In bed recovering from minor surgery, I am (when not sleeping off the painkillers) reading without any pressure to get up and do something.  I finished "Perverting the Course of Justice" by Inspector Gadget. This pseudonymous account by a police inspector recounts many an inside story of day-to-day policing, threaded through a critique of the increasing bureaucratisation of the police which, in his view, leads to a less effective, less motivated and less respected police force.  The book is slightly overloaded with rants about the state of things, but it's really brought to life by the stories he tells of real people – criminals, victims of crime, bureaucrats, emergency services, and police officers. Every few pages I get a flash of recognition, when he tells of a story of a road traffic accident or a suicide or a drug dealer, He meets these situations constantly, I more occasionally, but they are the stuff of life as a priest as well. I recognised his frustration at the stone walls of bureaucracy, procedure, "confidentiality" and political correctness that you meet when your job involves trying to help people. I can think of plenty of times when I've been denied permission to accompany people (at their own request) into medical situations.  A&E are usually brilliant – they tend to appreciate it when you show up with someone, you've already saved them from death or disaster, called the ambulance, supplied clear information on the situation, and are willing to sit up with the patient all night until relatives arrive. But elsewhere any kind of co-ordinated approach to delivering help to the needy is about as rare as hen's teeth. Like Gadget, I believe in process and accountability and confidentiality, but there are many situations where obeying these to the letter may, on paper, appear to be respecting someone's dignity, but in reality it results in denying people the help they need. Inspector Gadget also blogs here.

After Inspector Gadget's full-on account of life in the raw, I needed a different kind of take on reality.   The Life of Pi is one of those books that has been slipping down my pile of must-reads for several years. At last I have delved into its pages. And what a treat it is.  

Here's a great quote:

If we, citizens, do not support our artists, then we sacrifice our imagination on the altar of crude reality and we end up believing in nothing and having worthless dreams.