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Alan Bennett: Diaries
- Narrated by: Alan Bennett
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
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Alan Bennett: Diaries
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Summary
Classic memoirs from the acclaimed English actor, author, playwright, and screenwriter.
Alan Bennett is one of the country's most celebrated and best-loved authors. This unmissable collection of diaries and memoirs brings together for the first time Telling Tales, Diaries: 1980-1990, the autobiographical section of Untold Stories, which covers the period 1997-2004, and Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries 2005-2014.
In his earliest collection of diaries, Alan Bennett offers a fascinating insight into his life in the eighties, working on location for his early films and enjoying life at home in Camden. In the diaries of Untold Stories, he enjoys the simple pleasures of nature and wonders about the state of religion and politics at the end of the twentieth century. In Keeping On Keeping On, he looks back at a busy decade that saw him write four highly acclaimed plays, reflects on his life with his partner, Rupert Thomas, and considers his lately found status as 'kindly, cosy and essentially harmless'. Telling Tales, meanwhile, provides ten childhood snapshots and reminiscences about his early years-charting his development from a schoolboy in Leeds to a doubtful agnostic teen, as well as his undergraduate life at the University of Oxford.
With wit, wisdom, sharp social commentary and perceptive impressions, Alan Bennett's memoirs and diaries are a joy to discover, and a delight to hear again. For those who want to listen to Alan Bennett read Untold Stories in its complete form, Alan Bennett: Untold Stories is also available from BBC Audio.
Originally broadcast on Radio 4:
4 June - 15 June 2001 (Telling Tales)
10 October - 14 October 1994 (Diaries 1980-1990)
10 October - 14 October 2005 (Untold Stories)
24 October - 4 November 2016 (Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries, 2005-2014)
Production credits
Read by Alan Bennett
Music by George Fenton
Produced by Liz Allard (Telling Tales)
Abridged by Pat McLoughlin
Produced by Gillian Hush (Diaries 1980-1990)
Abridged and produced by Gordon House (Untold Stories)
Abridged and produced by Gordon House (Keeping On Keeping On: The Diaries, 2005-2014)
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What listeners say about Alan Bennett: Diaries
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Ascylto
- 15-06-23
Prescient
Unbelievably predictable. Alan Bennett puts into words just how prescient he is about most things.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- J.K. Watson
- 09-02-23
Enchanting and wickedly observant
Just loved it. He writes so well with an eye for minutiae, gently poking fun but never maliciously. It works very well as an audio book because no matter where you pick up and leave off or forget where you were when you fell asleep (as I do when listening in the night), every section stands alone and stands being heard several times over, like a really good piece of music. Am now going to search for more by him.
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3 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- Anonymous User
- 18-12-22
nice
Love Alan B, mostly for his Northern niceties and this lived up to expectations.
spoiler alert; as you might expect in an autobiography by an older chap, an old person dies in every chapter.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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- beverley packwood
- 14-05-23
Brilliant
Absolutely loved listening to Alan telling his diaries notes he’s got such a dry humour and tells it how it is
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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- Ralphie
- 28-07-23
What's not to Like.
An enjoyable meander through Alan Bennett's diaries, read by Alan himself, Not sure I agreed with some of his left wing views but nonetheless they were very entertaining.
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- Glynn F.
- 02-02-24
Simply Brilliant
Alan Bennett has the ability to describe quite ordinary things in a way that is truly entertaining. But these diaries are not just ordinary events there are some fascinating personal accounts of an interesting life. I enjoyed everything about this book and my only regret is that it is over.
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