Second paragraph of third chapter:
Far below him, the cars in the front ranks of the parking-lot were spattered with broken eggs, wine and melted ice-cream. A dozen windscreens had been knocked out by falling bottles. Even at this early hour, at least twenty of Laing’s fellow residents were standing on their balconies, gazing down at the debris gathering at the cliff-foot.
I bought this, appropriately enough, at the Barbican exhibition last year. It’s a dystopian story of middle-class life in a tower block degenerating into a primitive society ruled by violence and caste division, with a small contribution from the media – or rather from the journalist who is one of the residents who shares the social degeneration. It is a bit Lord of the Flies for grownups – but at the same time, it is vivid and frightening; a direct riposte perhaps to the cosy catastrophes of John Wyndham, and surely inspiration for Judge Dredd who came shortly afterwards. Of course, this is partly a reimagining of Ballard’s experiences in WW2 prison camps, but it’s also interesting how much the building itself is a character in the book. I see that the film was mostly shot in good old Bangor, Co Down; I must give it a try. You can get the book here.
This was my top unread book acquired last year. Next on that list is Comet in Moominland, by Tove Jansson (which of course I have read, but long ago).
I’m not sure if the PBP incident is demonstrates hostily to Left candidates, of all-Ireland parties/Southerners, or just to complete absence of thinking of any sort on the part of said Loyalists.
SF have quite the trackrecord of as much surliness in defeat as triumphalism in victory. (The mark of a truly skilled Republican interlocutor is being able to do both at the same time.)
But if transfers are happening on a spectrum defined by the National Question, then it seems inevitable that SDLP voters have multiple places to go, whereas SF ones just the one. Or else they “plump”, which I
today learned is apparently the local psephological term for “vote the straight ticket, then go home and sulk”. I suppose the rationale would be a sort of wedge strategy: wait for the SDLP to become completely extinct, thereby “forcing” nationalist voters to go SF. Or at least, gain some of them, while driving the remainder in horror to the Alliance.
(Often transfers seem to happen on a “what the heck” basis, mind you. Subject to recount, a certain ex-Labour, ex-Green, ex-Labour (again) “Independent” in Dublin would appear to have been elected largely on the
strength of FF transfers breaking strongly in her favour. If that’s not a female solidarity/feminist vote, one would perhaps suspect it’s a “gene pool” one.)
But returning to the Conservation Dependent politicos… I can confirm a sighting of Alasdair McDonnell on Sunday Politics! (Even more remarkably, I can further confirm that Andrew Neil for once handed over to Mark Carruthers’ segment with a mention of both Scotland and Northern Ireland, as opposed to the more usual jump-cut to the latter with not so much as a namedrop.) But that was about it, that I can recall (and even that I only saw because I’d DVR’d it, and am just catching up now).
The SDLP and UUP leadership positions each seem to have a similar aspect to them. Faded grandeur descended into harried futility. Impoverished gentlefolk trapped in a big revolving door, something on
those lines.