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A review by gemmaduds
A Life Discarded: 148 Diaries Found in a Skip by Alexander Masters
5.0
‘A Life Discarded’ begins with Alexander and his friends finding 148 journals discarded in a skip. From there on, Alexander attempts to unravel the mysterious writer of these journals – leading us into the oddly fascinating life of an entirely unremarkable person.
There are moments throughout Alexander’s work that are really astonishing, reminding us that at times the truth (and life) can be entirely unexpected.
A few previous reviews of this book mark Alexander down because his narrative surrounding the journals is often more appealing than the journal itself. I think that they have completely missed the point – his argument throughout is exactly that; works of fiction, newspaper articles, biographies, are all written for an audience and are supposed to be entertaining. The mundane ramblings of an ordinary person struggling through their life in their journals is not intended to be for an audience – and Alexander has done such a wonderful job of moulding the subject’s life workings into something that we can really read and enjoy.
It took me quite a long time to finish this biography despite it being a quick read; after every few pages I suddenly felt the urge to write in my own journal – and although I am not quite as dedicated to mine as the subject of this biography, it certainly helped me to get more words down onto paper.
This is a really enjoyable read – very funny, entertaining and strangely suspenseful.
There are moments throughout Alexander’s work that are really astonishing, reminding us that at times the truth (and life) can be entirely unexpected.
A few previous reviews of this book mark Alexander down because his narrative surrounding the journals is often more appealing than the journal itself. I think that they have completely missed the point – his argument throughout is exactly that; works of fiction, newspaper articles, biographies, are all written for an audience and are supposed to be entertaining. The mundane ramblings of an ordinary person struggling through their life in their journals is not intended to be for an audience – and Alexander has done such a wonderful job of moulding the subject’s life workings into something that we can really read and enjoy.
It took me quite a long time to finish this biography despite it being a quick read; after every few pages I suddenly felt the urge to write in my own journal – and although I am not quite as dedicated to mine as the subject of this biography, it certainly helped me to get more words down onto paper.
This is a really enjoyable read – very funny, entertaining and strangely suspenseful.