Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Grossly overrated, 31 Jul 2008
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday life affecting 900 million people - perhaps! I have no connection with China but the only other reviewer who claims to be Chinese is sceptical - and so am I.
This may be the only sort of material available on this era in Chinese history but we should not accept it at face value.
Don't waste your time on this. I wish I hadn't.

A Captivating Read, 11 Jul 2008
This book tells 150 years history of China through the personal lives of 3 generations of women from one family.

Wild Swans is a beautifully written book, that is desperately sad, desperately hopeful and shocking. The plight of these 3 women captures the reader and transports them to different periods in China's history. The 3 women and the people around them come to life through Changs beautiful way with words.

I have come away from this book with a greater understanding of China and Mao's absolute rule. The power, control and violence Mao inflicted on the Chinese people is horrific. 10's of millions of innocent people died under his rule and this book heroically describes the terror and fear the Chinese faced every day.

If you only read one book this year, make it Wild Swans.

A Story of Courage and Tyranny, 17 Jun 2008
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye and wards Beijing the 2008 Olympic While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny

The stuff of nightmares, 03 Jun 2008
Jung Chang's autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China's tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, 'Wild Swans' provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in ways that a straight historical account could not.

'Wild Swans' is most interesting when it deals with Jung Chang's firsthand experiences during Chairman Mao's cultural revolution, where a climate of paranoia and political denouncement caused society to practically implode. It seems almost beyond comprehension how Mao could have held such God-like power over his people when the very communist principals he espoused seemed to contradict such form of deification as undignified. Even more extraordinary is how he succeeded in maintaining his grip on power without the assistance of a KGB-type secret police, but by turning the people against each other. By making himself a god, he subtly provoked his populace to fight vendettas in his name while remaining aloof and almost mythical. In effect he presided over a kind of controlled civil war, only reigning in the violence when he perceived his own position to be under threat.

While not particularly literary - it doesn't need to be - Jung Chang keeps the style relatively factual for an autobiography. But the facts speak horrifically for themselves, with individuals competing for the largely imagined grace of Mao driven to acts of extreme cruelty and humiliation. While 'Wild Swans' often shows a dispiritingly brutal side of people when put in particular conditions, the acts of bravery, kindness and incredible physical and emotional endurance allow a little faith in human nature to persist. Absolutely essential reading.

Claire Tomalin was born to write a biography of Samuel Pepys. Her previously acclaimed biographies of Jane Austen and Mary Wollstonecraft have defined her as a scrupulous biographer who establishes a unique empathy with her subjects. In Pepys Tomalin has found her perfect subject, a man who is "both the most ordinary and the most extraordinary writer you will ever meet".

Pepys wrote his diary throughout the 1660s, "a period as intellectually thrilling as it was dangerous and bloody", and Tomalin's book vividly brings to life the tumultuous world of 17-century London, where Pepys grew up. Pepys' life spanned the execution of one king and the restoration of another, and Tomalin elegantly recreates both Pepys' public and private lives. From his early days in London and then Cambridge, Tomalin pieces together the crucial years when "the private Samuel Pepys began to develop and yearn". She chronicles his rise through the bureaucracy of the restored king, Charles II, to his position as energetic reformer of the navy and successful husband to his vivacious, mercurial wife Elizabeth. But the book also deals with Pepy's personal tragedies, his struggle to secure patronage as a commoner, his frank and hilarious extra-marital exploits, and the cataclysmic Fire of London in 1666.

This is a fine biography of an extraordinary man who "found the energy and commitment to create a new literary form" while also coming across as a generous, likeable, flawed human being. Tomalin's admiration for her subject is infectious, and will ensure that her biography becomes the standard reference for anyone interested in both Pepys's life and his art.--Jerry Brotton

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Grossly overrated, 31 Jul 2008
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday life affecting 900 million people - perhaps! I have no connection with China but the only other reviewer who claims to be Chinese is sceptical - and so am I.
This may be the only sort of material available on this era in Chinese history but we should not accept it at face value.
Don't waste your time on this. I wish I hadn't.

A Captivating Read, 11 Jul 2008
This book tells 150 years history of China through the personal lives of 3 generations of women from one family.

Wild Swans is a beautifully written book, that is desperately sad, desperately hopeful and shocking. The plight of these 3 women captures the reader and transports them to different periods in China's history. The 3 women and the people around them come to life through Changs beautiful way with words.

I have come away from this book with a greater understanding of China and Mao's absolute rule. The power, control and violence Mao inflicted on the Chinese people is horrific. 10's of millions of innocent people died under his rule and this book heroically describes the terror and fear the Chinese faced every day.

If you only read one book this year, make it Wild Swans.

A Story of Courage and Tyranny, 17 Jun 2008
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye and wards Beijing the 2008 Olympic While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny

The stuff of nightmares, 03 Jun 2008
Jung Chang's autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China's tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, 'Wild Swans' provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in ways that a straight historical account could not.

'Wild Swans' is most interesting when it deals with Jung Chang's firsthand experiences during Chairman Mao's cultural revolution, where a climate of paranoia and political denouncement caused society to practically implode. It seems almost beyond comprehension how Mao could have held such God-like power over his people when the very communist principals he espoused seemed to contradict such form of deification as undignified. Even more extraordinary is how he succeeded in maintaining his grip on power without the assistance of a KGB-type secret police, but by turning the people against each other. By making himself a god, he subtly provoked his populace to fight vendettas in his name while remaining aloof and almost mythical. In effect he presided over a kind of controlled civil war, only reigning in the violence when he perceived his own position to be under threat.

