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|buy=Yes
|borrow=Yes
|formathardback=Hardback0571228305|paperback=0571228313|audiobook=B002SQ61OI|ebook=B002RI90BS
|pages=672
|publisher=Faber and Faber
|date=October 2005
|isbn=0571228305
|amazonuk=<amazonuk>05712283050571228313</amazonuk>
|amazonus=<amazonus>0571228305</amazonus>
}}
Four years ago I read Alan Bennett's [[Writing Home]]. It was a collection of short writings, his "''Lady in the Van"'', excerpts from his diaries during the nineteen eighties, notes on his plays and some short pieces to finish with. It was all topped off with some decent black and white photos which linked neatly with the text. I found the book enjoyable, but not overwhelmingly so and concluded that it had been published with the intention of making the most of the Christmas market. I decided that I wouldn't buy another like it. It reminded me of a large suitcase into which everything gets stuffed.
There's no accounting for gifts though and that was how I acquired "Untold Stories", published in October 2005 - just in time for the Christmas market. There's an important difference with this book which makes it far superior to "Writing Home". In June 1997 Alan Bennett was diagnosed as having cancer and given only a 50/50 chance of survival. He wrote with the thought that his executors would make the decision as to what was published and what was not. The result is a book which is more open, more frank and, for me, more readable than "Writing Home". He's made the most of the freedom to write as he wished and then been brave about what he published.
The best part of the book was the final chapter - "Ups and Downs". The first part could loosely be called "Accidents I've had on or around my birthday", culminating in a homophobic attack on himself and his partner in Italy. He seemed most incensed about the fact that his insurance company refused to refund his air fair back to London, so that the money he'd not been robbed of in Italy was effectively removed from him by a suited gentleman in the City. In "Arise, Sir..." he discusses his feelings about the Honours system. He's always refused to discuss whether or not he's been offered any honours and I couldn't make up my mind whether he wrote this piece thinking that it was unlikely it would be published in his lifetime or because information about who has refused an honour is now freely available. I must confess that I was less interested in whether or not he'd been offered an honour than in his thoughts on the system.
The finest piece in the book is undoubtedly "''An Average Rock Bun" '' which was how his doctor described the size of his malignant tumour. It's written with a wry sense of humour and there isn't a trace of self pity. It may sound strange to say that sometimes I found myself laughing out loud and I was completely in sympathy with his views on medical insurance.
Once again there's an interesting set of photographs in the book. One of them is slightly risqué and I couldn't really see the reason why it was included. I can't see it giving a great deal of offence though. I was mortified by the picture of Alan Bennett on the cover - no man in his seventies has the right to have such a full head of hair with hardly any sign of grey!
The book's recommended.
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