Unreliable Memoirs
7 journalers for this copy...
This is a laugh out loud book of Clive James' memories of growing up in Australia. With acerbic wit and a devastating precision for describing people and places, James takes us on a journey through familiar territory (well for us Aussies anyway), that we will never look again at without a wry smile. Great fun!
Bookring underway:
1 jackiea
2 LeafofHumanTree
3 tqd
4 augustusgloop
5 markmcg
6 Kirst040
Caught this morning at OBCZ at the GoGo coffee shop in Darlinghurst - thanks Ada2.
A Bookring. I look forward to reading it and passing it along.
A Bookring. I look forward to reading it and passing it along.
A hilariously funny book!
After seeing Clive James on TV for years it’s possible to actually hear his voice coming thru to narrate this book.
He was born at the beginning of WW11, I was born at the end. Probably because of the hiatus in progress caused by this major world event, he and I enjoyed virtually the same childhood. Our Sydney suburb never had a ‘dunny man’, although after reading his hilarious account of these visits, I was wishing we had, but the ‘Saturday arvo flicks’ and the essential part played at those kids’ social gatherings by Jaffas; products, long gone, like ‘Tarzan’s Grip’ and the taken-for-granted ability of the neighbourhood kids of those days to run about the local streets all day and into the night, secure in the knowledge that the worst that could happen to them was being yelled at by an irate neighbour were all nostalgically familiar! A world long gone now, alas!
I so enjoyed travelling down memory lane with him and having a good laugh along the way!
This book will be travelling on to LeafOfHumanTree to continue its journey.
After seeing Clive James on TV for years it’s possible to actually hear his voice coming thru to narrate this book.
He was born at the beginning of WW11, I was born at the end. Probably because of the hiatus in progress caused by this major world event, he and I enjoyed virtually the same childhood. Our Sydney suburb never had a ‘dunny man’, although after reading his hilarious account of these visits, I was wishing we had, but the ‘Saturday arvo flicks’ and the essential part played at those kids’ social gatherings by Jaffas; products, long gone, like ‘Tarzan’s Grip’ and the taken-for-granted ability of the neighbourhood kids of those days to run about the local streets all day and into the night, secure in the knowledge that the worst that could happen to them was being yelled at by an irate neighbour were all nostalgically familiar! A world long gone now, alas!
I so enjoyed travelling down memory lane with him and having a good laugh along the way!
This book will be travelling on to LeafOfHumanTree to continue its journey.
Turned up in the post today, thanks LeafOfHumanTree! And thanks ada2 for organising the ring!
I've got a few other books to read first, but this'll be started asap.
I've got a few other books to read first, but this'll be started asap.
Journal Entry 6 by LeafOfHumanTree from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Thursday, July 1, 2004
One reviewer said of James’s trilogy of memoirs (Unreliable Memoirs, Falling Towards England and May Week Was in June) that you shouldn’t read any of them on the train, because you’ll have to restrain yourself from snorting with laughter, and the reviewer was absolutely right. You can make a complete fool of yourself reading this book in public! I come from a later generation of Australians for whom indoor flushing toilets are the norm and the conservative 1950s are known only through history books, but I can still relate to Clive James’s childhood of billycarts, snakes, British children’s books and spider-infested outdoor dunnies. In this volume, Unreliable Memoirs, James looks back on his younger self with dry wit, creating an image of a loveable little rogue who caused his mother much heartache. Very funny and highly recommended.
I hope Clive got a chance to apologise to his mum for being such a brat as a young man! I think she suffered far too much!
But a brilliant read, I loved his way of twisting sentences at the end. My favourite was (describing the choir of the church he is attending, which is opposite one of Sydney's major hospitals; all typos mine):
"Many a surgeon must have paused gratefully during a tricky operation to relish the top notes of our resident coloratura, Mrs Pike, as she howled above the choir like a dingo with its paw caught in a trap."
