Unquiet On The Western Front

       Gorse, driving slowly to nowhere in particular in the middleof England, thought of himself as very much the master of himself and of hiscar. But he was the deluded victim of both – particularly of his car.  

       In thisattitude toward his car, though, he was not making an error in any way peculiarto himself.  It was one shared by theowners of multitudes upon multitudes of other cars which he met or whichovertook him on his way.

       For it was just about at this period thatthese vehicles, so strongly resembling beetles if seen from the air, finally tookcomplete control of the country, the countryside, the villages, the roads, thetowns and the entire lives of the human beings who dwelt or moved therein.

     Gorse was, one might say on that sunnyFebruary afternoon, driving unconsciously not into the middle of England – but intothe middle of the hideous Land ofColeoptera (the rather sinister name for beetles used by serious studentsof insects.)

Excerpt from: Patrick Hamilton, Mr Stimpson and Mr Gorse (1953)
Photography:  Strange Phase Studios