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Thursday 9 February 2012

John Mortimer, RIP

So he's gone at last. I've just been leafing through "The Summer of a Dormouse", his beautiful, slender book about the tribulations - and occasional - rewards of old age. He signed my copy when I went down to his home to interview him back in 2000.

One memorable passage:

After this encounter with various religious beliefs, I remember that C.M. Bowra wrote, "A people gets the gods it deserves. The grinning, gloating ogress of the Aztecs mirrors a race brutalized by incessant war." So the Greek gods are as louche, and often as charming, as their worshippers. The God of Israel is extremely nationalistic and frequently cross. The Scotch God is prim and meticulous and the American God, at any rate on the Networks, wishes to be taken literally, lacks a sense of irony and prefers large financial contributions to burnt offerings. When I was at school I was introduced, in the Chapel, to the Church of England God, a well-intentioned old gent who doesn't care too much for religion.

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