Diary of a Nobody and Arcadia reviews

[alobear]

The Diary of a Nobody, by George and Weedon Grossmith is a really cool book.  For some reason, it being a parody of Victorian diary novels, I had assumed that it was written recently, but its publication date is 1892.  It is the diary of Charles Pooter, an average Victorian gentleman, pootling through life, experiencing the tribulations of dealing with troublesome tradesmen, and despairing of the cavalier attitude of his only son.  He rows with his wife, indulges in inadvisable domestic painting, interacts with close friends and random acquaintances, and generally records the minutiae of his days.  The whole thing is very funny and highly entertaining - definitely recommended.

Arcadia is the new Tom Stoppard play Dave and I went to see last night.  Up until the last 15 minutes or so, it was very funny, incredibly well written, largely well acted, and extremely entertaining.  Dave didn't like the ending because it was very sad; I didn't like the ending because I thought it was messy.  Until that point, the whole thing had been impressively structured and very tightly plotted.  Then the two timelines merged together into the same scene and it all got a bit wibbly, which was a real shame, as it stopped the production being the best play I've seen in a very long time.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Yay! I'm glad you like Diary of a Nobody :-) It had been so long since I read it that although I remembered liking it, I wasn't sure if that would still hold. There'll be a long email coming your way at some point, but I'm not sure when: I'm currently in San Francisco spending most of my waking time thinking about how to make science cool for kids, and playing with the exhibits in the museum...