ABSTRACT
OnemaycomparetheShannonwiththeThames,andrecallhowGordon ComstockandhisgirlfriendRosemary,inGeorgeOrwell'sKeepthe AspidistraFlying(1936),takeawalkbythedisenchantedanddisenchanting river:'Theydidnotevenknowwhatriveritwas-itwastheThames,of course'(Orwell,1936:1989,143).Itsbankspresentadepressingalternation betweenthe'desolatefly-blownairofpleasureresortsintheoff-season'and theexpensivevulgarpretentiousnessofhotelsfrequentedbystockbrokers. Orwell'sComingupforAir(1939)takesasitscentralthemetheideal ruraltopographywhichwehavejustbeenreviewing,andshowsthatinthe southernEnglandofthe1930sitisbecomingimpossibletofindevena survivingcornerofthislandscapeintowhichonemightescape.George Bowlingmakesasentimentalreturntothelandscapeofhischildhoodand youth,thewoodsandfieldsandcarppoolsofBinfield,'aboutfivemiles fromtheThames'(Orwell,1939:1986,36ff.):predictably,'thetown[he]used toknow...wasburiedsomewhereinthemiddleof[a]seaofbricks'(ibid., 189).Binfieldissuburbia;andBinfieldHouse,whereasaboyBowlingused tofish,hasbeenturnedintoanup-markethousingestate.
