|
|
An Orderly Man | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| £5.59 at Amazon. Paperback with Penguin. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This is the third volume of Dirk's autobiographies. "As work on Visconti's Death In Venice draws to a close, Dirk is preparing his house in Provence as a retreat. The book covers the years in which he gave some of his finest, most sensitive acting performances and began his career as a writer, imposing order on a rich and varied life." It took me some time to 'get into' this book, partly because I think he had reached that point in his life that I couldn't identify with anything he had done - not having watched a lot of his later films. Still a very interesting book but not my favourite of the autobiogs. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Favourite Part | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
'So arrogant' said my mother sadly. 'Who is?' said my father. 'He is. Your son. Arrogant'. 'Hardly surprising, with his blood' said my father and winked at me. 'We're not an arrogant lot are we?' I said. 'No, not us. I suppose.' said my father. 'It probably missed us, your mother and I, but perhaps you got a bit of it.' 'But where from, if not from you two?' 'Well,' said my father, 'your mother has the blood of the Buccleuchs on one side, and I've handed you down a bit of...' 'Oh Ulric!' cried my mother.'It was all so long ago.' 'Still, blood. Wrong side of the blankets of course.' he said. 'Very good blankets, but still the wrong side.' 'But when, who, why did you never tell me this before?' 'No point really' 'The wine's gone to his head' said my mother. 'Oh come on Pa! Tell me more.' 'No, no; no more. All done. That's it. You don't need to know anything else. Enough is enough. maybe Mother's right. The wine's gone to my head.' 'Anyway: whatever you do say. I think it's tragic. Just tragic.' 'Oh Mother! Do shut up.' 'I will NOT shut up. I'm never allowed an opinion of my own. Can't even open my mouth. Tragic, that's what it is. It breaks my heart'. 'Look darling: I've only been here a month. I'm a new boy at school. Maybe i'll hate it and go belting back. I don't know. But I'm going to give it a damned good try.' 'Well I suppose you know what you're doing. It's beautiful, absolutely beautiful, but it's a long way away, you'll be forgotten. I mean, after all, when did the telephone last ring? Tell me that? Not since Daddy and I arrived over a week ago. Silence. I'd go mad! They'll forget, you see. But you must do as you want.' 'And so I shall' 'Arrogant' said my mother sweetly. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
This page has been visited
|
