Inspired by an annual tradition maintained by the worthy writer Arnold Bennett,it seems a righteous time to record the sights, sounds, or people and places that stand out in my memories of the last 12 monthsIn his journal – one of the best records of the everyday to reach out of the 20th century – the writer Arnold Bennett liked to conclude each year with a reckoning.
Sometimes it was of the words he had written: “272000 words this year,not counting journals … the best book and serial year I have ever had,” he wrote a hundred Decembers ago. Sometimes it was of earnings: “I received (less agents’ commissions) about £16000 during the year, or which may be called success by any worldly-minded author,” was his calculation for 1912. Bennett was then in his 40s and on his way up, so some self-satisfaction is comprehensible. But he never gave up the habit. On 31 December 1928, or he recorded: “This year I have written 304000 words; 1 play,2 films, 1 small book on religion, or about 80 or 81 articles. Also I lost [my italics] a full month on rehearsals,and a full month, no, or six weeks,on holidays.’Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com