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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
Interesting, a lot of name dropping but I guess that's life when you are in Monty Python.
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
sad
fast-paced
A must read for Python fans!
I have a feeling that I’m going to contradict myself several times during this post. For those who don’t know, Eric Idle is one of the writers and members of Monty Python, so maybe being odd and contradictory is the best way to review this book. Sure, let’s go with that.
I found myself laughing uproariously several times during this book, of course. Eric Idle has the gift of stating the saddest things in a way that neither diminishes what happened, or dwells on it. Kind of a like a “Yeah, that sucked, but it’s life” attitude (you’ll see what I mean when you read about what happened to his dad). He’s well aware of his talents, but equally well aware of his faults and finds humor in them.
This book both needed to be longer, but could have been condensed. See what I mean about being contradictory? At less than three hundred pages, there’s really not much to the book length-wise, so being longer wouldn’t have been bad IF there was more that could be said. Of course, I also found myself thinking that parts dragged. Some of it read like sitting with someone who suddenly switches from telling you a story to muttering to themselves about it.
Eric Idle would be the perfect person to hang out with at Thanksgiving, or during a family reunion: he has the most interesting reminiscences. However, some of that was lost in the writing. I really liked his stories of the random weirdness he got into. Because of that, I wish there was also a book with memories written in collaboration with all the members of Monty Python. That would be epic. Of course, Graham Chapman would have to come back from the dead for that, and who would cheat death just to argue with editors?
All in all, the funny parts were hilarious, the little-known tidbits were fascinating, and the rest was just there. Would I recommend it? Ummmm…maybe? It wasn’t a bad way to ring in a new year of reading, but it wasn’t incredible.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/01/01/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life-a-sortabiography-by-eric-idle/
I found myself laughing uproariously several times during this book, of course. Eric Idle has the gift of stating the saddest things in a way that neither diminishes what happened, or dwells on it. Kind of a like a “Yeah, that sucked, but it’s life” attitude (you’ll see what I mean when you read about what happened to his dad). He’s well aware of his talents, but equally well aware of his faults and finds humor in them.
This book both needed to be longer, but could have been condensed. See what I mean about being contradictory? At less than three hundred pages, there’s really not much to the book length-wise, so being longer wouldn’t have been bad IF there was more that could be said. Of course, I also found myself thinking that parts dragged. Some of it read like sitting with someone who suddenly switches from telling you a story to muttering to themselves about it.
Eric Idle would be the perfect person to hang out with at Thanksgiving, or during a family reunion: he has the most interesting reminiscences. However, some of that was lost in the writing. I really liked his stories of the random weirdness he got into. Because of that, I wish there was also a book with memories written in collaboration with all the members of Monty Python. That would be epic. Of course, Graham Chapman would have to come back from the dead for that, and who would cheat death just to argue with editors?
All in all, the funny parts were hilarious, the little-known tidbits were fascinating, and the rest was just there. Would I recommend it? Ummmm…maybe? It wasn’t a bad way to ring in a new year of reading, but it wasn’t incredible.
https://wittyandsarcasticbookclub.home.blog/2019/01/01/always-look-on-the-bright-side-of-life-a-sortabiography-by-eric-idle/
Thank god this is over. Just a bunch of name dropping and not funny. Listened to the audiobook version.
So I'm prefacing this with two facts:
1) I've never seen a single Monty Python sketch, movie, or musical. My familiarity with them is the black knight gif that shows him with one arm and "tis but a scratch," and vampire bunnies.
2) Because of this, the rating is greatly influenced by Eric Idle's reading over the content.
That said, this wasn't terrible. I did enjoy the tidbits from boarding school and his early life. I found his humor to be to my liking. I think the most poignant chapters were the ones about George Harrison and Robin Williams.
I think this would be more enjoyable with an understanding of the main players, which I sadly lacked.
1) I've never seen a single Monty Python sketch, movie, or musical. My familiarity with them is the black knight gif that shows him with one arm and "tis but a scratch," and vampire bunnies.
2) Because of this, the rating is greatly influenced by Eric Idle's reading over the content.
That said, this wasn't terrible. I did enjoy the tidbits from boarding school and his early life. I found his humor to be to my liking. I think the most poignant chapters were the ones about George Harrison and Robin Williams.
I think this would be more enjoyable with an understanding of the main players, which I sadly lacked.
It was somewhat interesting to hear some behind-the-scenes details, but it felt like a mostly ego-stroking with a hearty dash of name-dropping book.
funny
lighthearted