An impressive book

Saturday, June 4th., Villa des Nefliers, Fontainebleau.

Ravel and his mother came for tea yesterday; only both of them preferred water to tea.

Yesterday I finished "A Man of Property". A really distinguished, passionate, truly romantic universal book. Many small faults, but the only large fault is that the end is not an end. The situation between Soames Forsythe and Irene his wife is not resolved. But it is an impressive book, no mistake.

This morning I finished second chapter of last part of "Clayhanger".

Additionally for June 4th., see 'Life and death'

I had an article in the Daily News on Saturday entitled "Where are the Dead?" It amounted to a sort of response to, an article the previous day by E. A. Knox, formerly Bishop of Manchester, who propounded a conventional Christian view of the 'afterlife'. I of course expressed little interest in congregations of spirits. Believing, as I do, that matter and spirit are inseparable, two sides of the same coin, I conclude that dissolution of material organisation means dissolution of spiritual. It seems to me that any normally intelligent person, not unduly constrained by social convention, can see at a glance that ideas of resurrection and 'eternal life' are laughable. The stories of organised religion would not deceive a sensible ten year old child were they not wrapped up in an envelope of  ritual, tradition and mumbo-jumbo.