While not particularly literary - it doesn't need to be - Jung Chang keeps the style relatively factual for an autobiography. But the facts speak horrifically for themselves, with individuals competing for the largely imagined grace of Mao driven to acts of extreme cruelty and humiliation. While 'Wild Swans' often shows a dispiritingly brutal side of people when put in particular conditions, the acts of bravery, kindness and incredible physical and emotional endurance allow a little faith in human nature to persist. Absolutely essential reading.

True to Himself, 02 Jan 2008
I read this book some time ago, consequently the finer details escape me. However, what remains vivid is the sense that Ms Tomalin's book evinces of a remarkable man from our distant past, and of the social and political context of the times in which he lived. It is a cliche to say that 'someone is of his time', but there's no better way of saying it in Pepys's case. Yes, he could be cruel in his remarks about others, particularly when he's been disappointed, or when he feels that he's been misunderstood. But, then, there are no doubt many equally successful men (and women) today, who are much more ruthless in their dealings with others, both domestically and professionally.

However, it is highly unlikely (if not utterly unlikely) to comment so honestly about how unpleasant he has been - either to his wife, his maid or his underlings. Granted, he wrote in 'code', but he knew the code could easily be cracked by someone who had shorthand skills (as indeed it was) so he could have destroyed his diaries after he stopped writing them.

The other thing that stood out for me, was the pain he experienced with his 'stone'. This is something I could relate to, since, a couple of years before I read this book, I too had a 'stone', and, until it was removed, I was in considerable discomfort, and often pain, every night. My stone was about an inch long by a quarter of an inch thick. Pepys's was the size of a grape-fruit. Mine was removed painlessly while I was anaesthetised. Pepys's was removed while he was fully conscious (albeit by the best man in London). He wasn't even allowed alcohol (too dangerous) and his chances of survival had been about 20%. Small wonder that, afterwards, he reflected on life 'before the stone' in a way that suggests his re-birth. Nobody, from no matter what era, could have gone through that amount of pain and fear without being considerably changed.

The other remarkable honesty Pepys' displayed was regarding his sexual liaisons; one of his most endearing features was the feelings of guilt he expressed - always immediately afterwards. All right, he made little attempt to curb his habits, but he does come across as a man with a conscience and well aware of his bad behaviour. In our own times such men are pretty rare.

And the third thing that remains in my memory was his unique use of 'pidgin' English when describing his sexual adventures. He would use a combination of French, English and (I think) Latin, in order to 'obscure' (or, possibly, negate) the reality of his behaviour, even though what he was doing was as plain as a pikestaff to even the most naive of readers. In this way he was very child-like.

Yes, Pepys was a womaniser and, occasionally, a wife-beater. He was as flawed as any man in this respect, but put anyone under a microscope for a life-time and see if he remains faultless.

What was such a joy in this book was Ms Tomalin's impeccable writing. The biography read almost as a novel would, and Pepys's character flowed across every page. The humour, occasional violence, anger, opportunism (oh, yes, he was probably as dishonest in his naval dealings as any man, in any century has ever been) and skill, both as an administrator and as a survivor.

In fact, his greatest achievement was as a survivor of possibly the greatest upheaval in English history (including the blitz and the Battle of Britain) - the execution of Charles l, the social and political mayhem of the Commonwealth years, the Great Fire of London and the recurrent Plagues. His was a consummate balancing act - particularly given his elevated position - from being a known (or at least suspected) Royalist sympathiser, to acceptance by the Puritans and then to a timely and convincing reversion to the Royal cause. Although he had numerous close-shaves, generally he prosperred and maintained friendships at several levels of society, including the very highest, in spite of his humble start in life.

Pepys must rate alongside William Shakespeare as being a key figure, without whom England would have a much poorer history, and Miss Tomalyn's biography has made him eminently accessible to the twenty-first century reader.

A Truly Fascinating Man, 17 Jul 2006
This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Ah yes, he's the man who wrote the diary. This is of course true, but do they actually know anything about the man behind the name of Samuel Pepys. What for instance were his feelings on the politicians of the day. What were his own ambitions and aspirations.

Pepys was a naval administrator and friend and confidant of some of the most famous and powerful people in London . Sex, the plague, music, marital conflict, naval life, public executions and incarcerations in the Tower of London. These are just some of the colourful events in the life of a man famous for his writing of a diary.

The book contains a wealth of interesting material about the life of a man who's name goes before him. Everyone knows his name, but few know of the life of the man himself.

Am I the only one who can't like Pepys?, 23 May 2006
Firstly this is an excellent biography as the reviews and prizes show, but I had a serious problem empathising with Pepys. Someone describes it as a 'warts & all' book, but it's more than that: I don't have a problem with Pepys' numerous adulteries and fumblings with the servant girls - as long as they don't mind either. But that's where the problem starts: there's a whole section, for example, where Pepys forces a girl to touch him sexually in surreptitious circumstances despite her continuous protests that she doesn't like doing it. The fact that he and his wife also befriend the poor girl and her husband thus putting a power overlay to the story just makes it worse. I also have a problem with Pepys' casual violence towards his wife: a bit of nose pulling I can accept but to black someone's eye you have to hit them pretty hard...
I know that this is 17th century London, and I'm not saying that Tomalin should suppress the fact that these things happen, I'm just surprised that she can overlook these as merely playful characteristics and continue to evince an affection for the man. Personally, I found him offensive and unpleasant and so didn't finish the book because I didn't want to spend any more time in his company.

I feel like I've been there myself, 06 Oct 2005
despite a perfectly good education, I have always found history a bit remote and difficult to get involved in, something I ought to know about but don't. I bought this book because I thought I might learn something. I did, and more! It's quite slow at the beginning, but it's worth persevering because once the circumstances are established it reads like a juicy novel, with people you care about and a plot you couldn't make up! In particular, if you know London, you will love it when he talks about places that you know now - for example when he goes out to the country - to Clapham! And there are some bigger lessons in it as well, about duty, hard work and integrity. I can't recommend it enough.

