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readmetwotimes's review against another edition
Come sempre, mi sento a disagio a dare stelline a uno scritto autobiografico. Qui Bennett (scrittore che amo molto) ci racconta con il suo solito modo di quasi noncuranza la sua famiglia, i suoi genitori, le sue zie materne e i suoi nonni materni. Flash di vita e malattia e morte negli anni '70 perlopiù. E per tutto il libro mi rimbombava nella testa l'incipit forse più famoso di sempre: Tutte le famiglie felici sono uguali, ogni famiglia è infelice a modo suo.
book_worm_91's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting to read about the past and how people lived. Found the author a bit a stuck up jerk and that ruined it for me.
kikikissmybattery's review against another edition
4.0
The title understates the insightful autobiography that this is. I preferred reading this small taster as opposed to his full autobiography as this was technically only my wider reading for English Literature AS but nevertheless I enjoyed it, particularly his descriptions of the loss of his Mother and suicide of his Grandfather which I found to be both tragically relatable and touching. A wonderful memoir from a wonderful writer!
oanh_1's review against another edition
4.0
Alan Bennett writes mundanity and domesticity like no other: sublimely. And he so gloriously English. One suspects if he were a woman he would be much less successful.
jocelyn_sp's review against another edition
2.0
Pleasantly told, somewhat dull memoir / family history. I enjoyed reading about his family, but the observations on life were bland and lacked insight
laurenbdavis's review against another edition
5.0
What an amazing piece of writing. It's heartbreaking. It's without what Ferdinand Mount of the Spectator called, "a drop of splother", meaning no self-indulgence, no writerly artificial pyrotechnics, no sentimentality, just brave, searingly honest and often surprisingly hilarious writing. Alan Bennet has long been one of my favorite writers, this book also makes him one of my favorite humans. It's beyond memoir. It's art.
yooperann's review against another edition
4.0
I fell in love with Alan Bennett's writing after I saw a performance of History Boys. This is another memoir, focusing particularly on his parents, especially his mother, who was repeatedly hospitalized for severe depression. It is, as you might imagine, pretty bleak, livened by glimpses of his more-adventurous aunts.
If you're an Alan Bennett fan, by all means pick this one up. If you're less sure, start with The Uncommon Reader.
If you're an Alan Bennett fan, by all means pick this one up. If you're less sure, start with The Uncommon Reader.