unreliable television shipwrecks adventures

books:

5 reviews
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1996

A thought-provoking, insightful novel
The sad and moving story of a young life lost. Told with wit and grit, the tale at first engenders the reader's sympathy for the young, precocious Sanjay growing up under deplorable conditions. And then by some curious trick, James allows the reader to distance himself/herself from Sanjay just enough to accept the "return to roots" ending without tears. Perhaps the trick is that you never ...

Fame in the 20th Century

1 review
James Clive

Random House Value Publishing, 1994

Fame, takes a man who thinks things over
A witty, informative and thoroughly readable book. I've read it many times over and never fail to enjoy it. In discussing the changing face of fame, Clive James looks at the lives of many famous people of the 20th Century. Few icons are safe from his sharp wit. He refers to Madonna as "A one woman hall of fame on high heels...", and of Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The first superstar to construct the ...

Opal Sunset: Selected Poems, 1958-2008

1 review
Clive James

W.W. Norton & Co., 2008

I Was Impressed
I find reviewing poetry to be far more difficult than reviewing either prose or movies, because the medium, like music, translates so unwillingly into the craft of the reviewer. So let me simply leave it at this: I think Mr. James writes nice poems.

The Crystal Bucket: Television Criticism from the 'Observer', 1976-79

1 review
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1981

Exceptional
When visiting the UK in summer 1982, almost everywhere we went, someone was reading The Crystal Bucket. Store clerks, at ticket windows, passengers on trains, everyone everywhere. So I bought a copy, and it was worth it. Witty, intellectual, observant, all that stuff, and fun to read too.

Cultural Amnesia

2 reviews
Clive James

Picador, 2008

Tolle Lege
I have enjoyed reading this elegant book partly, I suppose, because some of my suspicions about the left were correct. From hundreds of pencil marks, I will be making numerous notes. The cultural icons that I heard about, and those that I read years ago are resurrected in this tome, or at least in my mind. That Picasso, Brecht, and Sartre were image-conscious communists is not surprising, ...

Always Unreliable

1 review
Clive James

Picador, 2004

Doesn't pummel you with verbal truncheons of crushed Dutch
From BERNARD LEVIN, BOOK TWO by Clive James: "Victor Hugo was under the impression that he was Victor Hugo. Bernard Levin feels the same way about Bernard Levin. He is never off his plinth. On FACE THE MUSIC he takes a sip of water after getting the right answer. It is meant to look humble but screams conceit." Right. And offhand I can't think of a more emetic scenario than the spectacle of ...

Visions Before Midnight

1 review
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1977

Classic Reviews
You may have to be of a certain age or nationality to appreciate this, because if you never watched Softly Softly (a British TV Cop show from the early 1970's) or heard David Coleman or Harry Carpenter (both BBC Sports Commentators), then a book of TV reviews may be a struggle. However James does it with such style, panache, intelligence and above all wit, that you'll probably still love it ...

Clive James on Television (Picador Books)

1 review
Clive James

Picador, 1991

Best of James
This is CJ's best book. He used to be a media pundit, on paper and then on television. But he aspired to be some kind of literary and intellectual figure (he can be forgiven, the 80s were like that). But don't bother with his serious stuff, it's unreadable. By far his best writing is contained in this compendium of his television criticism. Why read crits of television programmes from the stone ...

The Crystal Bucket

1 review
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1981

Brilliant
Forget Clive James the TV presenter (in the UK). This is what he is best at doing. A fabulous volume of TV criticisms from the British Newspaper The Observer in the 70's. There is stuff in here that will make you cry with laughter, its so funny. One moment he's ripping apart the original Superstars TV series, and then its Grandstand or Ski Sunday (both sports programs on British TV). Its not ...

Unreliable Memoirs

11 reviews
Clive James

Chatto & Windus, 1980

Don't read this in a public place!
This would have to be the best offering from Clive James that I have read. His acerbic wit makes for great reading. I found this text on a bookshelf in a beach holiday house and was immediately captivated. I lost count of the amount of times that I not only laughed out loud, I snorted with appreciation and had to wipe tears from my eyes (much to the consternation of those around me) He ...

