... affectionate remorse battles with some ancient childhood scars that remained a preoccupation for all Blishen's life. But however painful some of the memories the prose itself always crackles with energy when Blishen pere arrives on the scene to deliver one of his arbitrary cultural fatwahs. Uppity neighbours are ruthlessly put in their place, a demonstrable fad like opera is briskly damned, and dismally self-serving guides to successful living are testily outlined. Here was a father who could only be safely tamed and contained by the act of writing itself, initially within the diaries that Blishen kept as a child and continued up to his death.