Status
Available
Call number
Series
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Collections
Publication
Picador (2015), Edition: Main Market Ed.
Description
I was born in 1939. The other big event of that year was the outbreak of the Second World War, but for the moment that did not affect me. In the first instalment of Clive James's memoirs we follow the young Clive on his journey from boyhood to the cusp of manhood, when his days of wearing short trousers are finally behind him. Battling with school, girls, various relatives and an overwhelming desire to be a superhero, Clive's adventures growing up in the suburbs of post-war Sydney are hair-raising, uproarious and almost too good to be true . . .Told with James's unassailable sense of humour and self-effacing charm, Unreliable Memoirs is a hilarious and touching introduction to the story of a national treasure. A million-copy bestseller, this classic memoir is a celebration of life in all its unpredictable glory.… (more)
Media reviews
Sydney Morning Herald
What accounts for Unreliable Memoirs being the best memoir in the world? And by that I mean no backhand compliment. The memoir genre has suffered an over-grown pullulating decadence of bloom in the 35 years since Clive's work was published. One need only be bitten by a shark or fondled by a stepdad
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to unload one's history upon the reading public. Nowadays to say "best memoir in the world" is almost to say "best fart in an elevator"...
Clive exaggerates to wonderfully honest effect. He sets to work with singular material, a combination of an exceptional young mind, an upbringing in the exotically named town of Kogarah, a pained childhood with his father, a Japanese prisoner of war, surviving only to die in a repatriation plane crash and his mother worn by worry and toil and, finally, tragedy. Then Clive, by a wild act of exaggeration, makes all this universal. He takes the yeast of his memory and plants it in the bread dough of ours. Show Less
User reviews
LibraryThing member soylentgreen23
When I read, I usually have my voice inside my head. No matter how hard I try, the voice is always the same - there's no escaping it. Or so I thought. As soon as I started reading Clive James' memoirs of his childhood and adolesence growing up in Australia, my voice disappeared, and James's
'Unreliable Memoirs' is certainly well-written, with its own idiosyncratic style that works best when one reads slowly; however, I would dispute the assertion that this is an hilarious work, since it is only occasionally as funny as James himself. It is often poignant and insightful, always sincere and never too serious, but I only 'laughed out loud' once. Still, that's more often than usual for a book.
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unmistakeable Australian brogue took its place.'Unreliable Memoirs' is certainly well-written, with its own idiosyncratic style that works best when one reads slowly; however, I would dispute the assertion that this is an hilarious work, since it is only occasionally as funny as James himself. It is often poignant and insightful, always sincere and never too serious, but I only 'laughed out loud' once. Still, that's more often than usual for a book.
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LibraryThing member the.ken.petersen
Dear Clive James,
Thank you for writing this book which achieves exactly what it promises upon the cover. There, in bold letters my paperback version of this work promises that I will 'risk severe internal injuries from trying to suppress (your) laughter'. I did, on several occasions, laugh
Whilst I am writing, may I request that you take on the task of producing my biography in the same half fact, half fiction style that you used for your reminiscences. I was impressed by the way that this left you entirely free to make up any bits that you wished so to do. Should anyone who was around at the time complain that this was not the way that they remembered the incident, you could simply point to the 'fiction get out clause'.
I would also like to congratulate you upon the subtle method utilised to tell the reader what an all out good guy you are. It is a masterpiece of English autobiography: rather than writing, "I am a really sensitive chap who is supremely intelligent", you tell us the exact opposite. This, in itself, makes it difficult for the reader to do other than mentally argue your case but, just to be sure, you berate yourself in a manner that makes clear that you now see the errors of your previous manner and have corrected every one of them. Add a sprinkling of words that sent me scurrying to the dictionary and a few literary allusions that required the perusal of the Oxford Guide to Literature, and your status as one of the very best wits of the English language is assured.
Yours Sincerely,
Ken Petersen.
P.S. If this encomium has left you feeling a little big headed, then I am about to bring you back down to earth: you didn't need to work so hard - I already knew that you were brilliant.
Thank you for writing this book which achieves exactly what it promises upon the cover. There, in bold letters my paperback version of this work promises that I will 'risk severe internal injuries from trying to suppress (your) laughter'. I did, on several occasions, laugh
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uncontrollably.Whilst I am writing, may I request that you take on the task of producing my biography in the same half fact, half fiction style that you used for your reminiscences. I was impressed by the way that this left you entirely free to make up any bits that you wished so to do. Should anyone who was around at the time complain that this was not the way that they remembered the incident, you could simply point to the 'fiction get out clause'.