Samuel Pepys, 25 May 2005
I first heard of Samuel Pepys in 84 Charing Cross Road, I proceeded to read a selection from his diary and then I just wanted to know more.

This is the first biography I have read - I am usually not very interested in them, but Pepys is such an interesting man I had to find out more.

I could not have been more pleased when I read this book, I expected something so dull it would fail to be informative, but Tomalin recreates a world of history for the reader who has perhaps not read extensively into history before. It is easy to read, completely enchanting and very involved with the person and time she was writing about.

No detail was spared, every little thing was explained and I was left wanting for nothing more then to read the full version of Samuel Pepys' Diary feeling that I know a lot more about him and the time he was in. Otherwise, to read the diary without knowing about his life and the history behind it, it is quite hard I think to grip the character behind the diary.

I have definately come out with a better knowledge of this time in history and of a truly extrodinary man.

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Grossly overrated, 31 Jul 2008
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday life affecting 900 million people - perhaps! I have no connection with China but the only other reviewer who claims to be Chinese is sceptical - and so am I.
This may be the only sort of material available on this era in Chinese history but we should not accept it at face value.
Don't waste your time on this. I wish I hadn't.

A Captivating Read, 11 Jul 2008
This book tells 150 years history of China through the personal lives of 3 generations of women from one family.

Wild Swans is a beautifully written book, that is desperately sad, desperately hopeful and shocking. The plight of these 3 women captures the reader and transports them to different periods in China's history. The 3 women and the people around them come to life through Changs beautiful way with words.

I have come away from this book with a greater understanding of China and Mao's absolute rule. The power, control and violence Mao inflicted on the Chinese people is horrific. 10's of millions of innocent people died under his rule and this book heroically describes the terror and fear the Chinese faced every day.

If you only read one book this year, make it Wild Swans.

A Story of Courage and Tyranny, 17 Jun 2008
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye and wards Beijing the 2008 Olympic While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny

The stuff of nightmares, 03 Jun 2008
Jung Chang's autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China's tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, 'Wild Swans' provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in ways that a straight historical account could not.

'Wild Swans' is most interesting when it deals with Jung Chang's firsthand experiences during Chairman Mao's cultural revolution, where a climate of paranoia and political denouncement caused society to practically implode. It seems almost beyond comprehension how Mao could have held such God-like power over his people when the very communist principals he espoused seemed to contradict such form of deification as undignified. Even more extraordinary is how he succeeded in maintaining his grip on power without the assistance of a KGB-type secret police, but by turning the people against each other. By making himself a god, he subtly provoked his populace to fight vendettas in his name while remaining aloof and almost mythical. In effect he presided over a kind of controlled civil war, only reigning in the violence when he perceived his own position to be under threat.

While not particularly literary - it doesn't need to be - Jung Chang keeps the style relatively factual for an autobiography. But the facts speak horrifically for themselves, with individuals competing for the largely imagined grace of Mao driven to acts of extreme cruelty and humiliation. While 'Wild Swans' often shows a dispiritingly brutal side of people when put in particular conditions, the acts of bravery, kindness and incredible physical and emotional endurance allow a little faith in human nature to persist. Absolutely essential reading.

True to Himself, 02 Jan 2008
I read this book some time ago, consequently the finer details escape me. However, what remains vivid is the sense that Ms Tomalin's book evinces of a remarkable man from our distant past, and of the social and political context of the times in which he lived. It is a cliche to say that 'someone is of his time', but there's no better way of saying it in Pepys's case. Yes, he could be cruel in his remarks about others, particularly when he's been disappointed, or when he feels that he's been misunderstood. But, then, there are no doubt many equally successful men (and women) today, who are much more ruthless in their dealings with others, both domestically and professionally.

However, it is highly unlikely (if not utterly unlikely) to comment so honestly about how unpleasant he has been - either to his wife, his maid or his underlings. Granted, he wrote in 'code', but he knew the code could easily be cracked by someone who had shorthand skills (as indeed it was) so he could have destroyed his diaries after he stopped writing them.

The other thing that stood out for me, was the pain he experienced with his 'stone'. This is something I could relate to, since, a couple of years before I read this book, I too had a 'stone', and, until it was removed, I was in considerable discomfort, and often pain, every night. My stone was about an inch long by a quarter of an inch thick. Pepys's was the size of a grape-fruit. Mine was removed painlessly while I was anaesthetised. Pepys's was removed while he was fully conscious (albeit by the best man in London). He wasn't even allowed alcohol (too dangerous) and his chances of survival had been about 20%. Small wonder that, afterwards, he reflected on life 'before the stone' in a way that suggests his re-birth. Nobody, from no matter what era, could have gone through that amount of pain and fear without being considerably changed.

The other remarkable honesty Pepys' displayed was regarding his sexual liaisons; one of his most endearing features was the feelings of guilt he expressed - always immediately afterwards. All right, he made little attempt to curb his habits, but he does come across as a man with a conscience and well aware of his bad behaviour. In our own times such men are pretty rare.

And the third thing that remains in my memory was his unique use of 'pidgin' English when describing his sexual adventures. He would use a combination of French, English and (I think) Latin, in order to 'obscure' (or, possibly, negate) the reality of his behaviour, even though what he was doing was as plain as a pikestaff to even the most naive of readers. In this way he was very child-like.

Yes, Pepys was a womaniser and, occasionally, a wife-beater. He was as flawed as any man in this respect, but put anyone under a microscope for a life-time and see if he remains faultless.

