Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of
Autobiography by P.D. James
A Time To Be
At seventy-seven it is time to be in earnest, wrote Samuel Johnson, and
bestselling crime writer P.D. James took this maxim as a challenge, setting
out to record one year that otherwise might be lost. The result is a
fascinating and reflective account, part diary and part memoir, of one very
full year of Baroness Jamess life, interspersed with her memories and
intelligent analysis of what it was like to be born two years after the end of
the First World War and to live for seventy-eight years in this tumultuous
century. P.D. James grew up in Cambridge, England, between the wars
and worked in the home office of the forensic and criminal justice
departments, which sparked her interest in that area, though she did not
become a published novelist until 1962 with Cover Her Face. She began to
write full-time after her retirement in 1979, and along the way became a
governor of the BBC before taking a seat in the House of Lords in 1991.
Time to Be in Earnest is a lucid and penetrative work by one of the most
influential figures currently involved with the arts in Britain. James reveals
her vast scope for enjoyment, interest, and simply getting on with life (her
husband, Connor White, di ed at the age of 44 in 1964 after years of mental
illness), whether it be spending time with her children and grandchildren,
musing on the hideous British architectural mistakes of the 1960s, or giving
her view of the controversies continually surrounding the running of the
BBC. At an age when many people would be considering slowing down,
James seems constantly on the move, recording her day-to-day existence
and her past with an alert and judicious eye. I am sustained by the
magnificent irrationality of faith, she states. I inhabit a different body, but I
can reach back over nearly 70 years and recognise her as myself. Then I
walked in hope--and I do so still. --Catherine Taylor, Amazon.co.uk
Personal Review: Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of
Autobiography by P.D. James
Samuel Johnson famously said that 'at 77 it is time to be in earnest' and
P.D. James is. She has not been a diarist but for this book she forced
herself to become one. The book consists of a year's worth of diary with
flashbacks and memories of the past. Structuring an autobiography is far
more difficult and far more problematic than it may at first appear. Her
solution here is certainly novel. Superficially, the book is an account of a
year's events--speeches, book tours, lunches, and so on, but ultimately it
explores the key events and key individuals of her life, with all the tears
and joys attached. She evokes a vivid sense of the war and what it was
like to bear and protect infants then; she speaks of her beloved husband's
struggles with mental illness, the fact that she was forced to support the
family and do so by wending her way through a government career after
taking what Americans would think of as a continuing ed program at the
City University in London. She is so literate, so polished, and so well
educated that it is hard to believe that she lacks a formal college
education. Her success as a writer came relatively 'easily', though that is
always a relative term. It came early, but it did not come without great
labor.
Time to Be in Earnest includes wonderful reflections on the craft of writing
and the specific culture of crime writing and interesting anecdotes about
such household names as Ruth Rendell and Iris Murdoch. Phyllis
James/Baroness James knows everyone and speaks of them honestly and
in detail. She also tells us about her cat (named for Johnson's cat,
Hodge), which I found more interesting than I expected. I loved her
comments on modern culture--on travel, on cell phones, on education, on
political correctness, political personages (including the Blairs) and such
unexpected pleasures as an account of what it is like to spend the night at
Chatsworth. In all of these matters she is scrupulously honest and
scrupulously frank. The impact on her of Johnson and of the Jane Aus ten
of the letters as well as the novels is clear.
This is a delightful book and you do not need to be a fan of P.D. James's
crime fiction (she would say detective fiction) to enjoy it. It is a very
English book in every way, but it is also pure Horatio Alger--relatively poor
woman hungry for butter during the war becomes Baroness James of
Holland Park and doesn't change a great deal in the process. I had the
great pleasure of meeting her once and talking to her for a few minutes.
She is absolutely the genuine article--kind, direct, real with a capital R and
authentic with a capital A. The book conveys that, without any arrogance
and without any pretense. Read it and love her.
For More 5 Star Customer Reviews and Lowest Price:
Time to Be in Earnest: A Fragment of Autobiography by P.D. James 5 Star Customer
Reviews and Lowest Price!