Oh dear

So it's been a month since my last entry. I'd already been struggling with reading for a bit – finding the time to an extent, but more the motivation and focus. Then some other stuff happened and I couldn't read at all for a while. Fortunately, as I expected, I then went through a phase of not being able to put books down and burnt through several very quickly. Which brings me here, with half a dozen reviews to write – assuming I can remember the books, that is...

Given to me by my housemate to have a read of, after she picked it up somewhere for ten English pence, Dear Me is the autobiography of Peter Ustinov. I must confess that all I knew about the man before picking up his book is that he was Chancellor of Durham University when I first arrived, before his death during my first year of undergrad in 2004 (dates me a bit) and the later succession of Bill Bryson to the post.

As it turns out, the man led a rather interesting life. Actor, playwright, writer, director, he was certainly a man of many talents. As well as interesting and always refreshingly honest, the stories he tells are done so with a sense of dry humour and a knack for spinning them. It's not just a list of famous names to drop, though he's brushed shoulders with the great and the good from many walks of life, but the stories chosen are engaging and entertaining. He also delves into his family history, explaining the seemingly unlikely circumstances surrounding how he came to be, both at all and a citizen of Great Britain. Through this, to his schooldays and his later career and successes, the attention is always kept a safe distance from prying too much into current personal matters of relationships in respect of the people's privacy. Instead, he looks back on older relationships with hindsight and a touch of wisdom that rings true.

Throughout the book there are frequent interchanges with himself (the 'dear me' of the title) to convey information and opinions. These are an interesting technique and provide a device for telling stories, reflecting on events and keeping a structure throughout. In today's era of vacous, dull and uninsightful celebrity memoirs, it's good to read a real autobiography, actually written by the subject, that has something to say for itself.

Book number: 25
Title: Dear Me
Author: Peter Ustinov
Category: Non-fiction