More Voices

I'm still thinking about Ancestral Voices. A sign of a good book? One of the reasons I'm still thinking about it is because I failed to note yesterday one of the things that struck me most while reading it. Nearly every day Lees-Milne was out lunching or dining or meeting someone for tea. The only time he ever had a quiet day at home was when he was ill, and even then someone would come and visit him. So much time spent with other people made me wonder when he ever had time to read, which he did, or write his diary. Perhaps when that free time came it was used more wisely since it was so rare? I imagine it helped that there was no television or computer. I suppose his being out all the time was a sign of his upper middle class life. Do people still live this way? I think I would have gone nuts. I need regular bouts of solitude or I start to get grumpy and a little frantic. But maybe that is just me? Maybe people really do still live this way and I'm the odd duck. Hmm.