{"id":706,"date":"2007-05-04T02:57:45","date_gmt":"2007-05-04T06:57:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=706"},"modified":"2018-08-17T13:01:47","modified_gmt":"2018-08-17T17:01:47","slug":"friday-may-4-2007-whitechapel-bookshop-battersea","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=706","title":{"rendered":"Friday, May 4, 2007 \u2014 Whitechapel; Bookshop; Battersea"},"content":{"rendered":"

These are some notes on ram\u00adbling in the U.K. that did\u00adn\u2019t make it into pre\u00advi\u00adous postings:<\/span><\/p>\n

Bat\u00adte\u00adsea Pow\u00ader Station<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"07-05-04<\/a>In Lon\u00addon, I chanced to come near the mas\u00adsive bulk of the old Bat\u00adtersea Pow\u00ader Sta\u00adtion. This huge struc\u00adture is famil\u00adiar to any\u00adone who has a copy of Pink Floy\u00add\u2019s Ani\u00admals<\/em>, where it\u2019s used in the cov\u00ader art. Now it\u2019s in the process of being torn down. For once, I deeply regret\u00adted not hav\u00ading a cam\u00adera with me. I will not be able to find any pho\u00adtographs of it in this par\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlar stage of demo\u00adli\u00adtion, where it looks like a diplodocus, supine and par\u00adtial\u00adly dis\u00admem\u00adbered by a T\u2011rex.<\/span><\/p>\n

Whitechapel<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"07-05-04<\/a>The dis\u00adtrict of Whitechapel is famous as the locus operan\u00addi of Jack the Rip\u00adper. It was a poor dis\u00adtrict in his time, and it\u2019s a poor dis\u00adtrict now, with lit\u00adter-filled streets, crum\u00adbling hous\u00ading, and drea\u00adry blocks of coun\u00adcil flats. It\u2019s now inhab\u00adit\u00aded most\u00adly by Mus\u00adlim immi\u00adgrants. But it has a vibrant street life, and the cam\u00adpus of Lon\u00addon Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty is embed\u00added with\u00adin it. I found it quite inter\u00adest\u00ading. The real shab\u00adbi\u00adness of the inhab\u00adi\u00adtants mixed uneasi\u00adly with the faux-shab\u00adbi\u00adness of the mid\u00addle class stu\u00addents. No tourists, any\u00adwhere that I could see.<\/span><\/p>\n

