Wrapped up in Books

Boston – Day 2

The chronology gets a little messed up here because i’ve gotten a little behind, but bear with me.

On my second day in Boston with the Berkman’s I received unofficial notification from a couple of tutors that i’d achieved a First Class Honours in Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford, which was nice. This was officially confirmed the next day, yet regardless Mac and Jim treated me to a delightful meal at an Iranian restaurant the evening after I had explored the Freedom Trail, and I had a splendid time. I’d never before tried Iranian – or perhaps better, Persian – food, but I really enjoyed it and is something I have earmarked to do again. This was followed by a walk around Beacon Hill, were the high and mighty of Massachusetts society reside when they come to town. We walked past the house of none other than Senator John Kerry, but I don’t think he was in. I always feel bad for Kerry – losing the US Presidential election must be a tough blow to take, but losing it to a complete moron must be even worse (sorry to any pro-Bush readers, but that is frankly my opinion of the man).

The next day I decided to take the T-Train (i.e. the Subway – indeed Boston’s first underground train was also the first in the world) across the Charles River to Cambridge to have a nosy around Harvard University. About a year ago I was seriously considering Grad School in the USA, but a combination of financial costs in the application procedure and cold feet made me change my mind. I must confess that being in Boston has made me reassess. I can really see myself living happily in the Boston area, and I very much liked the look and feel of Harvard in particular.

About a year ago, my friend Dominic “Mr Happy” Weinberg visited the United States, and I remember him poking fun at one of the Ivy Leagues for its ‘mock-old architecture’ and its attempt to emulate Oxford (he may have been talking about Princeton, i’m not sure). I basically expected the same of Harvard, but I was dead wrong. Harvard is very grandiose, but in a different way to Oxford; the main buildings are big and magisterial, for sure, but they are well spaced out and leave lots of open ground. Unfortunately while making for a dramatic yet aesthetically pleasing effect, this makes it all pretty un-photogenic, as it’s hard to get a good picture of the main campus area – Harvard Yard – from the ground.

There are various sculptures are scattered around the grounds of Harvard, which I think is a really good idea:

This one, i like.

This one i think is pretty standard, but it kind of fits in well i suppose.

This one i think is monstrous. But each to their own.

Finally it was good to see that the well-loved, respected, and highly influential, English celebrity-politician Mr Robert Kilroy-Silk is having his influence felt across the Atlantic*:

The one thing, however, I thought was disappointing about Harvard was the quality of its bookstores vis-a-vis Oxford. Both the Harvard Bookstore and the Harvard Coop were quite limited compared to Blackwell’s of Oxford. Perhaps i’m just spoilt after having spent 3 years living a minute’s walk from possibly the best book shop in the world (well, as regards selection and choice, if not price), but nonetheless I was disappointed at not being able to find what i was after in Harvard of all places.

Then again, perhaps I shouldn’t expect shops to stock Gannett’s Tocqueville Unveilled and Wendy Brown’s States of Injury just because i am passing through.

*Americans: that was a really bad joke that only English people will get, and even they won’t think it was funny.