The voice of L J K Setright
Discussion
I like and encourage plain language in legal contexts, but the world is poorer if there is no language without embellishment. Language can be quite plain but at the same time wonderful, as in the writing of Steinbeck and Hemingway, to give two examples. Have a look at the GP Car extracts above for Setright writing more plainly, but still well. There appears to be a persistent theme of anti-intellectualism in British life, and those who attack Setright's style seem to go along with the distrust of intellectuals, and of learning for its own sake. That strikes me as a negative and closed way of looking at things.
Brunel attended no university and had no degree. He learned from his father, and later learned on the job. The Wright brothers were the sons of a bishop, again without degrees in any subject. They ran a bike shop before they developed a successful aero engine and airframe, and solved the problem of lateral stability in flight (wing warping - later replaced by ailerons). Sydney Camm started as a woodworker, but went on to design the Hawker Hurricane. But if if you have not been a student of engineering, you are probably a dud, we are told above.
Brunel attended no university and had no degree. He learned from his father, and later learned on the job. The Wright brothers were the sons of a bishop, again without degrees in any subject. They ran a bike shop before they developed a successful aero engine and airframe, and solved the problem of lateral stability in flight (wing warping - later replaced by ailerons). Sydney Camm started as a woodworker, but went on to design the Hawker Hurricane. But if if you have not been a student of engineering, you are probably a dud, we are told above.
Good points!
I read Eizabeth David not for recipes, but for the joy of her writing about food and drink. Setright is a bit like Elizabeth David for cars and motorbikes.
All eccentrics are to some extent poseurs, and of course Setright was a poseur and a bit of a pseud, but he appears to have known this. His style of dress put him on the right side of the line between Dandy (good) and Fop (bad). His persona, and his writing style, were of course carefully cultivated, but at least he put effort into both. He didn't just spend one evening a year wearing a comedy waistcoat near the conductor at the Last Night of the Proms, or stand with a deeply unfunny made up name for a deeply unfunny joke political party at an election, as so many fake eccentrics do.
I read Eizabeth David not for recipes, but for the joy of her writing about food and drink. Setright is a bit like Elizabeth David for cars and motorbikes.
All eccentrics are to some extent poseurs, and of course Setright was a poseur and a bit of a pseud, but he appears to have known this. His style of dress put him on the right side of the line between Dandy (good) and Fop (bad). His persona, and his writing style, were of course carefully cultivated, but at least he put effort into both. He didn't just spend one evening a year wearing a comedy waistcoat near the conductor at the Last Night of the Proms, or stand with a deeply unfunny made up name for a deeply unfunny joke political party at an election, as so many fake eccentrics do.
I should add before the thread becomes another "women can't drive" thread that I was not making the boring generalisation about female drivers. I know several women who are much better drivers than me, although that is not hard as I am Mr Average and not the usual PH Road God. I have for example noticed recently that the S setting on the autobox of my 2009 Jaguar XK is much better at driving the car quickly and smoothly than I am if I try using the paddles on the steering wheel.
On the subject of Setright being a fast driver, it sounds also like he was a scary one for passengers. My late brother was one of those people who could drive you very fast but without ever making you feel alarmed. I have a friend who has taken me in his Caterham a few times, and he terrifies me. I expect that being driven by, say, Lewis Hamilton in a road car would not be at all scary - he would be fast, smooth, and it would not feel dangerous.
On the subject of Setright being a fast driver, it sounds also like he was a scary one for passengers. My late brother was one of those people who could drive you very fast but without ever making you feel alarmed. I have a friend who has taken me in his Caterham a few times, and he terrifies me. I expect that being driven by, say, Lewis Hamilton in a road car would not be at all scary - he would be fast, smooth, and it would not feel dangerous.
On a BMW track day way back in 1992 or 93, the most fun car to drive with expert tuition provided from the passenger seat was a road legal E30 318iS. More fun for the average driver than the M3, 840i etc. Mega fun was had as a passenger in a 5 Series Estate driven by a racing driver. The worst drive was the 840i which was a horrid barge.
Back to Setright. Here he is on the subject of the E Type Jaguar -
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/ljk...
https://www.carmagazine.co.uk/features/opinion/ljk...
The maddest and best bit of racing driving I have ever seen live was Schumacher in an early 1990s Benneton F1 car overtaking a bunch of back markers to catch up with Senna, Prost, and Mansell who were at the front, after the safety car went off. Schumacher jumped the slower cars and then had to negotiate the next corner, a fast one, starting from completely the wrong part of the track. Balls of steel, and megaskillz.
For those who condemn Setright's writing as too ornate, here is an example of some plain but elegant writing for a mainstream newspaper. The subject is front wheel drive in general, and the Fiat 128 in particular.
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/...
https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/motoring/...
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