'Most of us bounce along in the fatter section of the bell curve...'
This cryptic comment, by prolific author A L Kennedy, comes from an article on writers that I discovered recently on the Guardian website. Written over six months ago, it's a reference to writers in general, but in the light of Hilary Mantel's now infamous comments about the Duchess of Cambridge, I think it has rather a prophetic ring.
Having read the full transcript of Ms Mantel's talk, I do concede that some of her thoughts appear to have been taken out of context. Nevertheless the fact remains; as a nation we are obsessed by size, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.
Is it just a coincidence that the author of Bring up the Bodies looks as if she is hiding her own body behind a voluminous pair of curtains? Should we 'blame' Kate's mother for her 'thin' genes, or the future queen's fear of the 'paparazzi' hiding round every corner? And why are we so fascinated by the royal 'baby bump?' Can't the poor rich girl just be pregnant in peace?
What saddens me most is that this Booker Prize winner should use her undoubted talent to grab headlines. Surely she must have known that her comments would be taken 'out of context?' This woman who says she would never stoop so low as to read Mills and Boon, clearly knows how to incite the tabloids.
Back to A L Kennedy, herself winner of the 2007 Costa Book of the Year with her novel Day. '.... some writers' I know,' she says, 'thrive on emotional cataclysms and can barely wait for their next divorce, plummet into infatuation, flirtation with ridiculously violent criminals or encounters with rabid shrews. Most of us bounce along in the fatter section of the bell curve.'
Food for thought, maybe?
This cryptic comment, by prolific author A L Kennedy, comes from an article on writers that I discovered recently on the Guardian website. Written over six months ago, it's a reference to writers in general, but in the light of Hilary Mantel's now infamous comments about the Duchess of Cambridge, I think it has rather a prophetic ring.
Having read the full transcript of Ms Mantel's talk, I do concede that some of her thoughts appear to have been taken out of context. Nevertheless the fact remains; as a nation we are obsessed by size, sometimes to the exclusion of all else.
Is it just a coincidence that the author of Bring up the Bodies looks as if she is hiding her own body behind a voluminous pair of curtains? Should we 'blame' Kate's mother for her 'thin' genes, or the future queen's fear of the 'paparazzi' hiding round every corner? And why are we so fascinated by the royal 'baby bump?' Can't the poor rich girl just be pregnant in peace?
What saddens me most is that this Booker Prize winner should use her undoubted talent to grab headlines. Surely she must have known that her comments would be taken 'out of context?' This woman who says she would never stoop so low as to read Mills and Boon, clearly knows how to incite the tabloids.
Back to A L Kennedy, herself winner of the 2007 Costa Book of the Year with her novel Day. '.... some writers' I know,' she says, 'thrive on emotional cataclysms and can barely wait for their next divorce, plummet into infatuation, flirtation with ridiculously violent criminals or encounters with rabid shrews. Most of us bounce along in the fatter section of the bell curve.'
Food for thought, maybe?
