A Life Like Other People's

by Alan Bennett | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0571254853 Global Overview for this book
Registered by worldbooknight on 2/25/2011
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5 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by worldbooknight on Friday, February 25, 2011
Dear Reader

Welcome to BookCrossing and thanks for being a part of World Book Night 2011, the largest book giveaway in history. 1,000,000 specially printed copies of 25 different books changed hands on March 5th 2011 and began their journey from reader to reader. This book is one of them. World Book Night has joined with BookCrossing to help track these books as they travel. You can be a part of that journey by making a comment in the book's journal here on BookCrossing. Your journal entry can say how you got the book, what you thought of it, your plans for it or whatever else you might like to add.

On BookCrossing you may choose to remain anonymous or join (it's free). If you join, you’ll be alerted by e-mail each time someone makes another journal entry for this specific copy of this book (other copies of the book are travelling with their own ID number. Every copy of every book has a unique ID). It’s all confidential (you’re known only by your screen name and no one is ever given your e-mail address) and spam-free.

Thanks in advance for being part of World Book Night and BookCrossing. And happy reading and sharing.

Released 13 yrs ago (2/25/2011 UTC) at -- Somewhere in London 🤷‍♀️ , Greater London United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book is being released via BookCrossing on 5 March 2011 as part of the inaugural World Book Night. With the full support of the Publishers Association, the Booksellers Association, the Independent Publishers Guild, the Reading Agency with libraries, World Book Day and the BBC, one million books will be given away by an army of passionate readers to members of the public across the UK and Ireland.

Read and release!

Journal Entry 3 by wingDiane-Fraserwing at Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear United Kingdom on Saturday, November 30, 2019
Found in a charity shop. I read a copy of this back in 2012 and here's what I said then :

An honest account of Alan's family life - particularly aimed at depression and the affects it has on the family in many ways.

Very quick easy to read book

Released 4 yrs ago (12/4/2019 UTC) at City of Leeds Museum Café and LFL in Leeds, West Yorkshire United Kingdom

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

Welcome to Bookcrossing!

You have found a travelling book. Why not join in the fun? Read, release and pass on but don't forget to write a Journal Entry telling us where you found the book, if you read it what you thought about it and where you are going to leave it. If you join bookcrossing before you do the entry you will get an alert when the next person writes up about it and can track its travels. If you prefer to just leave an Anonymous Journal Entry, it will brighten up my day either way. Oh and if you like the book sooooo much you just don't want to let it go that is fine too, maybe one day eh ☺

Enjoy!!

Taking to the meet up


Journal Entry 5 by wingPlum-crazywing at Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Wednesday, December 4, 2019
Picked up at the Leeds Midweek Meet Up.....can't resist a WBN book! :o)

(Note to self: for daff when read)

Journal Entry 6 by wingPlum-crazywing at Brighouse, West Yorkshire United Kingdom on Sunday, June 28, 2020
I've mixed feelings about this book. While I liked Bennett's style, the subtle humour & often deprecating wit, at times it made me a little uncomfortable.
"A Life Life Other People's" recounts the effect Bennett's mother's depression had on the family & it seemed an intrusion to be reading about the lives of his parents, of the issues caused by his mother's illness when they came over as such private people. It made me wonder how they'd feel to know that their family "secrets" were being picked over by strangers for amusement.

While the Bennetts situation is one unknown to me there were bits of family life that I could identify with & made me smile but overall I found it all rather poignant. In her final years, dementia meant Bennett's mother was in a home & these passages left me heartbroken yet with a guilty relief that I never had to go through it with my parents.

This particular passage will stay with me for a long time;

"The turnover of residents is quite rapid since whoever is quartered in this room is generally in the later stages of dementia. But that is not what they die of. None of these lost women can feed herself and to feed them properly, to spoon in sufficient mince and mashed carrot topped off with rhubarb and custard to keep them going, demands the personal attention of a helper, in effect one helper per person. Lacking such one-to-one care, these helpless creatures slowly and quite respectably starve to death"

Released 3 yrs ago (7/27/2020 UTC) at to fellow bookcrosser, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Now moving onto daffodil-2 as a sort of swap for "The Uncommon Reader"

Released as part of THE SEPTADS CHALLENGE (#3)

Journal Entry 8 by wingdaffodil-2wing at Norwich, Norfolk United Kingdom on Sunday, August 2, 2020
Received as a RABCK from Plum-Crazy along with4 other books and some Crunchie Rocks (which i haven’t tried or seen before). Thanks very much my ever-generous friend. I’ve really been enjoying Alan Bennett’ s Talking Heads on tv so I’m sure I’ll like this book😀. However having just read Plum’s comments about the book and having been a carer myself and heavily involved with people with dementia to this day maybe enjoy may not be the appropriate word. But I’m sure I’ll still read the book and find it of great interest.

Journal Entry 9 by wingdaffodil-2wing at Norwich, Norfolk United Kingdom on Monday, April 19, 2021
REVIEW:-"This book made me think and talk a lot about my own mother who lived to the age of 91. It was very sad in places and quite melancholy overall. However I'm glad I read it and enjoy the way this author writes. I thought it very sad that the Co-op didn't even allow his father a half day off to get married but maybe he wasn't entitled to any paid or even unpaid holiday at that time.
The anecdote about his parents having prepared saucepans full of vegetables ready early in the day reminds me too of my mother and even myself at times. The sad tale of the author's mother's decline into dementia and her earlier struggles with depression was very emotional as was the description of her care home. As a former carer there was so much that resonated with me there too."
Reserved to send to another bookcrosser.

Journal Entry 10 by wingdaffodil-2wing at Norwich, Norfolk United Kingdom on Monday, May 3, 2021

Released 2 yrs ago (5/5/2021 UTC) at Norwich, Norfolk United Kingdom

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

This book will be off on its travels soon to another bookcrosser.

To the finder:-
Welcome to bookcrossing -you have found a travelling book. Please make a journal entry now to say where you found the book in case it has been moved. Then, when you have read it, please come back and make a further entry saying whether or not you enjoyed the book and why. It is now yours to do as you like with it, pass it to a friend or just leave it somewhere different for someone else to find and help it with its' journey. Of course if you can't bear to part with it at the moment then keep it, but please let me know that you have found it. If you join bookcrossing, which is free and spam-free, you can follow the book on its' travels as you will get an email each time it changes hands, but if you prefer to remain anonymous, that's fine too. Please also say what you intend to do with the book next. Thanks for coming onto the site to let me know you have found the book.

I already have books travelling in many countries around the world-a list can be found on my bookcrossing profile.

When re-releasing this book please be aware that airports are not a good place to leave books unless they have a specific book exchange shelf or area, due to security problems, so they may well just be disposed of. Also charity shops may well discard books that have been labelled in any way and they mostly chose only the books in the very best condition
to place on their shelves and discard the rest-so another bad release option.

Journal Entry 11 by wingjax987654321wing at Wembley, Greater London United Kingdom on Friday, May 7, 2021
Received as an extra in a wish list tag. I am particularly looking forward to reading this one.

Journal Entry 12 by wingjax987654321wing at Wembley, Greater London United Kingdom on Thursday, August 18, 2022
I thought this was going to be very morbid and to a degree it is, however it was also full of fun and interest. My great grandmother also committed suicide, however this was talked about a lot, with my grandmother using "go and put your head in the gas oven" as an insult in arguments (this is what her mother had done) so no secrets there. Attitudes and treatments for mental health conditions have changed a lot since then fortunately.

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