I would also like to congratulate you upon the subtle method utilised to tell the reader what an all out good guy you are. It is a masterpiece of English autobiography: rather than writing, "I am a really sensitive chap who is supremely intelligent", you tell us the exact opposite. This, in itself, makes it difficult for the reader to do other than mentally argue your case but, just to be sure, you berate yourself in a manner that makes clear that you now see the errors of your previous manner and have corrected every one of them. Add a sprinkling of words that sent me scurrying to the dictionary and a few literary allusions that required the perusal of the Oxford Guide to Literature, and your status as one of the very best wits of the English language is assured.
Yours Sincerely,
Ken Petersen.
P.S. If this encomium has left you feeling a little big headed, then I am about to bring you back down to earth: you didn't need to work so hard - I already knew that you were brilliant.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Figgles
Acerbic nostalgia? Is there such a thing? If so I think this "autobiography disguised as a novel" fits the description. Yes as the cover says it's laugh out loud funny but under the laughter is the poignant story of a boy who lost his father to WWII growing up insecure in post war Sydney. Read in
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one sitting. Beautiful, erudite, coarse, elegant a mass of contradictions which I still have to assimilate... Show Less
LibraryThing member mahallett
was disappointed.
interesting details about australia but too much masturbation, too much self-deprication, and not that funny.
interesting details about australia but too much masturbation, too much self-deprication, and not that funny.
LibraryThing member CarltonC
I do not usually read autobiography, but I fancied something light and humorous. This is certainly light and humorous.
I enjoyed it, and could hear James' Australian drawl throughout, but I did not enjoy it as much as The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, which does a similar
I was reading a Folio Society edition which was, as ever, beautiful to handle with lovely illustrations at the end of each chapter as well as some photos of Clive James and Sydney in the 1950s.
I enjoyed it, and could hear James' Australian drawl throughout, but I did not enjoy it as much as The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid by Bill Bryson, which does a similar
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thing for that author's American childhood, but with better historical detail slipped in and more reflection on the passage of time.I was reading a Folio Society edition which was, as ever, beautiful to handle with lovely illustrations at the end of each chapter as well as some photos of Clive James and Sydney in the 1950s.
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LibraryThing member sallysvenson
One of the few skills he learned in school, noted Clive Barnes in his "Unreliable Memoirs," was how to parse a sentence, and this ability is on display in his story of growing up in Australia. Beautifully written, disarmingly funny, and more introspective than one would have expected from a
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forty-year-old, as he was at the time he wrote it. Show Less
LibraryThing member Nataliec7
I just couldn't get into this book. I think it was the font that I didn't like and prevented me from getting too far into it.
LibraryThing member lesleynicol
Clive James passed away last November and to honour his passing I reread his entry in Wikipedia to remind myself of what a wonderful writer ( and entertainer ) he was and then reread this delightful book of memoirs, his first of many. Thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane to a childhood in
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the suburbs of Sydney, where kids could go out to play , get into mischief and not come to any harm , just "come home when the streetlights come on" Show Less
LibraryThing member Fliss88
Like sitting down and having a good long chat with Clive James. His voice is very tangible and I'm looking forward to the next autobiographical book in this series.
LibraryThing member ElizabethCromb
Clive wrote this over 40 years ago, when he was only in hims 40s somemory was probably ok. But not particularly interesting.
LibraryThing member robfwalter
To me, this book is an absolute classic. There were parts where I was unable to read any further because of the tears of laughter in my eyes, but that probably prevented the more serious damage that could have resulted from reading on and laughing even more. However a great book needs more than
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humour, it needs to mean something, and this book addresses profound themes concerning family, love, confidence, life choices, regret and self-acceptance. I have read this book before, but I was astonished to find so much that I hadn't noticed on any previous reading. The author struggles with feelings of regret and frustration about how he acted as a child and young man, but he also tries to forgive himself for those transgressions. This makes it a very compelling read and it is well served by Clive James' clear prose and perfect comic timing. Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1980
Physical description
192 p.; 5.12 inches
ISBN
1447275489 / 9781447275480
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DDC/MDS
| 828 |