Two impulses contend in me – one is to allow chaos to take hold and the other is to keep everything tidy and in good order. The mass of stuff builds and builds into unsorted piles collapsing on the study floor and thickening files and folders of paper-clutter accumulate. But eventually the tidying impulse wins. Every so often I conduct a great clearing-up operation – put the books at home in neat categories, with a pang of regret throw away old magazines, clear out my desk drawers in the study, fix papers and files in new and orderly – looking heaps. My wife rejoices. My sons tell me I could store everything on a computer anyway.
