When Hamish shows Alex the letter regarding the search for the illegal radio station, you can see an O.P.P. shoulder flash on the wall by the window. This is from the Ontario Provincial Police in Canada. This is the same shoulder flash worn by Paul McCartney on the Sgt Pepper's album cover.
The book Alex read from is Far From The Madding Crowd by Thomas Hardy. The lines read from the book by Albert Camus are from The Stranger.