Hello Mr. Bean! Could you just believe my luck! Our computer is broken and I haven't been online for nearly a week now! It's quite infuriating! But anyway, I'm glad to hear that you and Milly are doing okay. Your third and fourth books sound very interesting! I have a classmate now who is from Germany. I'm reading up on the British political system seeing as it is usually the example given when discussing parliamentary forms of government. I found Pro Bono Publico immensely helpful! Thank you so much! Nah, I didn't get a single card! But It is rather understandable seeing as people don't send cards anymore. But I did get a few text messages from friends and orchids from a sorority who has been inviting me to join. LOL! Things have been a bit hectic lately! I'm glad you have found a site that caters to your interest. Talk to you soon! Love lots, Princess
Hi there Princess, Happy Valentine's day to you also. I bet you got a stack of cards. I haven't been around LitNet too often lately as I have found a site dealing in politics which takes up quite a bit of time. I do pop in occasionally for the odd post or two. I didn't think you would get through Pro Bono Publico as it was written specifically for those with a personal interest in UK politics and I think your professor may find it rather difficult. Most of the guys on the political site would instantly recognise the characters and situations in the book. I realise that I have rather neglected you and apologise. The book I am supposed to be writing got bogged down at page 100 and it isn't my second but the third. The second was one I had printed privately for some friends and is just a straightforward thriller. I still have a few copies and I can send you one if you like. It is just fiction and has no politics in it at all.
The third book keeps bugging me to get back to it. Actually, I was only thinking about it today and if I can break away from computer politics I will start work on it again. Milly is as adorable as ever but she has got into the habit of sleeping on top of the tall bookcase next to my bed and jumping down on top of me in the mornings when I am trying to sleep. I try to ignore her but she curls up on my back waiting for me to get up and give her breakfast. Please let me know if you want the second book The Fateful Circle because I think you will like it as it is quite an easy read, although you might find it slightly disturbing. It is set mainly in England and Germany and most of the characters are based on people I knew in the past. The third book has Italy as its main setting and although I have an idea of how the plot develops, I need to work out the details to make it plausible. Best wishes, Brian.
Happy Valentines Day my dear friend! I apologize for the absence; things have been rather hectic lately. I've read half of the book, but there is still a lot of stuff to look up so I couldn't really follow the storyline all that well. I don't think I'd be the best person to critique your book sir. But I did ask my professor to take a look at it for me. He has an adequate background on British politics and I believe he'd be able to provide you with his insights. How are things going there? I've really missed our conversations. Did you finish your second book? I didn't want to disturb you in your creative process. How is Milly? I have kept you both in my thoughts and I wish you all the best. Please right back soon. Love lots, Princess
Hi Princess, Sorry to have been an absent friend for so long but I have often thought about you. I never did discover what you finally thought of my book. I think on reflection that it was a pretty big chunk of English political experience for a young person to understand. However, I would like to hear your final verdict on the story and I hope you are still going strong with your studies. Seasonal greetings to you and your family.
Seasons greetings Mr. Bean! How are you? Happy Holidays to you and your family! I wish you all the best! Missed you! Love lots, Princess
Nobody who didn't live through the Profumo scandal can possibly imagine the impact that it had in the UK. The world was a completely different place in 1963 to what it is now when anything goes. Before 1963 pop groups were unheard of although, as the book points out, there had always been some form of popular music. Just before the scandal broke, a woman called Maureen Cleave wrote for a Conservative evening newspaper a full-page article on a group whom she said everybody was talking about.They weren't, but after a few similar articles in various newspapers, they were. Suddenly, and remember I was around at the time,the pop group became many people's main topic of conversation but were merely the first of an unending line of similar groups which continues to this day. However, the Conservatives were sunk when George Wigge, a Labour MP with connections to MI6 ( the foreign branch of British intelligence ), got hold of a compromising letter written by John Profumo the Secretary of State for War to Christine Keeler, who was the mistress of a Russian naval attache called Ivanov based in England. The pop group(s) had no idea of a possible connection to the scandal and I don't recall any allusion to it by any of them until possibly after the scandal had broken, so if any of them did refer to it, by then it no longer mattered. Comprehensive schools were a system that was massively extended by Anthony Crosland the Labour Secretary of State for Education which had the intention of getting rid of those schools, such as Grammar Schools, which required a higher level of examination passes to get into. Once again, an attempt to enforce a spurious equality in schools had a disastrous effect on many people's education as they were sent to huge educational establishments that were meant to hold pupils of all levels of ability. Many of them have since been demolished and there is a slightly more diversified choice of schools but the best ones are far outnumbered by bad schools and the competition to get children into them is very fierce. I usually refer to Anthony Crosland as the Pol Pot of British education. I'm afraid I don't know how grammar schools equate to your grade schools. I'm OK, thanks, but I shall not be visiting the LitNet site so often as I have just started writing another novel and it will be taking up quite a lot of time over the next year or so. However, I will drop in from time to time to see how you are getting on. Be good Brian.
Hello Mr. Bean! I've read a bit on the Profumo scandal, and it would seem to me that the emergence of pop groups were caused by these groups' attempt to boost their earnings by riding along this controversy. To me, by alluding to the scandal in their songs, they're actually leading the public's attention to it; a complete contradiction to Fowler's claim of an obvious cover-up. Well, that's my opinion. Can you please tell em more about the comprehensive education proposal? How would it affect the status quo? Who would benefit form the implementation and who wouldn't? I think the British educational system may be a lot different from ours. Are grammar schools similar to our grade schools? How are you by the way? I hope you're doing well. Keep safe, Princess
Hi Mr. Bean! The story is going along well. I'm very captivated by the characters' lives! May I say I like the way you portrayed them. You are quite right about the political part; I'm a little bit struggling with it, considering I really don't know much about British history, but I'm managing just fine. I mean, what's Encarta and the internet for, right? Anyways, I'll message you if I have anymore questions. Thanks lots, Princess
Hello Princess, I am glad that you are progressing with Pro Bono Publico. I thought that there might be a few questions that you wanted to ask. It is never easy to fully understand the politics of another country unless you have been subjected to them. The position in the Uk regarding the three political parties represented in parliament is as follows: 1. The Labour party has a more marked spread of opinion than the other two parties insofar as it was from the beginning a radical party set up to improve the conditions of the working class but, like all radical parties, it has always been sharply divided between those on the left and those on the right. This division has often been the reason that they have been out of more often than in power during their existence. Vic Fowler, who is on the far left of the party is obviously, therefore, an opponent of Roger Percival who is on the far right of the party. 2. The Conservative party, sometimes referred to as the Tory party for reasons that we need not go into here, is opposed to the Labour partry because it is a much older party and originally represented the landed gentry and agricultural interests as opposed to the proletariate that emerged during England's industrial revolution. 3. The Liberal party was the predomninant party during the 19th century until the Labour party was formed and took away virtually all of the Liberals support to become the second biggest party, after the Conservatives, in the UK. Roger actually identifies with the Liberals more than his own party but he knows that the Liberals are a spent force and there is no possibilty of holding power as a member of that party. Both Roger Percival and Vic Fowler are based on real people who featured prominently in British politics during the period in which the story is set. Any politically educated person in England would recognise their prototypes. The same goes for Gerald Welford and many other people who figure in the story. If you come across anything else that you're not quite certain of, don't hesitate to let me know. I am grateful for your comments on the book, it gets easier as it progresses. Best wishes, Brian