What was such a joy in this book was Ms Tomalin's impeccable writing. The biography read almost as a novel would, and Pepys's character flowed across every page. The humour, occasional violence, anger, opportunism (oh, yes, he was probably as dishonest in his naval dealings as any man, in any century has ever been) and skill, both as an administrator and as a survivor.

In fact, his greatest achievement was as a survivor of possibly the greatest upheaval in English history (including the blitz and the Battle of Britain) - the execution of Charles l, the social and political mayhem of the Commonwealth years, the Great Fire of London and the recurrent Plagues. His was a consummate balancing act - particularly given his elevated position - from being a known (or at least suspected) Royalist sympathiser, to acceptance by the Puritans and then to a timely and convincing reversion to the Royal cause. Although he had numerous close-shaves, generally he prosperred and maintained friendships at several levels of society, including the very highest, in spite of his humble start in life.

Pepys must rate alongside William Shakespeare as being a key figure, without whom England would have a much poorer history, and Miss Tomalyn's biography has made him eminently accessible to the twenty-first century reader.

A Truly Fascinating Man, 17 Jul 2006
This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Ah yes, he's the man who wrote the diary. This is of course true, but do they actually know anything about the man behind the name of Samuel Pepys. What for instance were his feelings on the politicians of the day. What were his own ambitions and aspirations.

Pepys was a naval administrator and friend and confidant of some of the most famous and powerful people in London . Sex, the plague, music, marital conflict, naval life, public executions and incarcerations in the Tower of London. These are just some of the colourful events in the life of a man famous for his writing of a diary.

The book contains a wealth of interesting material about the life of a man who's name goes before him. Everyone knows his name, but few know of the life of the man himself.

Am I the only one who can't like Pepys?, 23 May 2006
Firstly this is an excellent biography as the reviews and prizes show, but I had a serious problem empathising with Pepys. Someone describes it as a 'warts & all' book, but it's more than that: I don't have a problem with Pepys' numerous adulteries and fumblings with the servant girls - as long as they don't mind either. But that's where the problem starts: there's a whole section, for example, where Pepys forces a girl to touch him sexually in surreptitious circumstances despite her continuous protests that she doesn't like doing it. The fact that he and his wife also befriend the poor girl and her husband thus putting a power overlay to the story just makes it worse. I also have a problem with Pepys' casual violence towards his wife: a bit of nose pulling I can accept but to black someone's eye you have to hit them pretty hard...
I know that this is 17th century London, and I'm not saying that Tomalin should suppress the fact that these things happen, I'm just surprised that she can overlook these as merely playful characteristics and continue to evince an affection for the man. Personally, I found him offensive and unpleasant and so didn't finish the book because I didn't want to spend any more time in his company.

I feel like I've been there myself, 06 Oct 2005
despite a perfectly good education, I have always found history a bit remote and difficult to get involved in, something I ought to know about but don't. I bought this book because I thought I might learn something. I did, and more! It's quite slow at the beginning, but it's worth persevering because once the circumstances are established it reads like a juicy novel, with people you care about and a plot you couldn't make up! In particular, if you know London, you will love it when he talks about places that you know now - for example when he goes out to the country - to Clapham! And there are some bigger lessons in it as well, about duty, hard work and integrity. I can't recommend it enough.

Samuel Pepys, 25 May 2005
I first heard of Samuel Pepys in 84 Charing Cross Road, I proceeded to read a selection from his diary and then I just wanted to know more.

This is the first biography I have read - I am usually not very interested in them, but Pepys is such an interesting man I had to find out more.

I could not have been more pleased when I read this book, I expected something so dull it would fail to be informative, but Tomalin recreates a world of history for the reader who has perhaps not read extensively into history before. It is easy to read, completely enchanting and very involved with the person and time she was writing about.

No detail was spared, every little thing was explained and I was left wanting for nothing more then to read the full version of Samuel Pepys' Diary feeling that I know a lot more about him and the time he was in. Otherwise, to read the diary without knowing about his life and the history behind it, it is quite hard I think to grip the character behind the diary.

I have definately come out with a better knowledge of this time in history and of a truly extrodinary man.

our resident geinus, 17 Nov 2006
Although the material and take on life are completely different Alan Bennett shares with William S Burroughs a voice that just sucks you into the narrative and makes impossible thereafter to read without hearing the voice in your head. I seldom buy spoken word recordings but sometimes it is a must. Having read (or not ) the books I can close my eyes and be transported in the same way that music works, which is saying something from my perspective.

I haven't actaually heard this yet but I do have 3 others by him and I know in advance that it cannot be recommend too highly.

The mundaity of it all speaks to and for all of us and above everything else it is the honesty and truth that humbles us. Alan knows that the smallest things have the biggest impact.

A definite hit with me.

Entertaining, 02 Feb 2006
I bought this book with a gift certificate. I am not from England so much of the geography and names go right over me. However, there is a style of writing here that attracts me to every page. It is almost as if I have known A Bennett or he has known me all my/his life. I am sharing his thoughts and deeds throught these years. Mr Bennett is very understated.

Listen with Alan, 15 Dec 2005
Listening to Alan Bennett reading his work adds an extra dimension - it's rather like an old friend confiding his private and personal memories. I'm not a fan of audiobooks but this one's an exception and worth replaying.

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Grossly overrated, 31 Jul 2008
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday life affecting 900 million people - perhaps! I have no connection with China but the only other reviewer who claims to be Chinese is sceptical - and so am I.
This may be the only sort of material available on this era in Chinese history but we should not accept it at face value.
Don't waste your time on this. I wish I hadn't.

A Captivating Read, 11 Jul 2008
This book tells 150 years history of China through the personal lives of 3 generations of women from one family.

Wild Swans is a beautifully written book, that is desperately sad, desperately hopeful and shocking. The plight of these 3 women captures the reader and transports them to different periods in China's history. The 3 women and the people around them come to life through Changs beautiful way with words.

