The greatness of George and Weedon Grossmith's masterpiece of comic irony, THE DIARY OF A NOBODY, rests to a large extent on perceptions of class. It purports to be the diary of Charles Pooter, a lower-middle-class individual of the mid-nineteenth century who lives at "The Laurels," Brickfield Terrace, Holloway. This address alone, simultaneously poignant and stifling, reverberates with blandly devastating irony--a note sustained at perfect pitch throughout the book. Pooter is house-proud, thrifty, scrupulous in duty, alive to social niceties and given to the occasional punning witticism, but the story he tells is not quite the story he believes he's telling. Frederick Davidson's impeccable reading is truly inspired, in perfect unity with the Pooteresque view of the world. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine First published in 1892, this classic satire on English snobbery remains razor sharp 100 years on. The 'nobody' of the title is city clerk Mr Pooter who, inflated with pomposity well above his top hat, decides to record the daily round of his family and friends for posterity. The result is a hugely entertaining compilation of mundane mishaps and misunderstandings as poor self-important Mr Pooter endeavours to compete with the more lively characters who invade his diary. The humour of this book endures because fortunately so do the Mr Pooters of this world. (Kirkus UK) |
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