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Untold Stories by Alan Bennett
Dec. 7th, 2012 11:38 pmThe Blurb On The Back:
Untold Stories is Alan Bennett’s first collection of prose since Writing Home and takes in all his major writings over the last ten years. The title piece is a poignant family memoir with an account of the marriage of his parents, the lives and deaths of his aunts and the uncovering of a long-held family secret. Also included are his much celebrated diaries for the years 1996 to 2004, as well as essays, reviews, lectures and reminiscences ranging from childhood trips to the local cinema and a tour around Leeds City Art Gallery to reflections on writing, honours and his Westminster Abbey eulogy for Thora Hird. At times heartrending and at others extremely funny, Untold Stories is a matchless and unforgettable anthology.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
In an anthology that’s part diary, part straight autobiography, part extracts from his work and part essays, Alan Bennett shows his talent for both comedy and tragedy to great effect. However because there are so many different components to the book, it didn’t really hold together in the sense that there’s no real sense of a common thread running through it. As such, it’s a great book to dip in and out of (and I think it’s a must for Bennett completists) but it is exhausting to sit down and read through it from beginning to end in one sitting.
Untold Stories is Alan Bennett’s first collection of prose since Writing Home and takes in all his major writings over the last ten years. The title piece is a poignant family memoir with an account of the marriage of his parents, the lives and deaths of his aunts and the uncovering of a long-held family secret. Also included are his much celebrated diaries for the years 1996 to 2004, as well as essays, reviews, lectures and reminiscences ranging from childhood trips to the local cinema and a tour around Leeds City Art Gallery to reflections on writing, honours and his Westminster Abbey eulogy for Thora Hird. At times heartrending and at others extremely funny, Untold Stories is a matchless and unforgettable anthology.
( The Review (Cut For Spoilers): )
The Verdict:
In an anthology that’s part diary, part straight autobiography, part extracts from his work and part essays, Alan Bennett shows his talent for both comedy and tragedy to great effect. However because there are so many different components to the book, it didn’t really hold together in the sense that there’s no real sense of a common thread running through it. As such, it’s a great book to dip in and out of (and I think it’s a must for Bennett completists) but it is exhausting to sit down and read through it from beginning to end in one sitting.
