After the intensity of 'The Five', I needed something more frivolous and optimistic. As it turns out, you can't really get more optimistic than Monty Python's Eric Idle.
Showing posts with label terry. Show all posts
Showing posts with label terry. Show all posts
06 May 2019
Mr Bright Side
'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life: A Sortabiography' by Eric Idle (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 2018)
After the intensity of 'The Five', I needed something more frivolous and optimistic. As it turns out, you can't really get more optimistic than Monty Python's Eric Idle.
'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' is a scamper through the highs and lows (but mostly the highs) of the life of Eric Idle. After a childhood marred by the early loss of his father and an unpleasant spell at boarding school, Idle gained a place at Cambridge University in the 1960s, that now-legendary cradle of intellectuals and alternative comedy. In this Big Bang of confidence and creative energy, many significant cultural figures mixed, with groups forming, splitting and reforming, until the infamous Pythons gravitated together and stuck. Over the next 50 years, due to hard work and a positive attitude, Idle's career as a performer and writer thrived. As well as professional success in film, theatre and television, he became friends with many like-minded people (who also happen to be celebrities), including George Harrison and Robin Williams. 'Always Look on the Bright Side of Life' is a life story and a love story, about friendship as well as fame, humanity as well as humour. There is laughter, there are tears, but, somehow, there is always a bright side.
After the intensity of 'The Five', I needed something more frivolous and optimistic. As it turns out, you can't really get more optimistic than Monty Python's Eric Idle.
12 March 2017
The Many Ripples of Terry Pratchett
I'm scared of Terry Pratchett's books. So many people I know have recommended his work to me over the years - people I respect and like - that I've found it impossible to pick up one of his Discworld novels without feeling a weight of expectation upon it. Consequently, it feels too heavy, I drop it and then scamper off to find something less intimidating. In the end, I decided to ease myself in with 'A Slip of the Keyboard', a collection of his non-fiction.
'A Slip of the Keyboard' by Terry Pratchett is a collection of articles, introductions and speeches reflecting various aspects of Pratchett's life and career. We hear from the writer, the technology lover, the science fiction fan, the schoolboy, the worldwide phenomenon, the industry PR, the Posterior Cortical Atrophy sufferer and the assisted dying campaigner. Some pieces are short, some are long, but all provide insight into an author as pragmatic as his worlds seem fanciful.
I found this both a very satisfying and heartbreaking read. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me think, which is pretty much all you can ask for from any book really. Pratchett had his favourite anecdotes and phrases, which does make the book a bit repetitive at times, but, for me, this didn't take away from the overall effect of the writing. The only thing I would've liked added was a press release from his days with the Central Electricity Generating Board, but that's more from my nerdy curiosity as a former Press Officer than a feeling that it would complete the book.
As 'A Slip of the Keyboard' progresses, it feels like layers of the writer's character are being peeled back, until by the end of the book, (which brings us up to the last few year's of Pratchett's life when he finds himself an unexpected figurehead for Alzheimer's disease and the assisted dying campaign) we see his outrage and raw determination to change a system he sees as archaic, wrong and cruel. I'm sure that many people feel he died far too soon and it's a shame that this cause lost such a powerful and eloquent spokesperson, leaving the debate with no one else able to bring the issue of assisted death to the fore with such force and knowledge.
Although I can't comment for fans of Discworld, I do feel this is a book for writers and people interested in people. It lifts the veil a bit on this particular writer's life in a way that doesn't seem to happen very often, talking more about the practicalities of book signings and conventions rather than going over the old cliches of technique and style.
So, am I still frightened of Terry Pratchett's books? Certainly not as much as I was before. What I really feel now is bereft that I didn't take the plunge before Pratchett's death. And if I feel like that, I dread to think what Pratchett's long term fans must have felt like when he passed away. On the other hand, I have literally a lifetime of books to look forward to. So there is hope yet.
Postscript
Around the time I finished 'A Slip of the Keyboard', the BBC broadcast 'Back in Black', a charmingly idiosyncratic documentary about the life and death of Terry Pratchett, which worked really well as a companion piece to this book. I'm so glad I watched it but I'm also glad I waited until I'd finished the book to do so. It's hilarious and heartrending and I thoroughly recommend it. At time of writing, it's also still available on the BBCiPlayer. You lucky people!
'Back to Black' Terry Pratchett Documentary
Post-Postscript
By a weird twist of fate, I've just discovered that I'm writing this on the second anniversary of Terry Pratchett's death. I'm not sure what it means, or even if it means anything. Just another ripple I suppose...
 |
| 'A Slip of the Keyboard' by Terry Pratchett (Corgi Books, 2015) |
I found this both a very satisfying and heartbreaking read. It made me laugh, it made me cry and it made me think, which is pretty much all you can ask for from any book really. Pratchett had his favourite anecdotes and phrases, which does make the book a bit repetitive at times, but, for me, this didn't take away from the overall effect of the writing. The only thing I would've liked added was a press release from his days with the Central Electricity Generating Board, but that's more from my nerdy curiosity as a former Press Officer than a feeling that it would complete the book.
