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"A comic triumph, full of terrific jokes and brilliantly sustained setpieces" Ian Hamilton, London Review of BooksWhen we last met our hero in Unreliable Memoirs, he had set sail from Sydney Harbour bound for London, fame and fortune. Idealistic and uncompromising, if short on cash, he planned to engage himself in a low-paying menial job by day and to compose poetical masterpieces by night. Having promised himself he would never succumb to such stop-gap occupations as publishing or show more advertising, he was happily unsuccessful in landing in either job - at least initially. Positions with London Transport and as a wine expert were likewise denied him. Scarcely daunted, he moved purposefully beyond 'the Valley of Kangaroos' (otherwise known as Earl's Court) into a bed and breakfast in a Swiss Cottage where he thoughtfully practised the Twist in his room, anticipated the poetical masterpieces and worried a little about his wardrobe. PRAISE FOR CLIVE JAMES"James' wickedly funny jokes and jibes make you laugh out loud and feel warm to the man. No wonder women wanted to feed him greens, and men lend him money" The Times show lessTags
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Member Reviews
The second in the Unreliable Memoirs set of books sees Clive James newly arrived in post-war England, a Sydney boy trying to make good in the bright lights, high(er) society and learned sets of English society. Don't read this, however, if you're expecting the really breezy, cleverly observant, self-deprecating ways of his childhood. Young adult Clive James is a different beast and he's out of place, out of step and seemingly somewhat out of clues in this world.
Moving from self-deprecation clearly into a form of almost self-loathing, the Clive James that is trying to find his way in England, leading eventually to University post-grad studies, is struggling, and as you'd expect from Clive James he lays that on the line - warts, failures, show more drunk debauchery, questionable attitudes to friends and women, financially broke, morally bereft and simply lost, he's a bit on the whingy side, as well as brutally honest and self-flaggelating.
It's not until I finished FALLING TOWARDS ENGLAND and had some time to think about it that I came to see the the honest microcosm of that entire period. On the one hand self-reflective, on the other utterly self-destructive. Inward looking, scared and timid whilst also being a time of great scientific and societal advancement. In the middle of all of that sat an Australian man with no idea what he's doing or where he's heading, with a desperate need for acceptance, love and to be in on the act.
Sprinkled, as usual, with great observations, some positively cringeworthy moments, and a heap of stuff that everybody who has ever wondered what the hell they are doing with their lives could find well worth reading.
Moving from self-deprecation clearly into a form of almost self-loathing, the Clive James that is trying to find his way in England, leading eventually to University post-grad studies, is struggling, and as you'd expect from Clive James he lays that on the line - warts, failures, show more drunk debauchery, questionable attitudes to friends and women, financially broke, morally bereft and simply lost, he's a bit on the whingy side, as well as brutally honest and self-flaggelating.
It's not until I finished FALLING TOWARDS ENGLAND and had some time to think about it that I came to see the the honest microcosm of that entire period. On the one hand self-reflective, on the other utterly self-destructive. Inward looking, scared and timid whilst also being a time of great scientific and societal advancement. In the middle of all of that sat an Australian man with no idea what he's doing or where he's heading, with a desperate need for acceptance, love and to be in on the act.
Sprinkled, as usual, with great observations, some positively cringeworthy moments, and a heap of stuff that everybody who has ever wondered what the hell they are doing with their lives could find well worth reading.
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“Some people are different, and so are the rest of us.”
Another wonderful read in this series. Make sure you read [b:Unreliable Memoirs|398913|Unreliable Memoirs|Clive James|http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1332737164s/398913.jpg|388360] first. I'm currently studying a bachelors degree for the second time (at age 33). It's so moving to realise that my early experiences at university were not unique, but were common enough that many of my fellow students today must be going through exactly the same thing, only with Facebook.
James, Clive, 1939-/Authors, Australian > 20th century >/Biography/London (England) > Social life and customs >/20th century
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It is something to do not merely with talent but with energy, chutzpah, appetite. James is the funniest man we have...He is amateur of that kind of light touch which depends on the possession of a vocabulary appropriate to a heavy one. Wodehouse had it, so did S.J. Perelman. Mr James has total mastery of his medium, like them.
added by SnootyBaronet
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Author Information
75+ Works 7,316 Members
Vivian Leopold James was born on Oct. 7, 1939, in Kogarah, a suburb of Sydney, Australia. His father was taken prisoner by the Japanese at the beginning of World War II and died when the American transport plane carrying him back to Australia crashed into Manila Bay.He changed his first name to Clive after Vivian Leigh became famous for starring show more in Gone With the Wind. After graduating from the University of Sydney and working briefly as an assistant editor on The Sydney Morning Herald, Mr. James set sail for London in 1962. The first volume of his autobiography, "Unreliable Memoirs", which was published in 1980 and rose to the top of the best-seller list in Britain, described his childhood in Australia. Its sequel, "Falling Towards England", covered, in often painful detail, his mostly unsuccessful attempts to gain traction in London, where he shared a flat with the future filmmaker Bruce Beresford. Pembroke College, Cambridge, came to the rescue, offering him a place. Mr. James did manage to earn a degree and even embarked on a doctoral dissertation. Eric Idle, the future Monty Python star, welcomed him into Footlights, the student theatrical troupe; he became its president. He pressed his poems on every journal available and parlayed his enthusiasm for Hollywood. A scrambling career in literary journalism followed, recounted in "North Face of Soho". His essays were first collected in "The Metropolitan Critic" (1974). Later collections included "At the Pillars of Hercules" (1977) and "From the Land of Shadows" (1982). His television criticism, issued in book form in "Visions Before Midnight" (1977), "The Crystal Bucket" (1981) and "Glued to the Box" (1983), was gathered in a single volume, "On Television," in 1991. Clive Leopold James passed away on Sunday 12/01/2019 in Cambridge, England at the age of 80. show less
Series
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- Falling Towards England
- Original publication date
- 1985
- Important places
- London, England, UK; Birmingham, England, UK
- Dedication
- To Chester and John Cummings
- First words
- When we got off the ship in Southampton in that allegedly mild January of 1962 I had nothing to declare at customs except goose-pimples under my white nylon drip-dry shirt.
- Quotations
- Writers want things to be over, so that they can write the elegy.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)On the flag-stones of ancient courtyards they would find a sure footing.
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Statistics
- Members
- 391
- Popularity
- 80,198
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.76)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 7
- ASINs
- 6
