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4.01 AVERAGE
4.01 AVERAGE
By the time I am forty I might have actually done something fry has done by the time he was 12 :)
a must read for any fry fan I suppose
a must read for any fry fan I suppose
Perfect to read just as I returned from England. Fry shines the spotlight mist clearly on himself and his desperate efforts to feel at home in his school and in his skin. He spares the reader no details and captures the agonies of a teenage boy coming to an acceptance of what feels like his unacceptable sexuality.
This covers the first twenty, turbulent years of Stephen Fry's life. From trying to relate to his father to finding love to being expelled from several schools to discovering his sexuality, he had quite a long and twisted journey.
He also occasionally digresses into what feel like mini-essays on various topics, often regarding British customs from corporal punishment, fox hunting and the Monarchy itself. While I didn't agree with his thoughts on all of it, it's delivered in a very witty and amusing manner that borders on (but never crosses in my opinion) smug.
I like that Fry is hyper aware of the mistakes he's made and apologises for them, but just as importantly I love that he knows what he doesn't need to apologise for. He comes across embarassingly honest at times, and I love that about him.
I listened to the audiobook as read by the author and like most biographies I listen to I feel it's the best way to experience his story, by having him tell us directly in that iconic voice of his.
By the end of the book he feels like he's reached a point in his life where his mistakes are all behind him and he's ready to mature into a thoughtful, considerate person. Although I assume there's still some fun to be had considering I'm planning on listening to his second (of three!) memoir now.
I enjoyed reading this book very much - it had many laugh-out-loud moments. The style of writing is very conversational and if you are familiar with him as an actor you can hear his voice as you read along (well, I did). The book only covers his childhood to setting off for University but what a tale it is.
I appreciate Stephen Fry but don't worship him. This was mostly about his very flawed younger years. Easy listening.
I'm loving it, laugh out loud moments aplenty, and I'm only half way through.
Took me 5 weeks to read this. I don't know why...I really enjoyed it, very well written, funny, intelligent and interesting. Although - gotta say, I liked the second part of the autobiography a bit more. I like Fry's style of wandering in his story, lots of side tracks and stuff, very entertaining. And also his life hasn't been very ordinary. I highly recommend this.
Oh man. Hurts me heart to say I didn't like this book. I didn't like this book. I love Fry, and I can't completely tell why I didn't enjoy this. It rambled on but was too self-conscious in its ramblings - I feel 15% of the book was him apologizing in "funny" ways for rambling. It was tiresome and uninteresting. Even the interesting parts. Were uninteresting. Shame.
Less of a review, more random comments as we listened to this book as an audio - in the car, on long journeys.
Which was very nearly a mistake a couple of times. It's hard to drive when you and your passenger are crying with laughter. (Particularly memorable and oft replayed was the piece where Fry talks about his tone deafness). Honestly - nearly ran off the road.
Listening to the audio gave the book an even more personal feel, but this is a warts and all, sometimes refreshing, sometimes cringe making honest remembrance of the first 20 years of Stephen Fry's life.
I suspect that people reading / listening to this are going to come to it with a pre-set viewpoint on Fry and his attitudes to his own life, and the world around him. Already fans of his wit and his honesty, we were both interested to see how he would approach his early teen years, his short term in prison, his homosexuality, and the events of his early years that formed him.
Moving, funny, preachy, self-deprecating, searingly self-critical we both found this book fascinating, and to be honest, invented a few reasons for long car trips so we could move forward with the story.
The only proviso we had was that the book should come with a warning not to be doing 110 kilometres an hour on a freeway at certain points!
Which was very nearly a mistake a couple of times. It's hard to drive when you and your passenger are crying with laughter. (Particularly memorable and oft replayed was the piece where Fry talks about his tone deafness). Honestly - nearly ran off the road.
Listening to the audio gave the book an even more personal feel, but this is a warts and all, sometimes refreshing, sometimes cringe making honest remembrance of the first 20 years of Stephen Fry's life.
I suspect that people reading / listening to this are going to come to it with a pre-set viewpoint on Fry and his attitudes to his own life, and the world around him. Already fans of his wit and his honesty, we were both interested to see how he would approach his early teen years, his short term in prison, his homosexuality, and the events of his early years that formed him.
Moving, funny, preachy, self-deprecating, searingly self-critical we both found this book fascinating, and to be honest, invented a few reasons for long car trips so we could move forward with the story.
The only proviso we had was that the book should come with a warning not to be doing 110 kilometres an hour on a freeway at certain points!
adventurous
funny
hopeful
inspiring
fast-paced