I have come away from this book with a greater understanding of China and Mao's absolute rule. The power, control and violence Mao inflicted on the Chinese people is horrific. 10's of millions of innocent people died under his rule and this book heroically describes the terror and fear the Chinese faced every day.

If you only read one book this year, make it Wild Swans.

A Story of Courage and Tyranny, 17 Jun 2008
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye and wards Beijing the 2008 Olympic While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny

The stuff of nightmares, 03 Jun 2008
Jung Chang's autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China's tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, 'Wild Swans' provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in ways that a straight historical account could not.

'Wild Swans' is most interesting when it deals with Jung Chang's firsthand experiences during Chairman Mao's cultural revolution, where a climate of paranoia and political denouncement caused society to practically implode. It seems almost beyond comprehension how Mao could have held such God-like power over his people when the very communist principals he espoused seemed to contradict such form of deification as undignified. Even more extraordinary is how he succeeded in maintaining his grip on power without the assistance of a KGB-type secret police, but by turning the people against each other. By making himself a god, he subtly provoked his populace to fight vendettas in his name while remaining aloof and almost mythical. In effect he presided over a kind of controlled civil war, only reigning in the violence when he perceived his own position to be under threat.

While not particularly literary - it doesn't need to be - Jung Chang keeps the style relatively factual for an autobiography. But the facts speak horrifically for themselves, with individuals competing for the largely imagined grace of Mao driven to acts of extreme cruelty and humiliation. While 'Wild Swans' often shows a dispiritingly brutal side of people when put in particular conditions, the acts of bravery, kindness and incredible physical and emotional endurance allow a little faith in human nature to persist. Absolutely essential reading.

True to Himself, 02 Jan 2008
I read this book some time ago, consequently the finer details escape me. However, what remains vivid is the sense that Ms Tomalin's book evinces of a remarkable man from our distant past, and of the social and political context of the times in which he lived. It is a cliche to say that 'someone is of his time', but there's no better way of saying it in Pepys's case. Yes, he could be cruel in his remarks about others, particularly when he's been disappointed, or when he feels that he's been misunderstood. But, then, there are no doubt many equally successful men (and women) today, who are much more ruthless in their dealings with others, both domestically and professionally.

However, it is highly unlikely (if not utterly unlikely) to comment so honestly about how unpleasant he has been - either to his wife, his maid or his underlings. Granted, he wrote in 'code', but he knew the code could easily be cracked by someone who had shorthand skills (as indeed it was) so he could have destroyed his diaries after he stopped writing them.

The other thing that stood out for me, was the pain he experienced with his 'stone'. This is something I could relate to, since, a couple of years before I read this book, I too had a 'stone', and, until it was removed, I was in considerable discomfort, and often pain, every night. My stone was about an inch long by a quarter of an inch thick. Pepys's was the size of a grape-fruit. Mine was removed painlessly while I was anaesthetised. Pepys's was removed while he was fully conscious (albeit by the best man in London). He wasn't even allowed alcohol (too dangerous) and his chances of survival had been about 20%. Small wonder that, afterwards, he reflected on life 'before the stone' in a way that suggests his re-birth. Nobody, from no matter what era, could have gone through that amount of pain and fear without being considerably changed.

The other remarkable honesty Pepys' displayed was regarding his sexual liaisons; one of his most endearing features was the feelings of guilt he expressed - always immediately afterwards. All right, he made little attempt to curb his habits, but he does come across as a man with a conscience and well aware of his bad behaviour. In our own times such men are pretty rare.

And the third thing that remains in my memory was his unique use of 'pidgin' English when describing his sexual adventures. He would use a combination of French, English and (I think) Latin, in order to 'obscure' (or, possibly, negate) the reality of his behaviour, even though what he was doing was as plain as a pikestaff to even the most naive of readers. In this way he was very child-like.

Yes, Pepys was a womaniser and, occasionally, a wife-beater. He was as flawed as any man in this respect, but put anyone under a microscope for a life-time and see if he remains faultless.

What was such a joy in this book was Ms Tomalin's impeccable writing. The biography read almost as a novel would, and Pepys's character flowed across every page. The humour, occasional violence, anger, opportunism (oh, yes, he was probably as dishonest in his naval dealings as any man, in any century has ever been) and skill, both as an administrator and as a survivor.

In fact, his greatest achievement was as a survivor of possibly the greatest upheaval in English history (including the blitz and the Battle of Britain) - the execution of Charles l, the social and political mayhem of the Commonwealth years, the Great Fire of London and the recurrent Plagues. His was a consummate balancing act - particularly given his elevated position - from being a known (or at least suspected) Royalist sympathiser, to acceptance by the Puritans and then to a timely and convincing reversion to the Royal cause. Although he had numerous close-shaves, generally he prosperred and maintained friendships at several levels of society, including the very highest, in spite of his humble start in life.

Pepys must rate alongside William Shakespeare as being a key figure, without whom England would have a much poorer history, and Miss Tomalyn's biography has made him eminently accessible to the twenty-first century reader.

A Truly Fascinating Man, 17 Jul 2006
This is another fascinating historical biography that reads more like a novel than a stuffy factual book. Virtually everyone knows the name of Samuel Pepys. Ah yes, he's the man who wrote the diary. This is of course true, but do they actually know anything about the man behind the name of Samuel Pepys. What for instance were his feelings on the politicians of the day. What were his own ambitions and aspirations.

Pepys was a naval administrator and friend and confidant of some of the most famous and powerful people in London . Sex, the plague, music, marital conflict, naval life, public executions and incarcerations in the Tower of London. These are just some of the colourful events in the life of a man famous for his writing of a diary.

