Letter: Worm stirs anew

Sir: Your correspondent on "earworms" (19 June) mentioned Alfred Bester's The Demolished Man and the protagonist's attempts to avoid having his mind read.

It must be 30 years since I read that novel, and I have entirely forgotten the plot, but on reading the letter the worm immediately revived itself. "Tenser said the tensor, tenser said the tensor, tension apprehension and dissension have begun," as I recall. Now, of course, it won't go away.

ROBERT NICHOLLS

Cranfield, Bedfordshire