I've sung in choirs, I know precisely what he is talking about!!
It was also fun reading about Paddington pre-gentrification. I remember Paddington as being slightly weird once (there were punks and mohawks to be seen up there when I arrived in Sydney), but mainly I know it as an expensive trendy suburb so it was good to see a different depiction. And lots of other places I know - swimming in the harbour, Sydney High etc.
On to augustusgloop next!
But a brilliant read, I loved his way of twisting sentences at the end. My favourite was (describing the choir of the church he is attending, which is opposite one of Sydney's major hospitals; all typos mine):
"Many a surgeon must have paused gratefully during a tricky operation to relish the top notes of our resident coloratura, Mrs Pike, as she howled above the choir like a dingo with its paw caught in a trap."
I've sung in choirs, I know precisely what he is talking about!!
It was also fun reading about Paddington pre-gentrification. I remember Paddington as being slightly weird once (there were punks and mohawks to be seen up there when I arrived in Sydney), but mainly I know it as an expensive trendy suburb so it was good to see a different depiction. And lots of other places I know - swimming in the harbour, Sydney High etc.
On to augustusgloop next!
Journal Entry 8 by augustusgloop from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Saturday, July 10, 2004
Received from tqd over brunch at GoGos. Looks great. Always a fan of Clive.
Journal Entry 9 by augustusgloop from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Sunday, July 11, 2004
I raced through this book over a day, smiling wryly at Clive's ever-present self-deprecating sense of humour. As a Gen Xer, Clive's tales of dunny men and outhouses was read with childish wonderment I must confess!
It was interesting to read about his childhood and although he touched briefly on his use of humour as a defence mechanism, I was left wanting to know more about his self-perception and self-analysis on how his childhood made him the man he is today.
An utter terror child, the next time I see that twinkle in his eye, I'll shudder for his poor old mother!
Will pass to markmcg at Tuesday's MeetUp.
It was interesting to read about his childhood and although he touched briefly on his use of humour as a defence mechanism, I was left wanting to know more about his self-perception and self-analysis on how his childhood made him the man he is today.
An utter terror child, the next time I see that twinkle in his eye, I'll shudder for his poor old mother!
Will pass to markmcg at Tuesday's MeetUp.
Caught at the Sydney July Meetup. Thank you Augustusgloop!
This is a great book. James recounts his life from birth to arrival in London. The book is really entertaining because he is happy not to let the truth stand in the way of a good story!
James has a wonderful turn of phrase. His description of the sky of Sydney having the texture of powdered sapphires really did it for me.
Highly recommended.
James has a wonderful turn of phrase. His description of the sky of Sydney having the texture of powdered sapphires really did it for me.
Highly recommended.
Journal Entry 12 by kirst040 from Sydney CBD, New South Wales Australia on Wednesday, August 18, 2004
This was waiting for me on my arrival home from holidays. Thanks markmcg.
I've started it already, so far, so entertaining. Should be a quick read.
I've started it already, so far, so entertaining. Should be a quick read.
I really enjoyed this. I don't think I was ever in danger of internal injury from surpressing laughter but it certainly raised a more than a chuckle now and then.
James has a wonderful style of writing that made me feel like I was there with him, hurtling down the street in a billycart or swimming at Bronte or Coogee. I'm too young to remember the dunny man but I still have very fond memories of being free to wander around our neighbourhood as a child without a care in the world and the description of his school days also brought back some happy (and not so happy !!) memories.
Looking forward to reading more of Clive James.
James has a wonderful style of writing that made me feel like I was there with him, hurtling down the street in a billycart or swimming at Bronte or Coogee. I'm too young to remember the dunny man but I still have very fond memories of being free to wander around our neighbourhood as a child without a care in the world and the description of his school days also brought back some happy (and not so happy !!) memories.
Looking forward to reading more of Clive James.
This came home to me this week. Thanks everyone for participating and for your great journal entries.
