Short Pieces
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The Uses of History
A little while ago I watched the movie In Bruges. It’s a very black comedy about two Irish hit men who, while awaiting instructions from their boss in London, are cooling their heels in Belgium. The older man wanders happily around the ancient city of Bruges with a guidebook. He is fascinated by everything – the cobbled streets, the architecture, and the stories behind the old buildings. His younger companion is bored almost literally to tears. He can’t even be bothered to look around him. When the older man asks him why he isn’t interested in the history of the place, he replies, ‘It’s all just a load of stuff that’s already happened.’
