FOLLOWING THE ADVENTURES of characters in a strip cartoon is
apt to be the subject of inverted intellectual snobbery, like not owning a television set, or reading detective stories 'just for relaxa- tion.' But my favourite strip, which 1 will maintain against all corners is the greatest in the world, has never seemed to me to need any kind of justifica- tion other than that provided by its wit, charm and sophistication. Peanuts chronicles the adventures of a group of children (and a flop- eared dog) which is unique in its avoidance of whimsy on the one hand and preciousness on the other. The downtrodden Charlie Brown, with his perfectly round head (Good oi' wishy-washy Charlie Brown'), who occasionally turns and rends his persecutors, Lucy (the greatest fussbudget in the country), Violet and Patty, seems to me one of the great unsung heroes of modern fiction—a sort of junior Good Soldier Schweik—wherefore my song. But greatest of them all is Lucy's baby brother Linus, with his striped jersey and his com- forting blanket, who gives me the greatest pleasure. His wide-eyed approach to the world, which frequently results in remarks hardly less devastating in their frankness than those of Candide, is a perfect corrective to the normal day's news. Unfortunately the strips defy quotation; I can only implore anyone who values wit and robust charm to follow them. And do not give up too soon; the idiom takes time to learn. Inciden- tally, for those who cannot bear the thought of looking even at the back page of the Daily Sketch, the strip also appears on the back page of the New York Herald Tribune's European edition; incurable addicts like myself read both, as the two newspapers do not have the same adventure. The artist is an American named Charles M. Schultz; I salute him.
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