Ouse News Page 6 Letters to the Editor: Response to book review in Ouse News – Winter 20/21 edition There was a book review in the Ouse News, Winter 2020/21 issue, written by Stephen Foote on the book “Boogie up the River” by Mark Wallington. I feel moved to express my thanks to Stephen for bringing this work to my attention, as it very successfully amused me for a few evenings (I was so anxious not to finish it too quickly and thereby abbreviate my enjoyment, that I rationed myself to read only a short section at each sitting!). On reading the review I ordered a copy be delivered by a certain supplier’s prime service (if they want to advertise in this magazine, they are going to have to pay the going rate; I am not about to give them a free “plug”) and, for convenience, I ordered the compendium edition containing “Boogie up the River” and “500 mile Walkies”. I found both books entertaining, perhaps the latter even more than the former, but it does not contain any reference to navigable rivers! It would be very good if I were able to offer a review of my own in exchange, but I share Stephen’s opinion that the genre is rather lacking interesting new work (at least that has come to my attention). Over the long evenings in lockdowns and restricted social interaction, and with nothing worth watching on television (having watched Vicar of Dibley on catchup that exhausted my interest there as well), I took to re-reading the classics of my childhood, such as “Treasure Island”, “Gulliver’s Travels” and “Journey to the Centre of the Earth”. All good stuff but possibly not very popular reading material today. Nor, I suspect, would be my subsequent foray into the works of Charles Dickens, although I must commend his writing for its dry humour and glimpse into a style of life now gone (and good riddance too for the most part!). For anyone with a Kindle to hand I can commend Great Expectations as a toe-dipper in these murky waters. There! A recommendation! If you try it, I hope you enjoy it, but don’t blame me if you don’t! Philip Baker
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