Thank God (if there is one) for small mercies..

A rather unusual title for a post, especially for an atheist like me but then again as Buddhists aren't we all. Hmmm religion in this country is such a potpourri of cultural fusion and overlapping it is difficult to differentiate where one religion or ethnicity begins and where the other one starts, another point for proving the futility of an armed struggle to carve out a mono ethnic Eelam.

Anyways it seems as if I am veering off the intended subject of my post, my apologies for the extremely detached tangent, sometimes I find it difficult to stop rambling, similar to perhaps Rumpole... who was meant to be the actual subject of my post.

Who is Rumpole you may ask.. well he doesn't really exist, rather he is a fictional character in a book or rather a series of books by John Mortimer, he is a defense attorney practicing in England somewhere in the mid 70's or 80's. Like all (or many) defense attorneys his perception of morality is bent and disfigured beyond any hope of repair and he has a knack for regurgitating verses of poetry and lines from Shakespeare's novels at inappropriate times.


Though not a ground breaking literary creation it was a throughly enjoyable novel, tainted with dark humor and a hint of satire. Being an armchair anarchist Rumpole's eccentric thouhgt processes and his primeval sense of justice makes the reader think twice and examine their own personality(or personalities). To question themselves as to whether their own perception of justice and morality is as insane as Rumpole's.

Anyhow, I do not wish to make an elaborate critique of Mortimer's book, because I doubt it was meant to be an intellectual work to be dissected and analyzed by literary critics. Rather it is a simple but highly enjoyable read , one that I would like to define as being a small mercy of life.

A work of art that one can enjoy without giving the neurons too much work and without having to stop ponder the philosophical meaning of a sentence. Rather it is meant to be consumed as it is and meant to alleviate the sufferings ( maybe this a trifle too far fetched, but it helps )of an average reader through a small dosage of comic satire.

Yes, Rumpole and John Mortimer may not change the world but they will help to keep it spinning. Thank you for creating small mercies and thank you John for Rumpole...