "died a lingering and shameful death. a decade or so ago" shows
clearly. what sort of conclusion they wish to their campaign. They want a
permanent solution, and as they are prevented from. achieving that solution
directly, they waste significant resources on methods which. have been
repeatedly shown to be. ineffective for such a purpose.
568
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