The book contains a wealth of interesting material about the life of a man who's name goes before him. Everyone knows his name, but few know of the life of the man himself.

Am I the only one who can't like Pepys?, 23 May 2006
Firstly this is an excellent biography as the reviews and prizes show, but I had a serious problem empathising with Pepys. Someone describes it as a 'warts & all' book, but it's more than that: I don't have a problem with Pepys' numerous adulteries and fumblings with the servant girls - as long as they don't mind either. But that's where the problem starts: there's a whole section, for example, where Pepys forces a girl to touch him sexually in surreptitious circumstances despite her continuous protests that she doesn't like doing it. The fact that he and his wife also befriend the poor girl and her husband thus putting a power overlay to the story just makes it worse. I also have a problem with Pepys' casual violence towards his wife: a bit of nose pulling I can accept but to black someone's eye you have to hit them pretty hard...
I know that this is 17th century London, and I'm not saying that Tomalin should suppress the fact that these things happen, I'm just surprised that she can overlook these as merely playful characteristics and continue to evince an affection for the man. Personally, I found him offensive and unpleasant and so didn't finish the book because I didn't want to spend any more time in his company.

I feel like I've been there myself, 06 Oct 2005
despite a perfectly good education, I have always found history a bit remote and difficult to get involved in, something I ought to know about but don't. I bought this book because I thought I might learn something. I did, and more! It's quite slow at the beginning, but it's worth persevering because once the circumstances are established it reads like a juicy novel, with people you care about and a plot you couldn't make up! In particular, if you know London, you will love it when he talks about places that you know now - for example when he goes out to the country - to Clapham! And there are some bigger lessons in it as well, about duty, hard work and integrity. I can't recommend it enough.

Samuel Pepys, 25 May 2005
I first heard of Samuel Pepys in 84 Charing Cross Road, I proceeded to read a selection from his diary and then I just wanted to know more.

This is the first biography I have read - I am usually not very interested in them, but Pepys is such an interesting man I had to find out more.

I could not have been more pleased when I read this book, I expected something so dull it would fail to be informative, but Tomalin recreates a world of history for the reader who has perhaps not read extensively into history before. It is easy to read, completely enchanting and very involved with the person and time she was writing about.

No detail was spared, every little thing was explained and I was left wanting for nothing more then to read the full version of Samuel Pepys' Diary feeling that I know a lot more about him and the time he was in. Otherwise, to read the diary without knowing about his life and the history behind it, it is quite hard I think to grip the character behind the diary.

I have definately come out with a better knowledge of this time in history and of a truly extrodinary man.

our resident geinus, 17 Nov 2006
Although the material and take on life are completely different Alan Bennett shares with William S Burroughs a voice that just sucks you into the narrative and makes impossible thereafter to read without hearing the voice in your head. I seldom buy spoken word recordings but sometimes it is a must. Having read (or not ) the books I can close my eyes and be transported in the same way that music works, which is saying something from my perspective.

I haven't actaually heard this yet but I do have 3 others by him and I know in advance that it cannot be recommend too highly.

The mundaity of it all speaks to and for all of us and above everything else it is the honesty and truth that humbles us. Alan knows that the smallest things have the biggest impact.

A definite hit with me.

Entertaining, 02 Feb 2006
I bought this book with a gift certificate. I am not from England so much of the geography and names go right over me. However, there is a style of writing here that attracts me to every page. It is almost as if I have known A Bennett or he has known me all my/his life. I am sharing his thoughts and deeds throught these years. Mr Bennett is very understated.

Listen with Alan, 15 Dec 2005
Listening to Alan Bennett reading his work adds an extra dimension - it's rather like an old friend confiding his private and personal memories. I'm not a fan of audiobooks but this one's an exception and worth replaying.

MOAB CLEANS UP!, 08 Dec 2007
Stephen Fry`s autobiography is astonishingly frank, very funny and tremendously touching by turns - his life of crime is treated with a frankness which seeks no sympathy and the torments of adolescense leave no stone unturned. Throughout we feel that Stephen is talking to us as the sort of erudite yet unselfconscious companion one would love to spend time with of an evening in a firelit country pub. I hope it won`t be too much longer before the sequel comes out!

Mick Drake author of the comic novel All`s Well at Wellwithoute

A truly great autobiography, 01 Jun 2004
I read The Liar and The Hippopotamus and found them a little too flowery for my liking, but then I'm not a great novel reader anyway. The pages of this book, on the other hand, turned so quickly, I thought they might catch fire.

As another reviewer stated, his frequent ramblings off the main thread of the story are sheer joy and make you feel he is in the room talking to you. And he can't resist teaching us a new word by including it then demonstrating its meaning e.g. rhotacism, or explicitly correcting a widely used grammatical or spelling error! All very familiar Fry stuff.

Stephen says himself that his life is at once as unremarkable as they come and stranger than fiction, when you put it down at the end, you feel he is spot on. Only once towards the very end did I see a quality in him that you could be unashamedly proud of.

Don't worry if you don't like his novels, this is one of the most absorbing and satisfying autobiographies ever written.

'A little to much information', as they say., 25 May 2004
I have always been something of a fan of Stephen Fry and this was the first, but not the last, of his books that I was to read. The phrase that comes to mind is 'to much information'. Although he has clearly had an interesting life, I'm not sure it was in his, or my, best interests for him to write it all down. I imagine it was something of a therapy for him, which if I remember resulted in him disappearing for some time. Quite understandable. I'm no prude, but parts of this book where reminiscent of the potting shed scene in the film 'Scum'. Contrary to other reviews I didn't find too much to laugh at in the book and felt it lacked the qualities of Stephen Fry I find so appealing. I have read several of his other books, which I more than enjoyed and thought where very well written. I would recommend these books, but unfortunately not this one.

