Low Life: The Spectator Columns by Jeremy Clarke
| Low Life: The Spectator Columns by Jeremy Clarke | |
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| Category: Autobiography | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: Exquisite writing meets bad behaviour and wins on points. A book to dip into rather than read straight through. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 244 | Date: July 2015 |
| Publisher: Charles Glass Books | |
| ISBN: 978-0704373914 | |
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There is a story that back in 1997 there were three deaths at about the same time and God had taken the shift at the pearly gates to do the paperwork. Princess Diana came first and was quickly followed by Mother Teresa. Stories of their good works flowed out and God hated to admit it but he was little wearied. Still it was the end of his shift... but then another soul appeared. Jeffrey Bernard! It was with relief that God dashed to the bar to get the first round in... There might have been high jinx in heaven but back on earth Life was not so clear cut and even Taki Theodoracopulos was a little worried. He wrote High Life for the Spectator, but where would that be without its counterpoint, Low Life which had been written for years by Bernard? Fortunately there was an able replacement waiting in the wings.
I've read - and enjoyed - Jeremy Clarke intermittently since he took over the High Life column, but I did wonder how I would enjoy a book of his thoughts on the basis that, much like rich food, a little is a treat, but too much does you no good at all. Would it be a book to pick at when the mood took you? If so, I was going to be stymied by the reviewer's lot of reading right through the book and then writing the review. In the event I was more than pleasantly surprised. I'll confess to being slightly put out by the drug and alcohol consumption, but that's the puritan in me and ultimately Clarke's responsibility and his problem.
Not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I found myself falling into the 'just another chapter' trap (they're all just two and a half pages long, so it's a very easy trap to fall into) and on a couple of nights I read into the early hours of the morning. There's a story arc as you read through the pieces and a strong temptation to find out what happens next. It's helped of course by the fact that the writing is exquisite - Clarke is a poet and he understands the value of words - and there's an odd frisson as you read this beautiful prose describing bad behaviour.
The subjects are varied: most were written after he received a cancer diagnosis in April 2013 and we perhaps learn more about the state of his testicles than is strictly necessary. He's not a cancer bore though - it's simply something that's there in the background and might explain why he's determined to live each day as if it was his last. On the other hand - it might not explain it at all. Perhaps the most touching pieces concern his grandson with whom he obviously has a very close relationship - I found myself envious of both him and Oscar!
I'd like to thank the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
A fellow reviewer read an earlier compilation of the Spectator columns: I came away a little more impressed than she did.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Low Life: The Spectator Columns by Jeremy Clarke at Amazon.com.
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