As one would expect near a cam\u00adpus, there was one of those pathet\u00adic \u201crad\u00adi\u00adcal\u201c book\u00adshops. This real\u00adly sad\u00addened me. It con\u00adtained noth\u00ading but the same old stu\u00adpid garbage that com\u00adpos\u00ades the tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal fur\u00adni\u00adture of intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal wanker\u00addom: the moron\u00adic racist rant\u00adi\u00adngs of Karl Marx, the pedan\u00adtic fab\u00adri\u00adca\u00adtions of Noam Chom\u00ads\u00adki, the inevitable fad\u00aded vol\u00adumes from a hun\u00addred years of inco\u00adher\u00adent incom\u00adpe\u00adtence. In oth\u00ader words, noth\u00ading even remote\u00adly rad\u00adi\u00adcal, pro\u00adgres\u00adsive, or of any intel\u00adlec\u00adtu\u00adal worth. What sad\u00addens me is that all this dread\u00adful rub\u00adbish con\u00adtin\u00adues to waste the time of earnest stu\u00addents, and prob\u00ada\u00adbly well-inten\u00adtioned peo\u00adple, gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion after futile gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion, crowd\u00ading out any intel\u00adli\u00adgent mate\u00adr\u00adi\u00adal that might actu\u00adal\u00adly be use\u00adful to them. We live in a tru\u00adly con\u00adser\u00adv\u00ada\u00adtive soci\u00adety when this stale stuff is thought to be radical.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"07-05-04<\/a>I can see that Whitechapel is like\u00adly to be a recruit\u00ading ground for the var\u00adi\u00adous sects of destruc\u00adtive Islamism. No doubt most of the Mus\u00adlim fam\u00adi\u00adlies are respectably and harm\u00adless\u00adly pious, but the hordes of unem\u00adployed and under\u00adem\u00adployed teenagers I could see wan\u00adder\u00ading aim\u00adless\u00adly in the streets must be easy prey for the polit\u00adi\u00adcal ter\u00adror move\u00adments. I could see instant\u00adly that there was a pro\u00adfound dif\u00adfer\u00adence between the Mus\u00adlim com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties of Cana\u00adda and Britain.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Cana\u00adda, the typ\u00adi\u00adcal Mus\u00adlim fam\u00adi\u00adly earns more than the nation\u00adal aver\u00adage. It is a com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty pri\u00admar\u00adi\u00adly com\u00adposed of pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal peo\u00adple, or small busi\u00adness peo\u00adple, who have built for them\u00adselves a sol\u00adid place in Cana\u00addi\u00adan soci\u00adety. There are sev\u00ader\u00adal Mus\u00adlims in Par\u00adlia\u00adment, often rep\u00adre\u00adsent\u00ading dis\u00adtricts that are not espe\u00adcial\u00adly pop\u00adu\u00adlat\u00aded by Mus\u00adlims. There are some less well-off peo\u00adple in the com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty, usu\u00adal\u00adly recent immi\u00adgrants from Soma\u00adlia or oth\u00ader poor coun\u00adtries, but they are obvi\u00adous\u00adly on the same lad\u00adder of upward mobil\u00adi\u00adty that many oth\u00ader immi\u00adgrants to Cana\u00adda have climbed. Some peo\u00adple, in small places, are no doubt puz\u00adzled by or even made sus\u00adpi\u00adcious of Mus\u00adlims by news of Islamist extrem\u00adism, but in any large town or city, nobody gives that stuff a sec\u00adond thought. I work in a den\u00adtal lab\u00ado\u00adra\u00adto\u00adry, where there are half a dozen Mus\u00adlims among a staff of twen\u00adty. One small Cana\u00addi\u00adan town \u2014 one that did not actu\u00adal\u00adly con\u00adtain a sin\u00adgle immi\u00adgrant \u2014 was cursed with a town coun\u00adcil yokel who want\u00aded to pass a res\u00ado\u00adlu\u00adtion denounc\u00ading bizarre fan\u00adtasies that he imag\u00adined were Islam\u00adic cus\u00adtom. The town quick\u00adly became a nation\u00adal laugh\u00ading stock. The tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal Cana\u00addi\u00adan atti\u00adtude of mind\u00ading one\u2019s own busi\u00adness and let\u00adting peo\u00adple do as they please with\u00adout med\u00addling has not altered . The sup\u00adposed \u201ccon\u00adflict of civ\u00adi\u00adliza\u00adtions\u201c bal\u00adli\u00adhooed by the press in oth\u00ader coun\u00adtries is seen by most Cana\u00addi\u00adans as noth\u00ading more than the usu\u00adal immi\u00adgrant sto\u00adry, cel\u00ade\u00adbrat\u00aded in the pop\u00adu\u00adlar tele\u00advi\u00adsion com\u00ade\u00addy series Lit\u00adtle Mosque On the Prairie,<\/span><\/p>\n

But what I saw in Whitechapel was some\u00adthing entire\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent. It looked to me like a com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty of unwel\u00adcome for\u00adeign\u00aders, sti\u00adfled and idle in a ghet\u00adto. Else\u00adwhere in Britain, I\u2019m sure, there are many Mus\u00adlims whose expe\u00adri\u00adence is clos\u00ader to the Cana\u00addi\u00adan pat\u00adtern. But here, I could see bit\u00adter\u00adness, ten\u00adsion, and alien\u00adation. Cul\u00adti\u00advat\u00ading an Under\u00adclass is a bad idea, in any soci\u00adety. Cou\u00adpling an under\u00adclass with a reli\u00adgious divi\u00adsion is a recipe for dis\u00adas\u00adter. It does not help that one is con\u00adstant\u00adly being bom\u00adbard\u00aded with warn\u00adings and pre\u00adcau\u00adtions about ter\u00adror\u00adism, and that the ter\u00adror\u00adist pre\u00adda\u00adtions in the U.K. have been real and damaging.<\/span><\/p>\n

