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The Clothes They Stood Up In and The Lady in the Van (2002)

di Alan Bennett

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4581353,810 (3.54)27
From Alan Bennett, the author ofThe Madness of King George, come two stories about the strange nature of possessions...or the lack of them. In the nationally bestselling novelThe Clothes They Stood Up In, the staid Ransomes return from the opera to find their Regent’s Park flat stripped bare—right down to the toilet-paper roll. Free of all their earthly belongings, the couple faces a perplexing question: Who are they without the things they’ve spent a lifetime accumulating? Suddenly a world of unlimited, frightening possibility opens up before them. In “The Lady in the Van,” whichThe Village Voicecalled “one of the finest bursts of comic writing the twentieth century has produced,” Bennett recounts the strange life of Miss Shepherd, a London eccentric who parked her van (overstuffed with decades’ worth of old clothes, oozing batteries, and kitchen utensils still in their original packaging) in the author’s driveway for more than fifteen years. A mesmerizing portrait of an outsider with an acquisitive taste and an indomitable spirit, this biographical essay is drawn with equal parts fascination and compassion.… (altro)
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The Clothes They Stood Up In: Die Ransomes gehen in die Oper, und als sie zurückkommen, ist die Wohnung leer. Was ist passiert? Einbrecher, die wirklich alles mitnehmen (inklusive Telefon und Teppich)? Also doch eher ausgeraubt? Aber warum? Die Situation ist gleichzeitig tragisch und bizarr.
Bennett beschreibt, wie das kinderlose Ehepaar dann damit umgeht - Mr. Ransome versucht, den Schein nach außen zu wahren (und vielleicht ist das die Gelegenheit, mit Hilfe der Versicherung neue Technik anzuschaffen), Mrs. Ransome entdeckt für sich neue Möglichkeiten außerhalb der gewohnten (Einkaufs-)pfade. Alles mit einer gehörigen Portion britischem Humors - und natürlich wird die Geschichte aufgelöst.

The Lady in the Van beruht wohl auf Tagebuchaufzeichnungen des Autors, Alan Bennett.

Miss Shepherd hat keinen festen Wohnsitz sondern lebt in einem Lieferwagen. Als der aktuelle eines Tages vor dem Grundstück von Alan Bennett streikt, erlaubt er ihr, den Van auf seinem Grundstück zu parken. Und daraus ergibt sich eine Art miteinander leben. Sie beschwert sich, wenn seine Gäste zu laut sind, er kommt nicht umhin, sich auch in alltäglicheren Dingen um sie zu kümmern (auch wenn das eher mit schnippischen Kommentaren belohnt wird).

Die ganze Situation ist eher bizarr, rückt dadurch aber gesellschaftliche Themen (Umgang mit Obdachlosigkeit, Bedürftigkeit, Besitz) in den Fokus.

Aus dieser Geschichte wurde schließlich ein Theaterstück und ein Film. ( )
  ahzim | Dec 28, 2021 |
Just for the fun of it.... 1. A couple resets their life after they return from the opera to find literally all of their possessions gone in a burglary. 2. Alan Bennett deals with a cantankerous old woman who has settled herself on the street in front of his house. ( )
  gbelik | Dec 20, 2016 |
These two stories are quite different but both are poignant in their own way and are loosely connected through the ownership of belongings.

The first is a clever story that describes a burglary that takes place while the home owners are at an opera. The thieves take every single thing. Mr and Mrs Ransome have no choice but to begin again. Surprising, but with a hint of darkness.

The second is the factual story of a woman who lived in a van parked in Bennett's front garden for over 15 years with her bizarre collection of belongings Not that he particularly wanted her there, but he was gently persuaded, "possibly", to use the eccentric Miss Shepherd's usual tag. She winkled herself into his life and made it richer for being there.