This book changed my life, 14 Dec 2003
I first read this book when I was thirteen, desperately in unrequited love (although with an older, not a younger man) and wracked with teenage angst. No one understood me, I had no religion, no one to talk to and this love took up my every waking thought. What a relief then, to stumble upon this masterpiece and realise that I wasn't completely alone in the world.

I totally understood everything that Stephen had to say about the world, he made more sense than anybody ever had before. It seemed strange that the man who understood me most in the entire universe wasn't my own father, or even the object of my thirteen year old affections, but this man twenty-eight years my senior that I had never met and had nothing in common with.

You'll be pleased to hear that I'm almost nineteen now, and although not out of my teenage years, I'm out of my teenage angst. I still love the man who inspired those thirteen year old tears, but he loves me too these days, and I feel somewhere deep down, that if Stephen knew, it might inspire a smile. Thanks Stephen.

Also, could I speak for everyone in saying I'm well on my way to being Anonymous Amazon Book Reviewer BA (Hons) in English Literature, I'm not a daft carrot, and I found the idea of stripping a gooseberry bush faster than a priest could strip a choir boy very funny indeed.

The picture of Dorian Fry, 04 Aug 2003
A couple of months ago, I met an english student at a party who was completely delirious about Stephen Fry. She made me feel this was really an author that could not be missed and hailed "Moab" as a genuine masterpiece. I just finished it, and I really wonder: why? Why? WHY? Why did everybody give this light, lazy and narcissistic novel five stars?

Everything about this "autobiography" is constructed, fake and banal. This book is basically an endless enumeration of boyhood traumas which include homosexuality, being jew, the size of Frys manhood (too small, duh), full details of his "deflowering", his suicide attempt and journey to prison. We read uninspired, mandatory descriptions on how lucky he is with his parents and how he caused them so much pain. But most pages are devoted to anecdotes illustrating what a witty and tormented genius he actually is.

The most irritating characteristic of this book is Frys inability to hold a plotline. From page one, we get flashbacks, flashforwards and rococo embellishments. When he falls in love, Fry spends pages to describe how its like "the chord Max Steinder brings in when Bogart catches sight of Bergman, the swell and surge of the Liebestod from Tristan, Liszts sonata in B minor". Etcetera. Etcetera. And of course, for Fry a page is lost if theres no gag. So be prepared to countless platitudes such as "My mother can strip a gooseberry bush quicker than a priest can strip a choirboy". If you think this is funny, dont bother my review. Youll love the book.

The thorniest scientific problem of the 18th century was how to determine longitude. Many thousands of lives had been lost at sea over the centuries due to the inability to determine an east-west position. This is the engrossing story of the clockmaker, John "Longitude" Harrison, who solved the problem that Newton and Galileo had failed to conquer, yet claimed only half the promised rich reward. --Amazon.com

Hilarious. Don't miss it., 08 Jun 2001
Gerald Durrell has an amazing talent for making you laugh out loud - he knows just how to tell his stories about the various birds, insects and animals he comes across as a boy in Corfu.

The descriptions of Corfu really make you want to visit, and the stories about himself and his own family are absolutely hilarious. This book is the best one to read if you haven't read any of his writing before.

Interesting and funny but quite boring, 20 Apr 1999
I thought that this book gave a good example of a typical choatic family, it shows this with many arguments between the siblings and how the mother tries to keep peace between everyone. This novel is an autobiagraphical, non-fiction story of an english family living on the island on Corfu. They come across many problems , delights and cultral differences. The book has a great sense of umour nada fantastic description of scenery, which was good but sometims incredibly boring. This was a funny, factual and interesting piece of literature.

Fascinating and very witty, 20 Jan 2008
What a fascinating character!

One of those books that I was reluctant to finish as the last page drew nearer.

Prior to reading this book I only knew Peter Ustinov as the delightful character Hercule Poirot in Agatha Christie films. But I learned that he had a very long career in the theatre and that his talents seemed to include almost all areas in it.

His background alone makes for interesting reading. He is the child of Russian immigrants who settled in England but his (very talented) ancestors came from far and wide and included countries such as Ethiopia and Israel.

Parts of the book is written in the style of a soul searching dialogue between Peter Ustinov and himself, hence the title. He makes some insightful comments about life and the world. In general throughout the book I was struck by what appears to be the extreme intelligence of someone who oddly enough did not do well in school.

Many parts of the book are pure entertainment. I laughed aloud in many places. His descriptions of his eccentric relatives, his experiences in the army, how he dealt with rebellious students at Durham university are all very funny.

I can recommend this book. It is highly entertaining and amusing. But it also contains some insightful observations by a highly intelligent, observant and unique personality.


good car talk, 17 Apr 2003
Why i bought this i dont know.I put it in the car and the trip flew in.He has the sort of voice that relaxes you and makes time fly.

An emotionally gripping, roller-coaster ride through the lives of three fascinating women, 02 Oct 2008
This is without doubt one of the best books I've ever read. It is a powerful, gripping story that takes you through act after act of what human beings are capable of doing on this Earth, sometimes in the most brutal fashion.

Based on the lives of three generations of women, it starts in turn of the 20th century China, when the Qing dynasty was starting to crumble and that way of life was coming to an end, taking you through the civil war, Mao coming to power, the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution before ending in the 70s when the author leaves for Britain.

This is a "no holding back" story of survival with frequent scenarios detailing the worst and most brutal of human suffering. Reading through makes you realise the many things in this world we take for granted: democracy, security, civil liberties and freedom. It is an epic life story seen through the eyes of three ordinary women. They weren't world leaders or iconic historical figures, but ordinary citizens living their lives in a regime that is regarded with controversy even to this day.

