It’s the green one on the bottom…
You may have noticed that things have been rather quiet of late on the Landing. Rest assured that I have not been entirely idle, merely adjusting to the demands of the New Year (it usually takes me until well into January to become accustomed to the year). After reading my way through a mini crime wave in library books, I have finally started reading the latest on the Landing Eight list.
I have opted to read The Diary of Nobody by George and Weedon Grossmith (Guild Publishing 1981) as my next book since I felt that this potentially dreary time of the year deserved a little light comedy. The edition that I have on the shelves dates back to the early 1980s when I was in the throes of a book club binge. By ‘book club’ I mean the kind where you promise to buy a book every month (possibly forever) after being lured in by a too good to be true special offer. Eventually I weaned myself off this habit after spending rather a lot of money. I did however end up with the guts of a decent classics collections so it was not all bad news by any means.
All in all then, I feel it is high time that I tackled this comedy classic (originally published in 1894) which has been languishing on our shelves for so long. Charles Pooter is a lower middle class clerk who lives with his beloved wife Carrie (Caroline) in a respectable London suburb. Mr Pooter’s diary describes his day-to day life over a period of fifteen months, telling of his battles with recalcitrant tradespeople and forays into ‘Society’ as well as quiet evenings at home with his friends.
I will return to Mr and Mrs Charles Pooter anon. Meanwhile, I will leave you with the diarist’s own words to give you a little taster, while I go off and finish the book:
First edition
Why should I not publish my diary?
I have often seen reminiscences of people
I have never even heard of, and I fail
to see-because I do not happen to be
a ‘Somebody’ – why my diary should
not be interesting. My only regret is
that I did not commence it when I was
a youth.
(The illustration of the first edition was taken from Wikipedia)
