The Diary of a Nobody by G & W Grossmith

Fantastic, sharply funny even now given that it was first published in 1892,
its satire on suburban mundane life is as good now as it ever was. I didn't
know what to expect but I had tears of laughter from the bumbling yet
endearing Charles Pooter with his run ins with awkward tradesmen and dodgy
neighbours. Written originally in instalments for Punch magazine this spoof
Diary of the good natured clerk Pooter was written by George Grosssmith and
illustrated by his brother Weedon Goldsmith - the illustrations in the
modern penguin copy really bring the diary to life and are as funny as the
diary itself. Delightful minutiae of Victorian suburban life is bought to
the reader in this brilliantly paced diary and whilst I read I had Leonard
Rossiters 1970's TV sitcom character "Reginald Perrin" brought to mind
straight away. Lo and behold half way through I actually read the "Blurb" on
the back of the book and it said that the book was the forerunner of sitcoms
like "The rise and fall of Reginald Perrin" and "One foot in the grave".

Sharply witty yet absurd in places you can't help but feel for Mr Pooter
especially as some of his friends seem rather self obsessed and not friendly
at all. He never loses heart though and there is a great uplifting sense
throughout the diary that he will win through. Hilarious scenes at a meal he
thought was free and he didn't have enough money and junior clerks taking
the mickey out of his new trousers are just to of the laughs that inhabit
nearly every page. Superb slices of late Victorian life are brought to the
page, the clothing, the food and manners bring a reminder of how life used
to be like. When this was written it was current and modern so how well it
must have been received for us to be reading it now. Silly things like the
parlour games the stiff Victorians played before the advent of TV that are
now only played at children's parties make this a joy to read coupled with
Weedon's illustrations. I could not have hoped for a better and more
enjoyable read especially as I was feeling particularly down and the
gloriously upbeat ending after everything that Pooter goes through is
wonderful!!

On 10/31/04 12:20 PM, in article cm3dsk$en5$1@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk, "notme"
<never.TakeThisOut@here.ok> wrote:

 > Fantastic, sharply funny even now given that it was first published in 1892,
 > its satire on suburban mundane life is as good now as it ever was. I didn't
 > know what to expect but I had tears of laughter from the bumbling yet
 > endearing Charles Pooter with his run ins with awkward tradesmen and dodgy
 > neighbours. Written originally in instalments for Punch magazine this spoof
 > Diary of the good natured clerk Pooter was written by George Grosssmith and
 > illustrated by his brother Weedon Goldsmith - the illustrations in the
 > modern penguin copy really bring the diary to life and are as funny as the
 > diary itself. Delightful minutiae of Victorian suburban life is bought to
 > the reader in this brilliantly paced diary and whilst I read I had Leonard
 > Rossiters 1970's TV sitcom character "Reginald Perrin" brought to mind
 > straight away. Lo and behold half way through I actually read the "Blurb" on
 > the back of the book and it said that the book was the forerunner of sitcoms
 > like "The rise and fall of Reginald Perrin" and "One foot in the grave".
 >
 > Sharply witty yet absurd in places you can't help but feel for Mr Pooter
 > especially as some of his friends seem rather self obsessed and not friendly
 > at all. He never loses heart though and there is a great uplifting sense
 > throughout the diary that he will win through. Hilarious scenes at a meal he
 > thought was free and he didn't have enough money and junior clerks taking
 > the mickey out of his new trousers are just to of the laughs that inhabit
 > nearly every page. Superb slices of late Victorian life are brought to the
 > page, the clothing, the food and manners bring a reminder of how life used
 > to be like. When this was written it was current and modern so how well it
 > must have been received for us to be reading it now. Silly things like the
 > parlour games the stiff Victorians played before the advent of TV that are
 > now only played at children's parties make this a joy to read coupled with
 > Weedon's illustrations. I could not have hoped for a better and more
 > enjoyable read especially as I was feeling particularly down and the
 > gloriously upbeat ending after everything that Pooter goes through is
 > wonderful!!

Remember also that George Grossmith was the star of the
D'Oyle Carte Opera Company in the years of its glory and
was beautifully portrayed by Martin Savage in Mike Leigh's
remarkably well-researched *Topsy-Turvy*.

Just ffoulkes<!-- ~MESSAGE_AFTER~ -->