A review by ianbanks
The Blaze of Obscurity by Clive James

4.0

I missed the fourth volume of this series but I adored the first three. It was a surprise then that this one was a little disappointing. It has the self-deprecating observations of his own capabilities that I loved in the earlier books, the brushes with fame and the snatch of defeat from the jaws of victory and vice versa. What was missing was the energy and zest that the earlier books had. Or maybe it was the fact that this was the first book of Mr James’ that I’d read since he passed away. I know that mortality creeps into this book insidiously as it is written under the shadow of the passing of many of his friends and colleagues: Clive reaches an age in this book familiar to those of us left behind where mentors, friends and colleagues begin to fall away through illness, accident or misadventure and it is reflected in the tone of a lot of it. There’s a lot that is very entertaining in this book - I was reminded very vividly of a lot of things that he did in the timespan of this volume - but it does get a little grim in places, too. I think, too, that I started to feel that he was protesting too much in some places: he spends a lot of time worrying about finances and whether or not he can provide for his family but they still go away for several weeks every year to skiing and sunbathing (at different locations, obviously) and takes several non-work-related trips himself. It’s an uneven book at worst, really, and hugely entertaining at best. Just not as good as the earlier ones, alas.