brian griffin

Ian Robinson was a literary critic, a patriot, an Anglican who had the occasional good word for theocracy and reckoned 'human rights' were an anti-Christian idea we owe to the Yanks. He thought we ought all to be educated in 'the best that has been thought and said', a la Matthew Arnold; and would have gladly cleaned up our filthy and decadent media. He also published a novel of mine, and I contributed to his little magazine, The Human World. I've been reading and arguing with him for half my life, and always find it stimulating. For him, as for F.R. Leavis, the ideal conversation starts with the words, Life is Like This - isn't it? He invited discussion in a spirit of 'personal knowledge' - and that discussion is at the heart of all his books. It makes them live. In short, he engages with the central issue for our society: 'On or back we must go: to stay here is death.' (C.S. Lewis). A good read - if you're not a bigot yourself.