[O]n this day, as throughout the New Year's period, rites of divination for the following year were performed along with rites for the spirits of ancestors and other household deities.

He[…]even had a second slice of lamb, for he was hungry. During the meal, as was his custom, he read from a book propped up against the cruet.

The book is a collage of sorts, a series of short, documentarylike moments from August 1892 to Dec. 31, 1941.

MS: There was a lot of snowdropping in those days? / SL: Oh, I've never actually stooped to snowdropping; I used to go into shops. Boosting, man, boosting. But you learn how to survive.