Writing Home

Much as 'Untold Stories' which is the second volume, read arse about face by myself, mixes diary and prose, so too does this volume. Again it is for my taste a bit unweildy and gives the impression of having been padded out to justify it's publishing. Having said this Faber and Faber (the publisher) come in for some stick from Mr Bennett, so this observation could be wholly accurate. That said in any format Mr Bennett's works are a joy to read; personally I would have edited the non sequential diaries of 'Writing Home' and 'Untold Stories' into one volume, but of course, these books are not warts and all exposes, and Alan Bennett only treats us to the sanitised diary entries which he feels comfortable to share.

If you are a fan of Alan Bennett's wry observations and enjoy reading works which make you repeatedly smile, and in my case agree with, then this book is for you.

Writing lessons (4/5 people found this helpful)

If there is a spark of humanity in you read this book. Alan Bennett was part of the satire boom in early 60's and when neccessary has a caustic dry wit that can catch you by surprise sometimes. However for me what comes through in this book is his humanity.

The first section of the book where this is highlighted is his address at the funeral of Russell Harty, which only amounts to 7 pages. Harty was a successful TV show host and interviewer who was hounded by the press in the 1980's over his sexuality (he was homosexual and never tried to hide that fact). Bennetts address is full of compassion and will either leave you crying or plotting a nasty end to some of the gutter press.

'The Lady in the Van' is a full chapter (45 pages) and a completely true story. At one point it was available to buy as a seperate book and is taken largely from his diaries. In the 1970's and 1980's outside Alan Bennett's own house in Camden an old lady (Miss Shepherd) lived in a Van in the street. After a time the council decided she could no longer stay on the street. Amazingly Bennett allowed her to move her Van into his garden and there she remained until she died. This is truly a remarkable story. Bennett of course is a marvellous observer of people and there is a side of me that says he only did it so that he could watch her. However read 'The Lady in the Van' in full and you are left in doubt that Alan Bennett couldn't have done it for that reason, because Miss Shephard's living conditions were frankly disgusting and the smell.. well enough said. Its a truly moving and poignant story.

The diaries constitute a major section of the book amounting to 180 pages. These cover the years 1980 to 1995. There is a section of prefaces to plays as well as articles on writers and filming. These other sections of the book are of the same high standard of writing as the two I mention above, if not all on quite the same emotional level.

Penny Clark (26/29 people found this helpful)

Fairly new to Alan Bennett, this book has given me the most enormous pleasure. It can be dipped into, or read in big doses with equal pleasure. He is able to show the reader the results of a fascinating life amongst the great and good, and also the very lowly. Very witty, but also thought-provoking.

Like sitting at the feet of an imaginary favourite uncle... (8/8 people found this helpful)

Alan Bennett is a man of great humanity, who writes openly about closed lives in a way that feels very special. My gran used to shop at Bennett's father's shop, and I live across the river from Armley, where he grew up, so this episodic personal history has extra layers to it.

Yet there are plenty of layers for even the most casual reader - this could easily be what I would call 'a bog book', although some parts would require quite severe constipation for successful completion in one go. There are snippets, remembrances, essays, criticism... This is basically a collection of all the best bits of Bennett's non-fiction writing.

There is barely a hair's breadth between much of this writing and that of something like 'Talking Heads', which carries the same level of affectionate honesty. Bennett seems to be such a dispassionate person, as if observing the world through glass, yet when one chooses to see the world from his happy-sad perspective, one is often moved to tears. I'm not sure I can explain it: sometimes it's like Mr Spock from Star Trek, mystified at humans in general, and human emotion in particular.

Bennett is not a religious man (although he had a religious upbringing), yet this book instills in me a sense of wonder at the ordinary things in life, and a hope that I, too, might see below the surface, even as I am staring at it, seeing nothing else.

Essential for every bookshelf (8/8 people found this helpful)

I have returned to this book several times. I have laughed till I cried at the hilarious observations and choked up at the most poignantly sad passages, both aspects of Bennett's writing especially evident in 'The Lady in the Van' reproduced in its entirety in this collection. A gem of a book from a rare gem of a man.

Alan Bennett

Reader Reviews:

Guaranteed to brighten any bus journey (1/1 people found this helpful)

Writing lessons (4/5 people found this helpful)

Penny Clark (26/29 people found this helpful)

Like sitting at the feet of an imaginary favourite uncle... (8/8 people found this helpful)

Essential for every bookshelf (8/8 people found this helpful)

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