Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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11 of 17 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
A curious disappointment from The League, 8 Jan 2008
Dear, oh dear. Any initial interest in the new League Of Gents book was quickly dispelled upon discovery that it's an 'influences' compendium, and more akin to a literary mix-tape. "Still, I'm sure they include some hilarious, dramatically inspiring material, right?". Alas, no.
I'm sure there are many fans like me who were miffed by the often banal, slight and pointless excerpts included here. Don't get me wrong, the League have included some excellent and disparate writers; Alan Bennett, Hubert Selby Jnr, Victoria Wood, Shirley Jackson, Monty Python, Edgar Allen Poe and so on. You certainly can't fault their taste. Yet the excerpts are often either too brief to leave you with much impression, or are curiously weak and misleading examples of their work.
Despite a very pretty cover, the book also looks like it has been thrown together carelessly; Why include the indulgent 'I, An Actor' twice in one volume? Most fans are likely well aware of the 'Wicker Man' influences, so why devote a chapter when you can't get the rights to include an excerpt? Song lyrics... are you kidding? A transcript of the documentary 'Change of Sex' is unrevealing in text alone and was already addressed far more clearly on the series 3 DVD documentary.
Most surprisingly from these clearly talented individuals, the introductory passages are usually brief, 'informal' and alarmingly humourless affairs. The editorial is just as poor: Dyson's contents listing is incorrectly numbered, while Woody Allen's 'Hannah and Her Sisters' in Sheersmith's section isn't listed at all.
I do hope this isn't the end for the Gents. Their successful streak may have been hampered by their sadly misjudged movie, but the pantomime show was very decent (despite the tone of self-parody lending a rather dismissive aspect to their work).
The recent novels by Gents Jeremy Dyson and Mark Gatiss are excellent, and I'd highly recommend 'What Happens Now' and 'Devil In Amber' in particular. While the 'Scripts And That' and 'Local Book' hardbacks are indispensable, this latest book feels an unnecessary addition to the League catalogue.
PS - On a side note; it's funny how positive reviews never incur 'unhelpful' votes, isn't it? I've always thought Amazon should replace 'Was this helpful?' with the more apt question 'Do you agree?'.
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4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
a very precious thing , 24 Sep 2007
any hardcore gent fan needs to get this. its a nice little collection of stuff that has inspired/influenced the league. in a weird way it makes you feel closer to them (not meaning to sound creepy)
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
(The League of) Gentlemen's relish, 25 Mar 2008
`The League of Gentlemen's Book of Precious Things' is an entertainingly eclectic anthology, which brings together the singularly individual choices of Messrs Dyson, Gatiss, Pemberton and Shearsmith (assembled under `Dyson's Choices', `Gatiss' Greatest', `Pemberton's Picks' & `Reece's Pieces') whilst being, at the same time, a communal compendium reflecting the unique collective sensibility of The League of Gentlemen and their extraordinary wide ranging influences and inspirations.
The collection is a fascinating one and the material is a mixture of the intelligent, the ribald, the theatrical, the bizarre, the dramatic, the accessible and the obscure. A love of language, the macabre, the gothic and a touch of the melancholic are unifying factors linking many of the choices. The range of sources show The League's respect for and love of writers who have forged their own vision & articulated a distinctive individuality.
The `precious things' found within the pages range from the Coen Brothers to Noel Coward by way of `Exorcist III' and 1970s BBC documentaries, from Aickman to Wood, `Doctor Who' to Rumpelstiltskin, `Porridge' to `Dead Babies' and many things in between.
Surely the four Gents were somehow destined to collaborate , so attuned along the same creative wavelength as they seem to be - was it just fate that they all happened to watch a bonfire night screening of `Carry on Screaming' on BBC1 in 1976?
Although maybe not as an essential `must have' for fans as `A Local Book for Local People', `Scripts and That' or the brilliant books by Jeremy and Mark, `Book of Precious Things' is nevertheless a very interesting and worthwhile addition to The League's literary works.
It puts you onto their wavelength (if their fans weren't there already) placing their own leap of collective creativity into context. The wide variety of choices on display in turn helps you to understand their own originality and uniqueness.
It certainly inspired me to seek out several of the pieces featured within its pages - which is what any decent anthology should do.
In itself `The League of Gentlemen's Book of Precious Things' is an uniquely expansive and original literary/tv/comedy collection as you'd hope to find, as extraordinary as The League of Gentlemen themselves.
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