Back at Work...

...and very dull it is too.

Among the books we're withdrawing today so that the students won't be tempted to broaden their knowledge by reading them is Billion Year Spree -- Brian Aldiss's seminal history of science fiction, and the only work of S.F. criticism we stock, apart from interminable "Reading For Dummies" notes on The Handmaid's Tale.

Admittedly, this is the 1973 version rather than the 1986 update Trillion Year Spree (co-written with David Wingrove), but its out-of-dateness is not the reason we're withdrawing it. No, it's because the students haven't been using it, apparently, and because the style is too difficult for them. Perish the thought that one particular student might decide to buck the trend, as I did when I read the same book at roughly the same age; and perish in flames the thought that the rôle of an educational institution might include stretching its students, or expanding their reading range to prepare them for university.

God, I'm disillusioned with this job. If I'm not careful I'll start writing bad things about it on my blog, and get myself sacked. I should make it entirely clear at this point that I'm writing about an imaginary sixth form college called St Brad's which exists only inside my head, and not about any real institution located in Bristol which might have a similar name.

I'll be rescuing the book, even though I already own the update and therefore have nowhere to put it. It would be too upsetting to see it thrown away with all the others.

In other news, it's snowing like a bastard, although I'm not entirely convinced that the stuff is going to stick to the ground. Either way, I've foiled its nefarious plans: I came in by train and bus this morning, not on the scooter. I had to get up 40 minutes early, but it's worth it to avoid a repeat of this incident.