A Life Like Other People’s by Alan Bennett my note on his marvelous The History Boys is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/history-boys-by-alan-bennett-really.html along with thousands of other reviews - 8 out of 10

 

A Life Like Other People’s by Alan Bennett my note on his marvelous The History Boys is at https://realini.blogspot.com/2016/06/history-boys-by-alan-bennett-really.html along with thousands of other reviews

 

8 out of 10

 

Alan Bennett is one of my favorite authors, and not just that, I admire what I think is his character, he appears to be a gentle, kind, douce man, in contrast with so many ordinary people that are so bombastic, without any skills, talents to justify any such self-regard, as always, my favorite example is Orange Jesus

 

They nicknamed him like that, within his own cult, though he is raving mad, and we can see evidence of that every single day: he has had a debate, a couple of days ago, which he lost, but as is his way, he keeps saying he won (as for the last elections) and furthermore, he will not have another face off, coward that he is

The History Boys is a spectacular work, which has quite a few memorable lines, one of which is “History is a commentary on the various and continuing incapabilities of men. What is history? History is women following behind with the bucket.” It is both so true and amusing, seen from here, I mean we could laugh at men

 

Then we have The Uncommon Reader https://realini.blogspot.com/2020/11/the-uncommon-reader-by-alan-bennett-11.html which we find included on the 1,000 Novels Everyone Must Read list, another fantastic book, where the late queen is the main character, she is The Uncommon Reader, in an amusing and entertaining work

Her majesty had a heavy program (her son, other present and future royals engage in the same schedule, more or less) and no time to read, initially, she has to meet hoi polloi, the subjects, and have small talk with them, such as ‘have you come far’, but then a twist in the plot changes the whole picture for readers

 

Aristotle https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/07/aristotle-in-ninety-minutes-by-paul.html is known for his philosophical contributions, but he had so much to say on other topics, such as drama, which needs to have a climax, and a reversal the best example is in Oedipus Rex, where the king finds that he inadvertently killed his father…

Worse still, he married his mother, and now that he is aware of this tragedy, he takes his eyes out, and then he wonders away with his daughter, Antigone – she has her own play, and in the myth, she will suffer an equally terrifying fate, trying to take a stand https://realini.blogspot.com/2014/12/antigone-by-sophocles.html

Alan Bennett wrote the play and the script for the screen adaptation of The Madness of King George https://realini.blogspot.com/2019/03/the-madness-of-king-george-written-by.html which has some elements of truth within, as far as I can see, albeit this is not a documentary, and ergo we have artistic license…

 

King George III acts in a peculiar manner, and he ends up being restrained, made to ‘take treatment’, which at times involves what looks like abuse…this is a comedy, first and foremost, however serious the subject is, and the fact that Alan Bennett is not one to just titillate, there is a very instructive, serious, enlightening side in his works

Some of those ‘physicians’ were looking at the feces of the king, his urine, which of course, are examined today, medical tests find elements that are alarming, but centuries ago, they were just making presumptions, there was no substance, scientific basis for their ‘diagnoses, and their cure was just a joke, most often

 

Speaking of doctors, A Life Like Other People’s has a large part dedicated to the decline of his mother – the women caring for her call her ‘Lilly’, at some stage – the death of his father, the way his parents enter their final years, and the sad, depressing cognitive decline – which we see in Orange Felon, to come back to my obsession

It is bad to keep coming back to that leit motif, but on the other hand, The Economist has the cover of the present copy with America’s Election is Mired in Conflict, the opening article, and then more in the newspaper (the best in the world) look at the aftermath of the elections, and the big trouble we will have to face

 

One scenario has the two candidates tied, and then strangely, congress will elect one, if that is only one in three hundred chance (maybe this is wrong, but still, an unlikely outcome), then you have the Felon win, and that will be disastrous, however, now I have to see the good result, and still understand the immense danger

The Economist explains how they will contest the results, they already do, the Convicted Man keeps saying blue is red and red is blue, one of the biggest liars in history – to use his style, narcissistic psychopath that he is, he maintains that he is the greatest in history, best brain, ‘very stable genius’ and all that

 

If the change at the very top will be peaceful on the whole, even with groups of the rebels attacking various places, just like we have seen almost four years ago, The Economist is so accurate in foreseeing that the future is not good for America, and that means the rest of us will be affected, because this Orange Fool has done so much damage

In order to govern, people need trust, and that is sinking fast, in the US, 70 % of members of the cult of Orange Jesus have been brainwashed by the new prophet (well, 100% actually) and they say that he has won in 2020!

 

Now for my standard closing of the note with a question, and invitation – maybe you have a good idea on how we could make more than a million dollars with this http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/02/unique-in-world.html?q=unique+in+the+world – as it is, this is a unique technique, which we could promote, sell, open the Oscars show with or something and then make lots of money together, if you have the how, I have the product, I just do not know how to get the befits from it, other than the exercise per se

 

 There is also the small matter of working for AT&T – this huge company asked me to be its Representative for Romania and Bulgaria, on the Calling Card side, which meant sailing into the Black Sea wo meet the US Navy ships, travelling to Sofia, a lot of activity, using my mother’s two bedrooms flat as office and warehouse, all for the grand total of $250, raised after a lot of persuasion to the staggering $400…with retirement ahead, there are no benefits, nothing…it is a longer story, but if you can help get the mastodont to pay some dues, or have an idea how it can happen, let me know

 

As for my role in the Revolution that killed Ceausescu, a smaller Mao, there it is http://realini.blogspot.com/2022/03/realini-in-newsweek-participant-in.html

 

Some favorite quotes from To The Hermitage and other works

 

‘Fiction is infinitely preferable to real life...As long as you avoid the books of Kafka or Beckett, the everlasting plot of fiction has fewer futile experiences than the careless plot of reality...Fiction's people are fuller, deeper, cleverer, more moving than those in real life…Its actions are more intricate, illuminating, noble, profound…There are many more dramas, climaxes, romantic fulfillment, twists, turns, gratified resolutions…Unlike reality, all of this you can experience without leaving the house or even getting out of bed…What's more, books are a form of intelligent human greatness, as stories are a higher order of sense…As random life is to destiny, so stories are to great authors, who provided us with some of the highest pleasures and the most wonderful mystifications we can find…Few stories are greater than Anna Karenina, that wise epic by an often foolish author…’

 

‚Parturiunt montes, nascetur ridiculus mus’

 

“From Monty Python - The Meaning of Life...Well, it's nothing very special...Try and be nice to people, avoid eating fat, read a good book every now and then, get some walking in, and try and live together in peace and harmony with people of all creeds and nations.”