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alanaleigh's review against another edition
4.0
Alright, I'm writing a half review of this book, because I read "The Clothes They Stood Up In" a while ago but not "The Lady in the Van" and I quite liked the first, but then I was waiting to review until I finished the other one... but that might take a while, so here's a half-review.
Simply put, the story is this: Mr. and Mrs. Ransome return to their flat after a night at the opera to discover that they've been burgled. Everything in their flat has been taken -- and when we stay everything, we mean everything. The chairs, the bed, the rugs, the casserole left warming in the oven. Everything. Naturally, the story focuses on how Maurice and Rosemary Ransome each deal with this... from trying to contact the police (via public telephone) and acquire cheap interim replacement furniture to the nuts and bolts of determining how and why this happened to the different ways one can cope with the dramatic loss. Particularly intriguing is the question of who we become when we are divested of all our earthly possessions... do we obsess on the material aspect or do we find ourselves oddly liberated? I'd definitely recommend reading this one. And I'll re-rate and post again whenever I get around to "The Lady in the Van."
Simply put, the story is this: Mr. and Mrs. Ransome return to their flat after a night at the opera to discover that they've been burgled. Everything in their flat has been taken -- and when we stay everything, we mean everything. The chairs, the bed, the rugs, the casserole left warming in the oven. Everything. Naturally, the story focuses on how Maurice and Rosemary Ransome each deal with this... from trying to contact the police (via public telephone) and acquire cheap interim replacement furniture to the nuts and bolts of determining how and why this happened to the different ways one can cope with the dramatic loss. Particularly intriguing is the question of who we become when we are divested of all our earthly possessions... do we obsess on the material aspect or do we find ourselves oddly liberated? I'd definitely recommend reading this one. And I'll re-rate and post again whenever I get around to "The Lady in the Van."
susan_ok's review against another edition
5.0
The Lady in the Van is one of the funniest and also most touching things I've ever read. Bennett is hilarious. The Clothes They Stood Up In is good but depressing.
cpalisa's review against another edition
3.0
The book has two stories, both essentially dealing with possessions and our attachment to them (and liberation at the loss of them). The first one was odd, didn't love it. The second one was a true story and I really liked it. I think I saw a little bit of my Mom in the Lady in the Van. Overall, an okay book, quick read at just over 200 pages.
dixiet's review against another edition
4.0
The Clothes They Stood Up In is delightful. The Lady in the Van is sweet, funny, and rather poignant.
vswoodward's review against another edition
5.0
I read this after seeing a short Alan Bennett play performed in Scotland at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival (sorry for the name dropping!) and after watching "History Boys." Alan Bennett is wry, dry, and snarky English intellectualism at its best. Always entertaining and erudite, you'll feel like you've gotten a glimpse into the ways which the English take any oddity into stride and you'll feel smarter, too.
jmiae's review against another edition
4.0
Three stars for The Clothes They Stood Up In, and five stars for the The Lady in the Van.
It's interesting how Bennett's fiction differs so greatly from his more essayist/memoirist style in the latter story. I suppose my preference shows in my rating.
Because I watched the 2015 film adaptation of The Lady in the Van, I couldn't help but impose my recollection of the film's cinematography and characters onto my reading of both stories. The Ransomes were, in my mind, embodied by the snooty couple that lived in the house across from Bennett's in the film. And perhaps The Lady in the Van read so much more richly because the film had stayed so close to it.
The story of the Ransomes felt a bit cartoonish, though quite fun to read with lots of quirky moments and funny supporting characters. It helps to remember the weight of the story falls less on the robbery than on the effect it has on Mrs Ransome's outlook on her life and marriage.
The Lady in the Van grabbed my by the heart and felt so very up-close and personal - perhaps because it's nonfiction, but also again perhaps because I saw the film and Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings are just so damn good in it and their portrayals guided my reading. In any case, I loved how Bennett writes so frankly of his own character in respect to Miss Shepherd, and how sharp his writing is. Miss Shepherd herself is so utterly wonderful, though I cannot truthfully answer that I would have been able to do what Bennett did for her.
I've now read three works by Alan Bennett this year and it's only the start of April. As much as I enjoyed The Uncommon Reader and The Clothes They Stood Up In, I'm now convinced that what I'm really after is Bennett's essays and, if possible, his diaries.
Happily, I've just discovered he's written at least three 600+ page volumes of essays: Writing Home, Untold Stories, and Keeping On, Keeping On. Thanks, Goodreads.
It's interesting how Bennett's fiction differs so greatly from his more essayist/memoirist style in the latter story. I suppose my preference shows in my rating.
Because I watched the 2015 film adaptation of The Lady in the Van, I couldn't help but impose my recollection of the film's cinematography and characters onto my reading of both stories. The Ransomes were, in my mind, embodied by the snooty couple that lived in the house across from Bennett's in the film. And perhaps The Lady in the Van read so much more richly because the film had stayed so close to it.
The story of the Ransomes felt a bit cartoonish, though quite fun to read with lots of quirky moments and funny supporting characters. It helps to remember the weight of the story falls less on the robbery than on the effect it has on Mrs Ransome's outlook on her life and marriage.
The Lady in the Van grabbed my by the heart and felt so very up-close and personal - perhaps because it's nonfiction, but also again perhaps because I saw the film and Maggie Smith and Alex Jennings are just so damn good in it and their portrayals guided my reading. In any case, I loved how Bennett writes so frankly of his own character in respect to Miss Shepherd, and how sharp his writing is. Miss Shepherd herself is so utterly wonderful, though I cannot truthfully answer that I would have been able to do what Bennett did for her.
I've now read three works by Alan Bennett this year and it's only the start of April. As much as I enjoyed The Uncommon Reader and The Clothes They Stood Up In, I'm now convinced that what I'm really after is Bennett's essays and, if possible, his diaries.
Happily, I've just discovered he's written at least three 600+ page volumes of essays: Writing Home, Untold Stories, and Keeping On, Keeping On. Thanks, Goodreads.
majamahovac's review
funny
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
julesjae's review against another edition
4.0
I truly enjoyed this little gem of a book. I was enthralled by the characters and couldn't put it down. A must read!!
angie_ranck's review
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
The Clothes They Stood Up In - 3 stars
The Lady In The Van - 1 star
The Lady In The Van - 1 star
nferre's review against another edition
3.0
The Clothes They Stood Up In is a novella about a old curmudgeonly British couple, very stead in their stale ways, who come home from a night at the opera to find the contents of their apartment have vanished. Books, bills, pots, pans, furniture and toilet paper. The apartment had been wiped clean. They were literally left with the clothes they stood up in.... and with themselves. Wiped of all the kitsch they accumulated over the years they had a moment to look around and see themselves in a different light. While one of them took advantage of this, the other one did not. The ending is unusual, and while the writing is humorous, the theme is a bit sad.
The author lays out the story, doesn't pontificate or elaborate, there are no musings or thoughts - just a quick, fast, wittily written story.
The author lays out the story, doesn't pontificate or elaborate, there are no musings or thoughts - just a quick, fast, wittily written story.