Friday 19 January 2024

The Road

 T. E. Lawrence, "Lawrence of Arabia", wrote a memoir of his time after the events of "The Seven Pillars of Wisdom" where he recounts his life as an anonymous enlisted man in the Air Force. This was called "The Mint", published under the pseudonym "382057 A/c Ross". 

The chapter "The Road" has Lawrence's account of riding his Brough Superior in a one hundred mile loop around his base picking up fresh eggs and bacon. It was rendered faithfully in the opening moments of the film Lawrence of Arabia, where it assumes that the day of Lawrence's fatal motorcycle accident was a similar circuit. 

It's very much the joy of motorcycling. Specifically, Lawrence's joy: he is out to test his limits, to ride fast, even to compete with a plane. 

One can almost hear the engine...

The text below is my yellowed paperback, the original public expurgated version. In the Faded Page version 'There he goes, the noisy ,' is rendered 'There he goes, the noisy bugger'.







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