Stephen Fry - MOAB is my washpot (02-007)

[gerbie]

"An autobiography" is the subtitle. Better would have been 'an autobiography of the first 20 years of my life'. I.e. not even half of his life is covered. Some time I ago I read someone over here on LJ who really thought this book was brilliant. I'm not too sure myself. Yes, I enjoyed reading it. Yes, I laughed at some of the anecdotes. Yes, I admire his eloquence. However, I'm not sure anymore if I like the person Fry. This is a shame, as up until now I considered him as one of the best authors in Britain, one of the best comedians in British comedy, basically someone I liked.

His own book portrays him as a thieving little cheat of a child. A little bastard. The story goes into great detail, his actions went beyond the 'usual' adolescent mistake. Beyond the bad childhood, turned out all right stories. He really was a little shit. Moreover, I don't know if I want to know things like this about one of my heroes. Someone who wrote books as brilliant as 'The Liar', 'The hippopotamus' and 'Making history'. Someone, who starred in several Blackadder series, still my all time favourite. I'm confused now, I don't know what to think of him. Which would be the exact reason not to read this book.

If you happen to like to read about oppressed British boarding school boys and all what they're up to, this could be exactly the book for you. He also writes some great some philosophical laws of life, much better than the bible ever did. But I'm still not sure if this makes the book worth reading. Bummer, I already did.

p.s. I still don't understand the title either...

Comments

[lorelei-aisling.livejournal.com]

I read that book too. He was a little shit! But the stories he told in it were quite funny.

[gerbie.livejournal.com]

Some stories certainly were. And it was funny to see that he has got such clear idea's about ethics and the way the world needs to be run, whereas he was a thieving magpie for years. I still prefer his novels.