The following pieces are collected from those I have written during the last ten years. They are all occasional in the strict sense of the word; so that now they are to acquire some sort of permanence I have edited them slightly, removing what seems no longer applicable, and here and there removing a remark I thought plain crass.
When I brought them together I found some contaminating awareness in my mind had so adjusted them to the requirements of their varying audiences that they fell into groups which might have been the work of different writers. I cannot conceal this faint dishonesty unless I rewrite the lot, and must let it go. Where my transatlantic editors altered my spelling to conform with American custom I have let it remain so. Our system and theirs are illogical though reasonable. Why choose between them?
I ought to say a little about the piece called Fable. In 1962 I was asked to give some lectures at UCLA in California. The second of these dealt with aspects of my novel Lord of the Flies, since it had become a campus requirement. I elaborated this lecture and took it round a variety of American universities where it answered some of the standard questions which students were asking me. I print it here, in the hope that it may continue to do so.
I have to acknowledge with thanks permission to reprint articles from The Spectator, Holiday Magazine, The Times Literary Supplement and The Listener.
