Unworthy of Mortimer
Sir: It is only the delight I have in John Mortimer's writings which causes such exasperation at his article 'Should writers think?' (27 June). Spurious juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, weasel words, specious arguments, simplistic sophistry — all are there. Not that it matters, in general: we are used to this in an age of media barrage and instant interviewer-experts whose Skills are in techniques, and not in rational thought. But it is not worthy of Mortimer. Of course, his political standpoint often grins through the surface like undercoat in ..n.ill-prepared paint system: that's all right in its place — Rumpole, Voyage Round My Father, Clinging to the Wreckage — lovely stuff, which does not pose as a logical argument. The misused skills of the barris- ter are much in evidence here.
That is what irks so much in a writer one admires for his creative talents, and his delicious feeling for words and word-play. When Frank Harris exclaimed, 'What rub- bish!' after one of Oscar Wilde's dinner- party disquisitions, the response was, 'Yes, but how beautifully expressed.' Wilde knew the difference in the game, even when the player was himself. I hope Mortimer does.
Alastair Morley-Brown
North Dorincourt, Kingston Vale, London SW15
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