The article of which part is reproduced. below was penned by Bernard Levin
for the Features section of the Times on. 21 September 1991. To my mind,
it
described the situation at the. time and in particular a recent meeting
with
a friend, during which I for the first time admitted to someone other.
than
my GP that I had been subjected to a. conspiracy of harassment over the
previous year and a. half.
>There is a madman running loose about London, called. David Campbell; I
have
>no reason to believe that he. is violent, but he should certainly be
>approached with caution. You may know him. by the curious glitter in his
>eyes and a persistent trembling of his hands; if that does not. suffice,
you
>will find him attempting. to thrust no fewer than 48 books into your
arms,
>all hardbacks,. with a promise that, if you should return to the same
>meeting-place next year, he. will heave another 80 at you.
>
>If, by now, the. police have arrived and are keeping a close watch on
him,
>you may feel sufficiently emboldened to examine the books. The. jackets
are
>a model of uncluttered. typography, elegantly and simply laid out; there
is
>an unobtrusive colophon of. a rising sun, probably not picked at random.
>Gaining confidence - the lunatic is smiling by. now, and the policemen,
who
>know. about such things, have significantly removed their helmets - you
>could do. worse than take the jacket off the first book in the pile. The
>only word possible to describe the binding is sumptuous; real cloth. in a
>glorious shade of dark green, with the title. and author in black and
gold
>on. the spine.
>
>Look at it more closely; your eyes do not deceive you - it. truly does
have
>real top-bands and. tail-bands, in yellow, and, for good measure, a silk
>marker ribbon in a. lighter green. The paper is cream-wove and acid-free,
>and. the book is sewn, not glued.
>
>Throughout the encounter, I should have. mentioned, our loony has been
>chattering away, although what he is trying. to say is almost impossible
to
>understand; after a time, however, he becomes sufficiently coherent to.
make
>clear. that he is trying to sell the books to you. Well, now, such
quality
>in bookmaking today can only be for collectors' limited. editions at a
>fearsome price - #30, #40,. #50?
>
>No, no, he says, the glitter more powerful. than ever and the trembling
of
>his hands rapidly spreading throughout his entire body; no,. no - the
books
>are priced variously at #7, #8 or #9, with the. top price #12.
>
>At this, the policemen understandably put their helmets back on; one. of
>them draws his truncheon and the. other can be heard summoning
>reinforcements on his walkie-talkie. The madman bursts into tears,. and
>swears it. is all true.
>
>And. it is.
>
>David. Campbell has acquired the entire rights to the whole of the
>Everyman's Library,. which died a lingering and shameful death a decade
or
>so ago,. and he proposes to start it all over again - 48 volumes this
>September and 80 more next year, in editions I have described,. at the
>prices specified. He proposes to. launch his amazing venture
simultaneously
>in Britain and the United States, with the massive firepower. of Random
>Century at his back in this. country, and the da****ng cavalry of Knopf
>across the water,. and no one who loves literature and courage will
forbear
>to. cheer.
At the time this article was written I had believed. for some time that
columnists in the Times and other journalists had been making references.
to
my situation. Nothing unusual about this you may think, plenty of. people
have the same sort. of ideas and obviously the papers aren't writing about
them, so why should my beliefs not be as false. as those of others?
What makes this article so extraordinary is that three or. four days
immediately preceding its. publication, I had a meeting with a friend,
during the course. of which we discussed the media persecution, and in
particular that by. Times columnists. It seemed to me, reading the article
by Levin in Saturday's paper, that. he was describing in some detail his
"artist's impression" of. that meeting. Most telling are the final
sentences, when he writes, "The madman bursts into tears, and swears it.
is
all true. And it is." Although I did not "burst into. tears" (he seems to
be
using a. bit of poetic licence and exaggerating) I did try hard to
convince
my friend that it was all true; and I. am able to concur with Mr Levin,
because, of course, it. is.
At the beginning of the piece Levin reveals a. fear of being attacked by
the
"irrational" subject of his story, saying. "I have no reason to believe
that
he is violent, but he should certainly be approached with caution".. This
goes back to the xenophobic propaganda of "defence". against a "threat"
which was seen at the very beginning of the harassment. The. impression of
a
"madman running loose" who. needs to be controlled through an agency which
assigns to itself the mantle of the "police" is also. one which had been
expressed. elsewhere.
In. the final paragraph of this extract, his reference to Everyman's
Library
as having "died a lingering and shameful. death a decade or so ago" shows
clearly what sort of conclusion they wish. to their campaign. They want a
permanent solution,. and as they are prevented from achieving that
solution
directly, they waste significant resources on methods which have. been
repeatedly shown. to be ineffective for such a purpose.
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