Author:Alan Bennett
This fourth volume of diaries appears a full ten years after 2016’s Keeping On Keeping On, and covers the years from then up to 2024, the year in which Bennett turned ninety. It covers a turbulent era, encompassing Covid, Brexit, the death of the Queen and the rise of Johnson and Trump, so there’s certainly plenty of grist for the writer’s mill! Nonetheless, there’s still plenty of opportunity to mull over the minutiae of life with his deadpan wit, evidenced in trips to Europe and pilgrimages back to his native Yorkshire, alongside the serious business of writing several more best selling books, the premiere of his play Allelujah!, the revival of Talking Heads and the filming of The Choral. However, there is an underlying air of poignancy and even melancholy that pervades the book as he contemplates the changes in the country coinciding with the changes within himself as he deals with the physical and mental challenges of old age, along the way reminiscing fondly about his long gone childhood years. His distinctive voice shines throughout this captivating volume as he finds joy and sorrow in the most unexpected places, while at the same time giving vent to his sharply intellectual political views. This is an ideal book to keep by the bedside to dip in and out of, although be warned it’s quite addictive and there’s always a nagging temptation to read just a few more entries before lights out!
Length of Read:Long
Might appeal to people who enjoyed…
Where to begin – the previous three volumes of these diaries, the novels, the plays, the tv series, the films……
One thing you’ve learned
As Bennett reaches the age of 92 this year, surely he must be gradually winding down his career, but what a body of work he has already left us with. Generational talent, national treasure, we’ll not see his like again.
I got my copy yesterday, on publication day. It took a little tracking down though. I suppose there is a case of diminishing returns.
I remember subbing Writing Home, the first of these collections, in the 1990s and saying these exact words to Brian the Faber rep, ‘Do you know what this is?’ ‘No, what is it?’ ‘It’s the biggest selling book of the year.’ Brian scoffed but I was proved right. I only ordered a case of them, maybe 15 copies, but as soon as readings were broadcast on Radio 4 sales went through the roof* and stayed there all Christmas. It probably helped that Bennett had connections with the local university and was an occasional customer in the shop, but it was a huge book nationwide.
* The sentence which sticks in my mind from the last diaries, Keeping On Keeping On, isn’t actually his. Bennett visits a school which is being used for filming, and on the walls are children’s pictures and essays about their grandparents. One ends ‘They have been married for 48 years but still get on like a roof on fire’.
I love Talking Heads.
In this book he talks about liking amphetamines, and not wanting to take cocaine unless he’s about to have sex. I thought he’d be more likely to celebrate little victories with an egg on toast. Our heroes can be very disappointing.
He has sex? Yes, very disappointing
After sex instead of a cigarette he has a nice cup of tea and a slice of battenburg.
I wish my missus was agreeable to that. Or a fondant fancy.
He has form. I remember him having a post-coital cigarette in a BBC play at least 40 years ago – with a topless Julie Walters lying next to him. These were the pre-internet days and surprise nudity on TV like this was memorable.
Ahh, the days of gratuitous nudity on the BBC. Such formative memories. They should bring out a dvd of all the best bits. I’d happily review it, for purely nostalgic reasons.