As 'A Slip of the Keyboard' progresses, it feels like layers of the writer's character are being peeled back, until by the end of the book, (which brings us up to the last few year's of Pratchett's life when he finds himself an unexpected figurehead for Alzheimer's disease and the assisted dying campaign) we see his outrage and raw determination to change a system he sees as archaic, wrong and cruel. I'm sure that many people feel he died far too soon and it's a shame that this cause lost such a powerful and eloquent spokesperson, leaving the debate with no one else able to bring the issue of assisted death to the fore with such force and knowledge.
Although I can't comment for fans of Discworld, I do feel this is a book for writers and people interested in people. It lifts the veil a bit on this particular writer's life in a way that doesn't seem to happen very often, talking more about the practicalities of book signings and conventions rather than going over the old cliches of technique and style.
So, am I still frightened of Terry Pratchett's books? Certainly not as much as I was before. What I really feel now is bereft that I didn't take the plunge before Pratchett's death. And if I feel like that, I dread to think what Pratchett's long term fans must have felt like when he passed away. On the other hand, I have literally a lifetime of books to look forward to. So there is hope yet.
Postscript
Around the time I finished 'A Slip of the Keyboard', the BBC broadcast 'Back in Black', a charmingly idiosyncratic documentary about the life and death of Terry Pratchett, which worked really well as a companion piece to this book. I'm so glad I watched it but I'm also glad I waited until I'd finished the book to do so. It's hilarious and heartrending and I thoroughly recommend it. At time of writing, it's also still available on the BBCiPlayer. You lucky people!
'Back to Black' Terry Pratchett Documentary
Post-Postscript
By a weird twist of fate, I've just discovered that I'm writing this on the second anniversary of Terry Pratchett's death. I'm not sure what it means, or even if it means anything. Just another ripple I suppose...
28 September 2015
Good Knight, Sir Terry
This year is the 800th anniversary of King John's barons forcing him to accept the Magna Carta, a document which aimed to curb his tyrannical rule. Magna Carta is undeniably significant in the development of ideas of law, justice and human rights, so 2015 has seen many events aimed at encouraging people to learn more about it and its relevance to the modern world.
This week, I had the pleasure of visiting Salisbury Cathedral, which is hosting 25 of the Baron's Charter statues before they're auctioned off this Thursday in aid of the Trussell Trust. These incredible, life-sized noblemen were designed by local artists to reflect a range of historic and local themes.
One of the most popular - one which I hope will raise a great deal of money for the charity - was a tribute to the late Sir Terry Pratchett, who lived near Salisbury. Created by Paul Kidby, the talented artist who has been illustrating Sir Terry's Discworld books since 2002, it featured a portrait of the author and a myriad of his famous characters.
If you're feeling flush, don't miss the auction at 6.30pm in Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday 1st October 2015. If not, there's still time to get face-to-face with this brilliant baron and his brethren before they go under the hammer. Visit the Baron's Charter website to find out more.
Related Links
Paul Kidby's website
The Baron's Charter website
The Magna Carta 800 website
Salisbury Cathedral
UPDATE
The auction raised over £223,000 and someone bought the Discworld Baron for a fantastic £5000. Congratulations to the lucky bidder and great job to everyone involved.
This week, I had the pleasure of visiting Salisbury Cathedral, which is hosting 25 of the Baron's Charter statues before they're auctioned off this Thursday in aid of the Trussell Trust. These incredible, life-sized noblemen were designed by local artists to reflect a range of historic and local themes.
One of the most popular - one which I hope will raise a great deal of money for the charity - was a tribute to the late Sir Terry Pratchett, who lived near Salisbury. Created by Paul Kidby, the talented artist who has been illustrating Sir Terry's Discworld books since 2002, it featured a portrait of the author and a myriad of his famous characters.
If you're feeling flush, don't miss the auction at 6.30pm in Salisbury Cathedral on Thursday 1st October 2015. If not, there's still time to get face-to-face with this brilliant baron and his brethren before they go under the hammer. Visit the Baron's Charter website to find out more.
Related Links
Paul Kidby's website
The Baron's Charter website
The Magna Carta 800 website
Salisbury Cathedral
UPDATE
The auction raised over £223,000 and someone bought the Discworld Baron for a fantastic £5000. Congratulations to the lucky bidder and great job to everyone involved.
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