- Hardcover: 672 pages
- Publisher: Faber and Faber; Limited ed edition (20 Oct 2005)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0571230423
- ISBN-13: 978-0571230426
- Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 5,295,604 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Untold Stories
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Product Description
Sunday Telegraph, 25th September 2005
'Alan Bennett, with his combination of pitiless observation and gentle understatement, is perhaps the best-loved of English writers alive today.'
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
Daily Telegraph, 1st October 2005
'This thick book is so full of good things they could sell it for twice the price.'
--This text refers to an alternate
Hardcover
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
42 of 43 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I'm not going to presume to comment at length on Alan Bennett's writing. "Untold Stories" is by turns extremely funny, deeply moving, courageous, uplifting, brilliantly observed, and a treasure trove of expert knowledge lightly told. It covers an astonishingly wide range of subject matter from the seemingly "trivial" (although of course in the hands of a writer like Bennett, trivial details can reveal a whole world), to the "serious" business of politics, culture, society and history. I have rated it four stars because at nearly 700 pages it is extremely long, so there were a few passages here and there that I could have done without (e.g. gardening never being a particular interest of mine). But for every entry on gardening there are a dozen pieces on films, theatre, architecture, art and so on that enthralled me, so I have no real right to complain. This is an extraordinary book and one that repays the effort of reading it a hundred times over. Finally, I'd like to say that I am astonished by the reviewer below who accuses the author of being a snob: if nothing else, Bennett's kindness and humanity shines through every page of "Untold Stories" as plain as day.
37 of 38 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you know Alan Bennett's work through his plays or have enjoyed the memorable collection Writing Home in the 1990's, you might wonder what this current anthology has in store. Well the short answer is that it is the same only different. The customary Bennett humanity, acute observation, keen intelligence and wry humour are much in evidence in the diaries from 1996-2004 included here, and in several of the shorter book reviews and essays. However, it has to be said that this volume like the second set of Talking Heads takes on a much darker hue focussing on issues that the writer has only alluded to before. The first long piece is a detailed account of the mental illness suffered by his mother and aunt and pulls no punches in its depictions of the institutions they attended or the impact this had on the wider family and how their conditions indirectly led to the discovery of a family secret. Similarly, recent years have seen A.B becoming more relaxed about his sexuality and this comes over in the article Written on the Body and contented accounts of domestic bliss with partner Rupert. Then there is an increasing anger in his comments on social and political matters especially his bitter denunciation of the Iraq war. Finally there is his perceptive account of facing a life threatening battle with cancer where the title is instructive of his attitude- An Average Rock Bun. Yet even as the content becomes more hard-edged, the quality of the prose remains as pleasing as ever: Bennett remains the master of the telling phrase, his deployment of vocabulary always apposite. Consequently, we are offered a rounded portrait of this famously secretive man far more illuminating than Alexander Game's empty biography of a few years ago. Above all you will be delighted to know, Bennett is as funny as ever whether he is talking to the local coal merchant: `you're not a patch on your dad' or commenting on the men who changed a tyre in ten minutes: `I feel I want to ask them home so they can take charge of my life'. The key to the genius of Bennett is that so often you smile in recognition at the truth of his observations having seen similar yourself, only he expresses them twice as fluently and with three times the humour.
140 of 148 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
From the very second I began reading this book I knew I was about to embark on an incredible journey through the life of one of our greatest story-tellers. Alan Bennett certainly did not disappoint me. This is a moving, heart warming and humorous selection of his life. The fact the he believed he would not live to see the book published gives it a sense of humanity and realism that is evident throughout. A book not to be missed.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Beyond the schoolboy fringe
Untold Stories by Alan Bennett is something of a pot pourri. It starts with an autobiographical exploration of social and family origins, and then moves on to include occasional... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Philip Spires
Great Fast Service
Item arrived very quickly and as described. Have now finished the book and passd it on to a friend to read
Published 9 months ago by Wharfy
A torch-bearer for shy people
What comes across wonderfully is what it is like to be a shy person. Also an absolutely brilliant writer on how he presents himself in public and how other people do too, with... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Robert Shaw
Outstanding
As with all of Alan Bennett's work this book is personal, courageous, funny, and sad, all at once, and at every turn. Read more
Published 16 months ago by Ms L. Ware
Queen Mother to the literary world
I put off reading this because of its daunting length (625pp). In fact it's as unputdownable as any thriller: but here it's the writing, not the plot, that thrills. Read more
Published 18 months ago by David Gee
Uncommonly good
This is a collection of works, part diary, part miscellaneous writings, much in the same way as 'Writing Home'. Read more
Published on 9 Feb 2010 by Angus P. Walker
WONDERFUL
Bennett's use of language is beautiful, it just flows. Very easy to read; it makes me smile, laugh and feel the sadness at times.
Published on 30 Jan 2010 by S. J. Mason
Alan Bennett at his best
Thank goodness that these have come to light at last - they show again that Alan Bennett has a style, a lightness of touch and intelligence that make his writing a treat
Published on 13 Sep 2009 by Tarranbob
Secret keeping
Alan Bennett, though cultured and generous in tone, is not an ideal autobiographer, or even biographer, as one feels throughout that his vignettes, whether concerning himself or... Read more
Published on 11 Sep 2009 by Eileen Shaw
Alan Bennett: Untold Stories
A fascinating insight into a great writer. Thoughtful, funny (of course) and at times surprisingly waspish. Read more
Published on 14 Aug 2009 by Sue
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