I loved both stories and they will remain in my thoughts for a long time. ( )
  VivienneR | Jan 25, 2016 |
Two novellas together, both darkly humorous, though one is fiction and the other true.
In the first story, a middle-class, middle-aged couple come home one night to find that everything in their flat is missing- furniture, major appliances, clothes, even the bathroom cabinet and the soap. At first they both find it upsetting, but then they have different outlooks, with the husband looking forward to buying updated stereo equipment and the wife finding a sense of calm in being without possessions.
The second story, The Lady in the Van, is the true story of how Bennett, in trying to be kind to a local homeless woman, found himself stuck with her living in a van in his driveway for 15 years. Miss Shepard was an eccentric with a mightier will than Bennett, so that not only did she not leave, she got him to do her shopping and provide her with an electrical hook-up. Their story together is funny and sometimes sad. ( )
  mstrust | Dec 13, 2015 |
A nifty book with two tales to tell – both charming in their own ways, both featuring a strong female protagonist, both offer lessons if you care to mind them, both address possessions in our lives, yet one is fiction spanning a few short months, while the other is a non-fiction involving none other than the author himself spanning over 15 years. Not bad for a novella!

In “The Clothes They Stood Up In”, Mr. and Mrs. Ransomes returned from the opera to find their home completely burgled – down to the toilet paper and the curtain rings, nothing left but the walls and doors. As they deal with the aftermath and discover what had happened, Mrs. Ransomes found herself embolden to try new furniture, new foods, meet new people, and make new decisions. In contrast, Mr. Ransomes lived his life exactly as it was, except one change that is best left for the reader to discover.

The primary wisdom is clear – the resilience of the human spirit – the ability to adjust, experience new things, especially when thrust into a different situation. It’s a good reminder to step out of the comfort zone regularly. Other cautions emerge as well – de-clutter, open communication between couples, allow oneself to grieve, etc. This tale brings back an element of “Smut Stories” with older people and sex. It’s not grotesque; it's normal.

In “The Lady in the Van”, Bennett chronicles an unlikely friendship between himself and literally “the lady in the van”. Miss Shepard who lived out of her van, eventually moved her van into his backyard and became his pseudo-tenant for 15 years, bringing him many annoying moments and adding entertainment to his journal. The best telling of this tale is in the postscript, but the simple fact that it is real is priceless. It’s the classic you-can’t-make-this-up-even-if-you-try.

While the first tale was more entertaining and amusing, the second one left a stronger footprint in my mind. How random life can be – the people you meet, the things that you learn about said people, and how you then reflect upon yourself. Both stories, though short, bring forth such elements. Good read!

Two Quotes:
On hoarders vs. shoppers:
“Lots of people could give up things, Dusty had decided; what they couldn’t do without was shopping for them.”

On the normalcy of life:
“I was hoping for some clue as to what it was that had happened to make Miss Shepard want to live like this. Except that I kept coming across items that suggested that living ‘like this’ wasn’t all that different from the way people ordinarily lived. There was a set of matching kitchen utensils, for instance – a ladle, a spatula, a masher for potatoes – all of them unused. They were the kind of thing my mother bought and hung up in the kitchen, just for show, while she went on using the battered old-faithfuls kept in the knife drawer… When, amid such chaos, can she have hoped to use that particular appurtenance of gentility? But when did we ever use ours, stuck permanently in the sideboard cupboard in readiness for the social life my parents never had or ever really wanted? The more I labored, the less peculiar the van seemed – its proprieties and aspirations no different from those with which I had been brought up.” ( )
1 vota varwenea | Apr 7, 2015 |
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From Alan Bennett, the author ofThe Madness of King George, come two stories about the strange nature of possessions...or the lack of them. In the nationally bestselling novelThe Clothes They Stood Up In, the staid Ransomes return from the opera to find their Regent’s Park flat stripped bare—right down to the toilet-paper roll. Free of all their earthly belongings, the couple faces a perplexing question: Who are they without the things they’ve spent a lifetime accumulating? Suddenly a world of unlimited, frightening possibility opens up before them. In “The Lady in the Van,” whichThe Village Voicecalled “one of the finest bursts of comic writing the twentieth century has produced,” Bennett recounts the strange life of Miss Shepherd, a London eccentric who parked her van (overstuffed with decades’ worth of old clothes, oozing batteries, and kitchen utensils still in their original packaging) in the author’s driveway for more than fifteen years. A mesmerizing portrait of an outsider with an acquisitive taste and an indomitable spirit, this biographical essay is drawn with equal parts fascination and compassion.

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