Matthew Engel: Eleven Minutes Late
| Genre: |
Literature |
| Origin: |
UK |
| Location: |
Salisbury Arts Centre |
| Tickets: |
£7.50
|
| Dates: |
Saturday 30 May 14:30
|
To the traffic manager, British Rail Southern Region.
 | Dear Sir, Every morning my train, which is due at Waterloo at eight fifty-eight, is exactly eleven minutes late. This is infuriating ...
Why don't you retime your trains to arrive eleven minutes later? Yours faithfully, Reginald I. Perrin. |
The railway system is the ultimate expression of Britishness. It represents all the nation's ingenuity, incompetence, nostalgia, corruption, humour and capacity for suffering. As a nation, the British are obsessed with trains.
Journalist Matthew Engel (half-John Betjeman, half-Victor Meldrew) will take us through his new book, which charts the history of this obsession: a paean of love and a polemic of despair. It is a eulogy and an elegy, and wonderfully funny. This is perfect for anyone who has endured a 'British Rail sandwich' or been made late by 'the wrong kind of snow'.
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