Flying Visits

1 review
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1984

A supersonic delight
Clive James was a young person fascinated by planes , airports, and flying. This fascination has its literary expression in this collection of 'Observer' columns focused on his immediate impressions of cities he alights in. He starts with two pieces on his native Sydney and makes something of a world tour which includes Washington,New York, Moscow, Tokyo,Rome, Los Angeles, Salzburg, Epcot, ...

Meaning of Recognition: New Essays 2001 - 2005

1 review
Clive James

Trans-Atlantic Publications, Inc., 2005

Afternoon Light
Clive James is an expatriate Australian who travelled to Britian as a young man and has made a career as a writer and columnist. These are a collection of essays and talks that he has created in the last few years. James combines the ability to be extremely funny with being highly intelligent. Some of the essays are gems and laugh out loud, especially the last. His essays on the television ...

As of This Writing: The Essential Essays, 1968-2002

4 reviews
Clive James

W. W. Norton & Company, 2003

As for me
I thought this book was a wonderful collection of brilliant essays. I am very impressed with his range of subjects and feel inlightened by them. This book features forty- nine essays on poetry, film, fiction, and criticism from his writings between 1968 and 2002. many with a up to date Postscript. From Marilyn Monroe to Gore Vidal, Clive James help to expand your world

Tim Burton (Virgin Film)

4 reviews
Jim Smith, J. Clive Matthews, ...

Virgin Books, 2002

By far the best book on Burton
It covers everything you could possibly wish to know about the films, and even provides a summary of one I'd never even heard of - Luau. This isn't even listed on the IMDB, and no other books on Burton mention it, but they've got an interview with Rick Heinrichs (the guy who designed Sleepy Hollow and worked on Luau) about it, so it must be for real! It's really well written too, and pretty ...

May Week Was In June

4 reviews
Clive James

Jonathan Cape, 1990

UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE
This looks like being the last personal memoir Clive James intends to let us have. After he left Cambridge he became well-known from the media, first as BBC film critic, then as the television critic of The Observer on Sundays, and latterly with several shows of his own. He must be nearer 70 than 60 by now, to the best of my knowledge his marriage has survived, and the combination of anno domini, ...

Cultural Amnesia: Necessary Memories from History and the Arts

40 reviews
Clive James

W. W. Norton, 2007

Find out what you didnt know you could know!
How do you define your humanity, your worth and the meaning of the good life? Did the last book you read, the last poem heard, the choir on Classic FM, the last serious piece of reportage in the newspaper make you think, widen the space for thought, help you engage more as a citizen? Did you make a note of the words that hit a spot? Remember to look that book up when next in the library, wonder ...

Treasure

73 reviews
Clive Cussler

Audioworks, 1988

Fast Paced Action Thriller
Clive Cussler's Treasue starts out like any other og his books. On this historic flashback, a roman named Julies Vernator sails a fleet of ships carrying a unknown cargo across the ocean. He hides the cargo in a cave somewhere on the unknown continent they sailed to. Vernator and his crew come under attack by primitives and never make it back to Spain. One ship makes it away and it's final ...

Brrm Brrm

3 reviews
Clive James

Pan Books Ltd, 1992

A Book of Delights
Those who have enjoyed Clive James' television specials, his essays, his criticism and travel pieces will find further delights in this wonderful novel. Brrm Brrm is a lovely balance of style and substance that rewards frequent re-reading. Not surprisingly, it is entirely consistent with the rest of James' work: entertaining and erudite, popular but intelligent. It deals with one of Clive James' ...

Adventures of a Sea Hunter: In Search of Famous Shipwrecks

4 reviews
James Delgado

Douglas & McIntyre, 2004

Facinating!
Personally, I found this book fascinating and intriguing look into underwater archaeology. Having been on archaeological sites myself this type of book is like candy for the mind. It's like a real life Indiana Jones. Besides, a lot of archaeology is getting excited about something as mundane as a peanut. It allows us to see how people ate, farmed, etc in the past and to draw parallels into how we ...

Falling Towards England

3 reviews
Clive James

W. W. Norton & Co., 1985

Very funny and clever!
This is one of a series of autobiographical books from Clive James - Unreliable Memoirs and May Week Was in June being the others - which take Clive from his boyhood in Australia to the hallowed halls of Cambridge University. Clive has a clever, satirical and self-deprecating style. The humor is sly, very personal, and tends to creep up on you. It helps if you have heard him speak and can ...

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