Horizon

Alan, By the time you get to his age, if you don't have a grudge that runs as deep as his and leaves you still wanting to smash somebody's windows, you'll have lived a very fortunate life. May it be so.

It could have been worse.

George Orwell also contracted bronchitis in Liverpool - 68 years ago, and I daresay his trousers had a lot to do with it in his case, too.

Here's an interesting piece to read on 'Donkey' George - if you're intersted in books, that it: http://www.24hourscholar.com/p/articles/mi_qa3802

Parbety

Thanks, Parbety. I like "disgrunded young poet." Anyone know, is that a typo for "disgruntled" or a word of its own? At any rate I like it.

Wld imagine Orwell's Liverpool bronchitis had more to do with his overcoat or rather lack thereof but I guess who the hell knows.

Nice to hear from you.

Martha:

Yes, I wondered about 'disgrundled', but it seems it derive from the Swedish word 'grundligt' meaning well-grounded or well-rooted. Hence, I suppose, Gordon Comstock is being described here as somehow 'floating' or lacking in roots. It could be used to describe any one of a host of artists who float about without roots, such as the minstrels of old or more recently the Beat poets - always on the road.

Yours grundling along as usual,

Parbety

Thanks. What a lovely word. Think what James Thurber could have done with it.

I've just realized the 'grundligt'-bronchitis connection. Orwell, like Gordon Comstock, was 'disgrundled', meaning 'without bottom' That is, his trousers lacked a seat, and consequently he caught a chill in Liverpool and bingo! It's so obvious when you think about it. It also sounds like a word that might crop up in Finnegans Wake. Does anyone know novel well enough to tell us?

Parbety