The Python Years: Diaries 1969-1979

This thick volume is a delight from page 1. We already feel we know MP through his air of general bemusement in his travels, but there is so much more to him than this.
Covering the Python Years, we hear all about the difficulties in getting six different personalities to agree and the creative struggle to behind Python - the relationships are often tense between the team.
We also learn about MP's family, the arrival of his children, and the sad decline of his father to Parkinsons.
We're so lucky that MP has written up his diary nearly every day and it appears that the hand of the editor has been light, making it even more of an achievement.
Please can we have volume two!

A terrific book. My original plan was to bring it on vacation sometime, as it's 600 pages of small print and I figured it would be something to read by a pool. That never happened (since the book is the size of a cinderblock) so I just picked it and started reading it at home. I'm glad I did. Python fans (and who else would read it?) will appreciate the descriptions of how the team worked together--but they will also find all of the other projects and people orbiting the Pythons just as interesting. There's great stuff about life in 1970s London (the IRA was always hovering in the background), the other TV shows Palin wrote, his trips to NYC to host Saturday Night Live and many entries about his father, whose health worsens with the show more decade. The best feature of the Diaries is their absolute lack of pretentiousness or sentimentality: we don't get long passages about how much he loves his wife or kids; we don't get political screeds; instead, we get what it was like to go to Tunisia to make The Life of Brian, Graham Chapman's hollow leg (and subsequent getting on the wagon), and the Pythons' record and film deals. Palin comes across as likable and decent. For the fan, highly recommended. I'll read the next volume in a few months. show less

A good book comes in like a stranger into your home; someone to be treated with polite suspicion, becomes a good friend and then, one is sorry to see leave. Promises are made to see each other again but, there are so many books out there, it may be some time.
Palin writes well, the insights into the machinations of the Pythons are fascinating but, not the entire story. One relives the great events of recent history - the moon landings being a prime example - with the immediacy of a contemporary entry. Palin draws his characters well and does not feel the need for every line to drip wit. After 600 pages, I felt that I had gained a friend rather than been dazzled by an unquestionable talent: all power to you Michael: perhaps we might get show more the next twenty years at some stage? show less

You may have guessed by now that I’m quite a fan of Michael Palin’s travel documentaries. Well, I’m also a fan of Monty Python and couldn’t resist the opportunity to delve into his diaries, starting with the beginning of Monty Python’s Flying Circus and finishing with the Life of Brian.
Michael is himself apologetic at the beginning of the diaries, stating that he didn’t feel there was enough about Python in there, because he didn’t realise how big the whole thing would become. He continues this humble theme all the way through, demonstrating just what a nice, normal person he is. From discussing holidays with the children, to visits to the dentist and occasional commercials to pay the bills, you might think this is boring. show more But it’s not- it’s a view of an ordinary life that just happens to be shared with Mr Gumby, songs about lumberjacks and George Harrison.
The book is divided into each of the years- it’s not a daily account, and Michael explains why there’s gaps or gives a brief overview of what happens and it’s meticulously detailed with footnotes in case you don’t recognise some of the figures (eg. various people at the BBC, politicians, managers). I read this over a long period on the daily commute and it was relaxing to be taken through the day to day, followed by filming in exotic locale such as Tunisia or flying Concorde (I don’t think I would, even if they still existed, after one of MP’s trips)!
I think you’d need to be somewhat of a MP fan to enjoy this- it’s not just about Python and Ripping Yarns but daily life in Britain of the seventies but if you are a fan, get a hold of this book! I’m looking forward to reading the sequel, Halfway to Hollywood, 1980-88. show less

This is a diary of a man’s life during the 1970’s. Palin is a son, husband, father, writer, and performer. He is concerned about social, cultural and political issues in England and the world. I enjoyed reading about his work with the Python’s, but work is not all that goes on in a person’s life. There are other important obligations; going to your child’s school play, helping your aging parents, vacationing with friends and family.

The entries regarding his career in Python and in other television shows and movies were interesting. I had never heard of “Ripping Yarns” before or that he made a movie for the BBC called “Three Men in a Boat.” There are no new revelations about the Python group. They were six individuals show more that sometimes got along and sometimes did not. When they did get along they were extremely silly and that is what we love about them.

The diaries are written in a way that engages the reader. They aren’t dry or stuffy. I was surprised at how easy the book was to read, even though it is so long it would make a good door stop. Michael Palin comes across as a kind, thoughtful, intelligent, and talented person. Like we would ever think he wasn’t the “nice” Python. show less

I was a big Monty Python fan as a teen-ager, so I was very excited when I learned founding member Michael Palin was publishing the diary he began keeping during the early days of the Monty Python show. The diary, however, is a tricky form in that it is rarely written with the interests of a reader in mind. Because of this, the book gets off to a surprisingly slow start. Palin’s early entries do contain some tidbits about the early days of Python, but, as he mentions, he had no idea at that time it would be anything more than a job he had on a BBC TV show, so many early seminal moments remain undocumented.

I kept reading, however, because Palin is a truly good-natured human being, and his commentary on the early days of his family, the show more decline of his father due to Parkinson’s, and various political events in Britain held my interest more than I expected. As the diaries progress, Python becomes bigger, his entries become lengthier, and I was rewarded with the kind of insider insight I was hoping to get when I started the book.

Palin records many truly fascinating moments as he recounts the troupe’s growing popularity in Britain and abroad. His shock at being fawned over by mega-star George Harrison at a chance meeting at the Apple Studios is one priceless example. Another is when he discusses the daily work of making comedy during an active IRA London bombing campaign.

Because Palin is writing about events as they happen from the perspective of someone for whom a life of writing outrageous comedy quite normal, there isn’t much meta-insight into the Python phenomenon. But I was more than content with his discussions of how the group dealt with various issues including creative contribution dynamics and political negotiations with BBC censors, as well as his entries on the evolution of his post-Python career and what it’s like to host Saturday Night Live with two live cats down your pants.

Though Palin’s diaries are ultimately about the mundane daily issues of his life, the circumstances around that life ensure his entries are rarely dull. As the following quote demonstrates, even his discussions of the weather take on a whole new twist: “A clear and sunny day. In the distance the sun picks out the snow on the mountains of the Austrian Alps. It’s a perfect day for throwing a dummy of John Cleese from the 100ft tower of the castle to the courtyard below.” show less

Everything you wanted to know about the National Treasures meals, drinks and occasionally drugs,and Python business meetings. Fortunately there is a lot more than this, especially memorable is Palin's poignant account of his father's illness. However Michael Palin can do no wrong in my view despite the above criticisms, and I eagerly await tne next volume(s).