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Cultural Amnesia
- Notes in the Margin of My Time
- Narrated by: Clive James
- Length: 6 hrs and 16 mins
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Cultural Amnesia
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Summary
Abridged for audio. Read by the author, Clive James.
With fascinating essays on towering figures from Anna Akhmatova to Stefan Zweig, via Charles de Gaulle, Hitler, Thomas Mann and Wittgenstein, Cultural Amnesia is one of the crowning achievements in Clive James's illustrious career as a critic.
A comprehensive survey of modern culture, Cultural Amnesia is Clive James' unique take on the places and the faces that shaped the twentieth-century. From Anna Akhmatova to Stefan Zweig, via Charles de Gaulle, Hitler, Thomas Mann and Wittgenstein, this varied and unfailingly absorbing book is both story and history, both public memoir and personal record – and provides an essential field-guide to the vast movements of taste, intellect, politics and delusion that helped to prepare the times we live in now.
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Critic reviews
"Clever, and funny....a wonderful book for a long afternoon in a left-bank cafe, or a transatlantic plane ride." (The Observer)
"On virtually every page, there is an arresting sentence, witty or profound." (Mail on Sunday)
"It's clever, contentious and funny (like its author). His scope is impressive." (Guardian)
What listeners say about Cultural Amnesia
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- CD
- 28-05-22
Great for an easy listen.
I’ve always liked Clive James’s work. However, I did find me stopping this and coming back to it frequently.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Stevie Bach
- 06-01-19
Always interesting.
Interesting and thought provoking, if a little kind to liberal democracy at the end. Worth reading more than once.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- M. Sullivan
- 04-03-15
Educational
Where does Cultural Amnesia rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?
Excellent, but to coin a phrase, 'designed to be sipped at rather than gulped.'
Who was your favorite character and why?
Evelyn Waugh's story, because I'd read Brideshead.
Which character – as performed by Clive James – was your favourite?
None that stand out.
If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?
A collection of Historical views, pulled together in time.
Any additional comments?
Heavy in places, but well worth reading more than once.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Kevin Viney
- 21-02-21
Superb Clive James
Insightful, intelligent and erudite. The world is the poorer fir the passing if Clive James. The only thing not to like about thjs is that its a heavily abridged version of a much longer and mire comprehensive book.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Ruta Kasinskaite
- 04-08-20
Too short
Great book by great narrator,. Regretably, it is abridged, which i did not notice before purchasing. Nevermind, i have print copy and i can't believe it has been on my shelf untouched since 2008.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Tina Baxter
- 28-04-23
Journey through great minds!
What a listen! Took a while but Mr James has made me very keen to follow up some of the men and women discussed.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- LMC
- 15-03-24
Clive James at his best
Cultural Amnesia sees Clive James review the humanities of the 20th century through profiles of some of its most influential figures. The audiobook edition focuses on individuals whose force was felt during the first half of the century. There are villains as well as heroes, and the twin horrors of Nazism and Communism are never far from the discussion. In this audiobook we encounter Clive James at his best. Sadly underappreciated as a serious critic, James is too funny for his own good. His wit and intelligence combine in this volume to produce a clear-eyed, deeply felt analysis of the cultural project and why it does and does not flourish. His narration is, of course, flawless. Highly recommended.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Sophisticate
- 17-12-08
TOUR DE HORIZON - TOUR DE FORCE
Clive James once complained that he had spent too much time studying at Cambridge while people like Germaine Greer were partying. His time was not wasted... Like his wireless essays on Radio Four his style has a lightness of touch for historical giants and literarati known and unknown. Like harold Bloom he makes you want to read some of the literature referred to or get to know more about some of the topics, such as the Viennese intellectual scene in the 20's and 30's which he covers. Where I am familiar with his subjects he seems to score a bullseye...If he had not wasted so much time on TV he could have done more but perhaps I would not have bothered to listen to this informative and entertaining piece.
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6 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- GDS
- 26-11-20
Entertaining Ramble
A wonderful ramble through history and iconic people of the time, interwoven with a comic delivery. Very enjoyable.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Tom
- 02-09-08
excellent narration, good abridgement
I find Clive James' books quite difficult to read. His knowledge is so great and his reading so wide that I think he finds it difficult to judge what to leave out - and hence it is very hard to follow his train of thought as he jumps all over the place, throwing out, as it were, widely drawn allusions and references.
However, when he reads his own stuff, it becomes much clearer to me - dont ask me why. He has an interesting voice, a good conversational style of delivery and his dry humour keeps coming through. It is much easier to get the point.
I agree with the previous reviewer, though, that this is a book to dip into rather than read all the way through. I listened to it over a few weeks a section at a time but you are rather bound by the order of the book in an audio version (defined break points would have made this easier). Best thing is to have the book and the audio - which is the course I've followed.
Overall, I very much enjoyed the audiobook - and it interested me enough to buy the written version which is good stuff too.
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12 people found this helpful