Inhoud
This colourful and unusual view of life in the countyside is based on the special charm possessed by badgers, who are seen through the eyes of a man endeavouring to find escape from the tensions and pressures of his professional life. Among the fresh, green rosettes of wild foxgloves the badgers hunt and play, stopping to dig shallow holes in search of grubs, or to scratch before trotting off on their nightly adventures.
The story covers a year in the life and habits of badgers, contrasted with the life led by the narrator, his brother and two women, one a former nurse, the other an owner of a bookshop. Man's attitude towards his fellow men, and lesser forms of life, are of concern to the narrator who believes that the badgers which he watches, particularly Mister Badger, are eventually doomed to extinction despite their ability to fend for themselves. The two lurcher dogs in the story have become completely dependent on man for their survival although the one-eyed cat, despite its infirmity, is independent.
Many people are attracted by nature when they are sufficiently repelled by man. The brothers are disillusioned with city life and see, when watching the badgers, the pace nature sets for living. The conflict between the ideals of man and the realities he has to face in life, like those facing badgers, from the climax of the book when cruelty that can lie under the skin of apparently civilised people, is exposed in badger-baiting.
Ralph Lewis is an architect, journalist and painter who owns an art gallery in The Lanes at Brighton. He has a hopeful heart and a rueful grin.
