portrait comrade crunch

Portrait of a woman in a pub window.

Although I have War and Peace on my Kindle I feel the need for it in book form as well, something more substantial than the text alone.  On the grounds that they would not stand up to another reading, I disposed of  the three volumes my scruffy Everyman edition when I acquired the Kindle. Hall's Bookshop as usual comes up with a replacement in the shape of the three volume Oxford World Classics edition.  It is  neat and manageable with a type-face large enough  for comfort. But the best thing about it is the inscription on the fly-leaf. "From the Comrades of Leatherhead Branch C.P as a token of appreciation for the excellent work done in this district, for the best cause in life, "The liberation of mankind," Ronald Mihalgo Sec. Some of my youth was spent in Leatherhead, a quiet town in Surrey. I remember no communists.

It is hard to tire or to cease to be amazed at the elasticity of the English language especially when commerce comes into the frame. Two instances of what might be called extreme promotion greet me to day. Outside the Royal Tunbridge Wells Skin and Laser Clinic I read "Market leaders in Anti-Ageing & Facial Aesthetics." While above the entrance of the recently re-opened Morrisons supermarket opposite the station a sign proclaims "The Great British Price Crunch. We're Crunching for Britain."