Sharks in the Water

Another plug for Muggeridge. I'm about 3/4 of the way through his auto-biography, Chronicles of Wasted Time, and I must say it is highly intriguing. He lived during one of those periods where, due to his job, connections, education and upbringing, he was able to know amazing people and be in amazing situations. Moscow during the thirties. Churchill, HG Wells, Gandhi, the Viceroy of India, the Webbs (Beatrice Webb was actually his wife's aunt, which afforded Muggeridge a splendid reception by the Communists in Moscow).

Anyway, even though he was a journalist, he makes extremely caustic remarks about his profession. An interesting one that just floated by was his metaphor that journalists are like sharks in the water, swarming after the ocean liner of society, devouring the garbage that is thrown overboard. Sometimes a passenger falls overboard and the sharks obviously make short work of him. Sometimes, of course, the whole liner goes down...