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Penelope Fitzgerald, The Golden Child

Es wird höchste Zeit, mal etwas anderes zwischen die Sword & Sorceress Reihe einzuschieben, also kommt jetzt die Leihgabe von Regina endlich dran. Eine Satire auf Museenbürokratie, die, obwohl sie von 1977 ist, sich durchaus zeitgemäß liest.

.. The object of the Museum is to acquire power, not only at the expense of other museums, but absolutely. The art and treasures of the earth are gathered together so that the curators may crouch over them like the dynasts of old, showing now this, now that, as the fancy strikes them. Who knows what wealth exists in our own reserves, hidden far more securely than in the tombs of the Garamantes? There are acres of corridors in this Museum that no foot has ever trod, pigeons nesting in the cornices, wild cats, the descendants of the pets of Victorian curators, breeding unchecked in the basements, exhibits that are only at once a year, acquisitions of great value stacked away and forgotten. The wills of kings and merchant princes, who bequeathed their collections on condition they should always be on show to the public, are disregarded in death, and those sufferers trudging like peasants to the temporary canteen, to be filled with coconut cakes and to lift plastic containers to their lips - they pay for it all, queue for all, are the excuse for all; I say poor creatures!"

(Penelope Fitzgerald, The Golden Child, 1977)