If you haven't, you should - Hitchhiker's is the best. I think it was also one of my first literary exposures to cricket, which sounded utterly mystifying. Ah, here it is, I looked it up:
Of all the races in the Galaxy, only the English could possibly revive the memory of the most horrific wars ever to sunder the Universe and transform it into into what I'm afraid is generally regarded as an incomprehensibly dull and pointless game. Douglas Adams, Life the Universe and Everything (1982).
And Bill Bryson furthered my incomprehension: It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavours look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect. I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game. Bill Bryson, Down Under (2000) Hee hee!
But of course, reading the Wodehouse school day books made me realize that cricket is a very serious business indeed. And I've heard there are tea and strawberries, which are always a good thing.
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branchandroot
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Date: 2016-08-07 09:07 am (UTC)Of all the races in the Galaxy, only the English could possibly revive the memory of the most horrific wars ever to sunder the Universe and transform it into into what I'm afraid is generally regarded as an incomprehensibly dull and pointless game.
Douglas Adams, Life the Universe and Everything (1982).
And Bill Bryson furthered my incomprehension:
It is not true that the English invented cricket as a way of making all other human endeavours look interesting and lively; that was merely an unintended side effect. I don't wish to denigrate a sport that is enjoyed by millions, some of them awake and facing the right way, but it is an odd game.
Bill Bryson, Down Under (2000)
Hee hee!
But of course, reading the Wodehouse school day books made me realize that cricket is a very serious business indeed. And I've heard there are tea and strawberries, which are always a good thing.