Hello. This is the Forty Third Earl. I want to assure you that Watership Down is a real place, not a figment of the imagination. Yes, there are a lot of rabbits. They create quite a nuisance. lovable as they are. The local pub has been taken over by a Norman fellow who makes a decent rabbit stew. Of course, being foreign, he goes too far with the herbs and spices. What’s wrong with a little celery?
I was reluctant to get involved with a ‘weblog.’ After our chief writer’s essay about the cake song, one of my personal favorites by the way, the committee urged me to ‘post.’ I suppose he imagines that people are amused by iconclastic outbursts. This is a literary blog. Marlow, Milton, Dante, Goethe, Jane Austen. That is what we believe the audience is waiting for. Consensus. Is that now a dirty word?
Plenty of excitement here in the west country. Conservative MP Virginia Bottomley is scheduled to address our book club at the Royal Crescent in Bath. Her topic is Decency is Not a Four Letter Word. Hopefully this year’s event will not see a repeat of last year’s fiasco. You may recall that Naked People invaded the venue, and the Right Honorable Lady had to be evacuated by Royal Marines. Rest assured that a considerable police presence is in the offing. Also, the weather is cooperating with a cold front advancing from the Irish Sea. Too brisk for frolicking au naturel!
I am hard at work on my major essay, The Frivolity of French Thought in Literature. A surfeit of material has slowed my progress. Thank you so very much for your consideration.