24 NOVEMBER 1939, Page 15

I have been driven to these reflections by reading Mr.

Amery's Days of Fresh Air. The tonic quality of this book has filled me with envy and regret. Mr. Amery seems to have climbed everything, even the mountain of which he is the eponym. The delight of these experiences actually crackles in his pages. Would he recall with equal crispness his experiences as Cabinet Minister or on The Times? I envy him. I wish, once again, that I were good at games.