|
|
List Price: $13.95 Amazon.com's Price: $11.16 You Save: $2.79 (20%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
This item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping.
Binding: PaperbackDewey Decimal Number: 823.914 EAN: 9780345442123 ISBN: 0345442121 Label: Ballantine Books Manufacturer: Ballantine Books Number Of Items: 1 Number Of Pages: 288 Publication Date: February 27, 2001 Publisher: Ballantine Books Release Date: February 27, 2001 Studio: Ballantine Books Editorial Review: Amazon.com Review: "At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest," wrote Samuel Johnson, and bestselling crime writer P.D. James took this maxim as a challenge, setting out to record "one year that otherwise might be lost." The result is a fascinating and reflective account, part diary and part memoir, of one very full year of Baroness James's life, interspersed with her memories and intelligent analysis of "what it was like to be born two years after the end of the First World War and to live for seventy-eight years in this tumultuous century." P.D. James grew up in Cambridge, England, between the wars and worked in the home office of the forensic and criminal justice departments, which sparked her interest in that area, though she did not become a published novelist until 1962 with Cover Her Face. She began to write full-time after her "retirement" in 1979, and along the way became a governor of the BBC before taking a seat in the House of Lords in 1991. Time to Be in Earnest is a lucid and penetrative work by one of the most influential figures currently involved with the arts in Britain. James reveals her vast scope for enjoyment, interest, and simply getting on with life (her husband, Connor White, died at the age of 44 in 1964 after years of mental illness), whether it be spending time with her children and grandchildren, musing on the hideous British architectural mistakes of the 1960s, or giving her view of the controversies continually surrounding the running of the BBC. At an age when many people would be considering slowing down, James seems constantly on the move, recording her day-to-day existence and her past with an alert and judicious eye. "I am sustained by the magnificent irrationality of faith," she states. "I inhabit a different body, but I can reach back over nearly 70 years and recognise her as myself. Then I walked in hope--and I do so still." --Catherine Taylor, Amazon.co.uk Product Description: On the day she turned seventy-seven, internationally acclaimed mystery writer P. D. James embarked on an endeavor unlike any other in her distinguished career: she decided to write a personal memoir in the form of a diary. Over the course of a year she set down not only the events and impressions of her extraordinarily active life, but also the memories, joys, discoveries, and crises of a lifetime. This enchantingly original volume is the result. Time to Be in Earnest offers an intimate portrait of one of most accomplished women of our time. Here are vivid, revealing accounts of her school days in Cambridge in the 1920s and '30s, her happy marriage and the tragedy of her husband's mental illness, and the thrill of publishing her first novel, Cover Her Face, in 1962. As she recounts the decades of her exceptional life, James holds forth with wit and candor on such diverse subjects as the evolution of the detective novel, her deep love of the English countryside, her views of author tours and television adaptations, and her life-long obsession with Jane Austen. Wise and frank, engaging and graceful, this "fragment of autobiography" will delight and surprise P. D. James's admirers the world over. Average Rating:
 Rating:  - And She IsSamuel Johnson famously said that 'at 77 it is time to be in earnest' and P.D. James is. She has not been a diarist but for this book she forced herself to become one. The book consists of a year's worth of diary with flashbacks and memories of the past. Structuring an autobiography is far more difficult and far more problematic than it may at first appear. Her solution here is certainly novel. Superficially, the book is an account of a year's events--speeches, book tours, lunches, and so on, ... Read More Rating:  - Ms. James is better at fiction.I've enjoyed all of P. D. James' fiction works, but found the fragment of autobiography interesting, but a bit tedious. The book is interesting in that her life is filled with drama, trials, and turmoil; tedious in the multiple social and literary events that are recited. I can only surmise that the author herself really was not interested in keeping the diary and found it tiresome. Rating: - DisappointingAs a long-time fan of PD James, I was eager to read her fragment of an autobiography. Upon finishing it, I regretted reading it. This esteemed author reveals a bit too much about her extremely right-wing politics, her puzzling infatuation with rank and privilege, and her obsessive nature. I didn't count the number of speeches and signings she did in her 78th year, but the number would be staggering. She seems unable to refuse any request to be honored and fawned over. Of course, her obsessive ... Read More Rating: - A Time To BeAs a fan of P.D. James' mysteries, reading her 'fragment of autobiography' served as an interesting chance to get to know the woman behind the words. "A Time To Be In Earnest" is a diary written for one year of the author's life: since the original intent was publication, there is a formality to it and it does lack the spontaneity of emotions of other diaries. Yet that does not diminish what is written within its pages, for it is a glimpse into the everyday life of a woman, a writer, a grandmother, ... Read More Rating: - One of the most unique autobiographies you'll ever readThis has to be one of the most unique autobiographies I've ever read. The premise is brilliant. P.D. James takes one year of her life, at age 77, and as we follow her from activity to relative to meeting to book event, she also takes the time to reflect on the larger picture of her life and the people she has known for most of her life, providing historical details as a stream of conscious memory. Some of her life just isn't that interesting, but trying to manage two children and a marriage to a man ... Read More |