I hear repeat\u00aded ref\u00ader\u00adences to \u201cmul\u00adti\u00adcul\u00adtur\u00adal\u00adism\u201c in Britain, but the word seems to have a dif\u00adfer\u00adent flavour here than back in Cana\u00adda. In Britain, it seems to refer to gov\u00adern\u00adment and insti\u00adtu\u00adtion\u00adal efforts to get Britons to accept Mus\u00adlims as fel\u00adlow-cit\u00adi\u00adzens, or at least to tol\u00ader\u00adate their pres\u00adence. In Cana\u00adda, accep\u00adtance is tak\u00aden more or less for grant\u00aded. The word in Cana\u00adda refers to the efforts of immi\u00adgrant com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adty orga\u00adni\u00adza\u00adtions to pre\u00adserve and trans\u00admit the ele\u00adments of tra\u00addi\u00adtion\u00adal cul\u00adtures to the gen\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion born and raised in Cana\u00adda. One usage pre\u00adsumes that assim\u00adi\u00adla\u00adtion is dif\u00adfi\u00adcult, the oth\u00ader that it is so swift and effec\u00adtive that there is a dan\u00adger that par\u00adents and chil\u00addren might not under\u00adstand each oth\u00ader. But the two coun\u00adtries have such pro\u00adfound\u00adly dif\u00adfer\u00adent his\u00adto\u00adries and social sys\u00adtems that the dif\u00adfer\u00adent atti\u00adtudes and results are understandable.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Cardiff Bookshop<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

In Cardiff, there was a real\u00adly fine sec\u00adond-hand book\u00adshop. Not an impec\u00adca\u00adbly prop\u00ader one with var\u00adnished book\u00adcas\u00ades and cab\u00adi\u00adnets, but a dusty, messy one, with books stuffed hig\u00adgledy-pig\u00adgledy onto rick\u00adety shelves. The own\u00ader told me that the musty, Vic\u00adto\u00adri\u00adan-era arcade which it inhab\u00adit\u00aded is soon to be refit\u00adted to accom\u00admo\u00addate trendy bou\u00adtiques and bar-caf\u00e9s, so he is not like\u00adly to remain there much longer. In the dusty chaos of this shop, I saw book after book that I would love to own. A three-vol\u00adume trans\u00adla\u00adtion of Gre\u00adgo\u00adry of Tours into mod\u00adern French, for five pounds. A trea\u00adtise by Charles Williams, the \u201cinkling\u201c friend of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. A Buck\u00adridge Jen\u00adnings nov\u00adel that my friend Isaac would love (unfor\u00adtu\u00adnate\u00adly, in a first edi\u00adtion that went for thir\u00adty pounds). I felt embar\u00adrassed to browse so long and buy noth\u00ading, so I picked up a copy of Cap\u00adtain Mar\u00adry\u00adat\u2019s The Set\u00adtlers In Cana\u00adda<\/em> for a few pence. This is charm\u00ading tale of an Eng\u00adlish fam\u00adi\u00adly set\u00adtling in the wilds near what is now qui\u00adet town of Brockville, Ontario, but in 1844, it could still be done up as a per\u00adilous wilder\u00adness suit\u00adable for the adven\u00adture fan\u00adtasies of British boys.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

These are some notes on ram\u00adbling in the U.K. that did\u00adn\u2019t make it into pre\u00advi\u00adous post\u00adings: Bat\u00adte\u00adsea Pow\u00ader Sta\u00adtion In Lon\u00addon, I chanced to come near the mas\u00adsive bulk of the old Bat\u00adtersea Pow\u00ader Sta\u00adtion. This huge struc\u00adture is familiar \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,11],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-706","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-blog","category-at-blog-2007"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=706"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9098,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/706\/revisions\/9098"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=706"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=706"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=706"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}