The Bright Side

Just finished marking for the day unless, that is, three essays I was promised on Friday arrive in my e-mail. Unlikely at this stage, I think. Sacrificing most of the weekend means I should be able to survive the early part of the working week - but there are no guarantees even of such small mercies. Unfortunately I'm still left one or two work-related tasks so this is no time for celebration.

On the brighter side, I've got a bit of reading (and listening) done in between essays so not all has been lost. In fact, I think I've gained more than a fair bit from Dylan on Dylan - a compilation of interviews with the great man from 1962 almost to the present. One of my EE students from last year, Lisa, gave me this on Teachers' Day and I sort of wish she hadn't, as gifts like this are way too expensive, but I'm also glad she did, as it's a really good book. (But if any of my students are reading this who also happen to be generous types, when it comes to Teachers' Day, a little card is more than enough!)

The compilation works on several levels and I'll mention just two. Reading the interviews in sequence gives a fascinating sense of the development yet curious consistency of Dylan's extraordinarily individual way of looking at things. At first I tended to dip into the book here and there, but a sequenced reading is highly recommended. Above all such a reading gives a powerful sense of the scarring experience of celebrity. The second thing has been the emphatic realisation of just how interesting the Bobster is and has been over his entire career - a word he doesn't care for, by the way. I'm not saying he's interesting all the time - there are dull stretches, as you might expect, usually the result of dull questions. But barely a page passes without at least one dazzling shard of insight.

And having completed the interviews I'm now onto Alan Bennett's Writing Home, so there's guaranteed joy in store. I was laughing out loud by page 2, and that was just the introduction.

And on the very brightest of sides, I'm confident Arsene's boys will do the business tonight against a wobbly Chelsea and leave United in pole position at just the right moment in the season. At least, I think I am.