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Sto caricando le informazioni... Murderers and Other Friends: Another Part of Life (1994)di John Mortimer
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Iscriviti per consentire a LibraryThing di scoprire se ti piacerà questo libro. Attualmente non vi sono conversazioni su questo libro. Although it started out a bit oddly, feeling like I was joining a story already in progress, this was still enjoyable read. Mostly a collections of anecdotes, very few about his law career and more about his writing and adventures in film and television. I did not realize that he adapted Brideshead Revisted for television or new about his various stage plays. I enjoyed spending time in his memoirs and I imagine he would an interesting person to sit and chat away the time with. Mortimer is always worth reading, of course, but this loosely-linked collection of autobiographical essays is perhaps not the best place to start. There are some entertaining anecdotes, some interesting insights into the sources for his legal and political fiction, and some rather star-struck reminiscences of his film and stage work, but overall it's pretty slim pickings. More like dinner-party conversation than autobiography, really. From the title, I was hoping for more on his work as a barrister, but we don't get very much. Most of the cases Mortimer discusses are ones he worked on together with Geoffrey Robertson, who has described them in far more detail in his own books. We don't learn anything new about Oz or Gay News here. Evidently, Mortimer wasn't that interested in the law by the time he wrote these memoirs. But it is nice to know that there was an actual legal precedent for the famous "tap end" incident in the Rumpole stories... This book is a bit old, but I wanted to give it a try due to a recommendation heard on a favorite radio program. Frequently humorous and at times interesting, this biography did not always entertain. I got through it with some effort. A deeper awareness of all things 'British' may have made it more entertaining. I did enjoy a few hearty laughs at the stories about some of the strange defendants Mr. Mortimer represented at the Old Bailey. Indeed, the stories of some of Mortimer's theater friends, such as Sir Laurence Olivier and Sir John Gielgud, were likewise captivating. The repetition finally got to me, though.
Following Clinging to the Wreckage (1982), a bracing and bounteous second helping of the British barrister/writer's life, works, and many, many opinions. The paramount lesson he learned from his ``second life'' as a Queen's Counsel defending accused criminals in jury trials, Mortimer says, was the value of suspending judgment on people inside the courtroom and out. Don't believe him for a minute. Though he could coolly defend the merits of books like The Return of the Enema Bag Rapist or or the innocence of a youth who claimed the gent he stabbed to death--a man on his way home from dinner with his fiancÇe--had been assaulting his virtue, Mortimer evidently never lost the habit of passing judgment, as the racy tone of each tart anecdote reveals again and again. Appartiene alle Serie
"As a boy, John Mortimer wanted to be an actor, as a young man a writer, but at his father's suggestion he also pursued a career in law - in which, as a defending barrister, he found himself establishing profound but short-term friendships with those accused of various crimes, including murder. The chief lesson he learned from all this was to refrain from judgment, a quality he maintained in his other life." "For alongside his work as a lawyer, Mortimer indulged a passion for writing. As this second career took over his life, it brought enriching yet frequently volatile friendships: with Tony Richardson, John Gielgud, Harold Pinter, David Niven, and Neil Kinnock, among others, from the worlds of theater, film, the law, and politics. John Mortimer brought his two worlds together in the character of Rumpole, for whom his creator is frequently mistaken." "Murderers and Other Friends is John Mortimer's summing up of himself through his friends. With wit, wisdom, and tenderness he has written the story of the second part of his life, of the strangely assorted characters that enriched it, and of his family at its heart."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved Non sono state trovate descrizioni di biblioteche |
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Google Books — Sto caricando le informazioni... GeneriSistema Decimale Melvil (DDC)828.91409Literature English & Old English literatures English miscellaneous writings English miscellaneous writings 1900- English miscellaneous writings 1900-1999 English miscellaneous writings 1945-1999 Individual authorsClassificazione LCVotoMedia:
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