All in all, although it's a book detailing suffering, fear and brutality it is an uplifting story of survival. You can't help but shed a tear for the person who survives, against all the odds, to make a better life for themselves. Like Pandora's box, once opened you'll see all the sins of the world come to fruition but one thing will remain at the end: hope.

Grossly overrated, 31 Jul 2008
This is probably the most boring and unenlightening book I have ever read. My wife was asked to read it as part of a literature appreciation group and said it was shocking in its revelations. I bought another copy of it from Waterstones for one of her friends and the assistant was gushing in her enthusiasm for it. I decided to read it and thus wasted an unnecessary amount of valuable time.
If you can believe 10% of what Jung Chang asks you to believe you will be stretching credulity. She is obsessed with her own family's righteousness in the face of unmitigated evil and her attention to trivialities shows a great sense of imagination.
Instead of a simple family tree we have a long boring tirade of the minutiae of everyday life affecting 900 million people - perhaps! I have no connection with China but the only other reviewer who claims to be Chinese is sceptical - and so am I.
This may be the only sort of material available on this era in Chinese history but we should not accept it at face value.
Don't waste your time on this. I wish I hadn't.

A Captivating Read, 11 Jul 2008
This book tells 150 years history of China through the personal lives of 3 generations of women from one family.

Wild Swans is a beautifully written book, that is desperately sad, desperately hopeful and shocking. The plight of these 3 women captures the reader and transports them to different periods in China's history. The 3 women and the people around them come to life through Changs beautiful way with words.

I have come away from this book with a greater understanding of China and Mao's absolute rule. The power, control and violence Mao inflicted on the Chinese people is horrific. 10's of millions of innocent people died under his rule and this book heroically describes the terror and fear the Chinese faced every day.

If you only read one book this year, make it Wild Swans.

A Story of Courage and Tyranny, 17 Jun 2008
Wild Swans is a candid and harrowing account of three remarkable Chinese women -grandmother, mother and daughter- but also gives us a very good picture of what China was like from the turn of the Century to the 1980's
We learn about the ancient culture of the Chinese which included much that was beautiful and some that seems cruel. We learn of the hope of so many Chinese that the overthrow of the Kuomintang would lead to a' just social order' but how it soon became clear that the worst excesses of the Kuomintang and those of Imperial China before that paled into insignificance compared to the hell on earth created by Mao's Chinese Communist Party
One is left aghast that a system can destroy even the most basic human instincts of decency and compassion while turning people into inhumane monsters totally possessed -as if by a demon - by a cruel and totally destructive system
It sends shivers down one's spine to realise that 'The Great Helmsman' Mao Ze Dong -who ranks with Hitler and Stalin as among the most evil men of the 20th century-had his image worn on T-shirts by 'progressive' students and youth in the west and these same young 'champions of equality' hung large pictures of Mao in their dormitory rooms .This at the same time as millions of Chinese were being slaughtered and physically and psychologically maimed on the orders of Mao and his Chinese Communist Party -as described in this book.
Today many in the West laud the economic 'reforms' towards a type of totalitarian 'capitalist' system but fail to remember that human rights have not improved at all and China is still a hideous and inhuman hell for hundreds of millions of its inhabitants. And the world turns a blind eye and wards Beijing the 2008 Olympic While we a re left asking how much longer the people of China will remain enslaved by their inhumane Communist masters. How Long?
But the book is also about the strength of the human spirit , about wonderful people-especially the three remarkable women who are the central characters of this book- as well as the cruel ones
It is a story of love and hate, strength and weakness , the beautiful and the ugly
But more than anything it is about how the human spirit can never in the end be crushed by cruelty, evil and tyranny

The stuff of nightmares, 03 Jun 2008
Jung Chang's autobiographical story of three generations of women living through China's tumultuous 20th century is fascinating and terrifying. Given that it is a subjective account of the key events in modern Chinese history, 'Wild Swans' provides a compelling and informative narrative that brings to life complex socio-historic transformations in ways that a straight historical account could not.

'Wild Swans' is most interesting when it deals with Jung Chang's firsthand experiences during Chairman Mao's cultural revolution, where a climate of paranoia and political denouncement caused society to practically implode. It seems almost beyond comprehension how Mao could have held such God-like power over his people when the very communist principals he espoused seemed to contradict such form of deification as undignified. Even more extraordinary is how he succeeded in maintaining his grip on power without the assistance of a KGB-type secret police, but by turning the people against each other. By making himself a god, he subtly provoked his populace to fight vendettas in his name while remaining aloof and almost mythical. In effect he presided over a kind of controlled civil war, only reigning in the violence when he perceived his own position to be under threat.

While not particularly literary - it doesn't need to be - Jung Chang keeps the style relatively factual for an autobiography. But the facts speak horrifically for themselves, with individuals competing for the largely imagined grace of Mao driven to acts of extreme cruelty and humiliation. While 'Wild Swans' often shows a dispiritingly brutal side of people when put in particular conditions, the acts of bravery, kindness and incredible physical and emotional endurance allow a little faith in human nature to persist. Absolutely essential reading.

True to Himself, 02 Jan 2008
I read this book some time ago, consequently the finer details escape me. However, what remains vivid is the sense that Ms Tomalin's book evinces of a remarkable man from our distant past, and of the social and political context of the times in which he lived. It is a cliche to say that 'someone is of his time', but there's no better way of saying it in Pepys's case. Yes, he could be cruel in his remarks about others, particularly when he's been disappointed, or when he feels that he's been misunderstood. But, then, there are no doubt many equally successful men (and women) today, who are much more ruthless in their dealings with others, both domestically and professionally.

However, it is highly unlikely (if not utterly unlikely) to comment so honestly about how unpleasant he has been - either to his wife, his maid or his underlings. Granted, he wrote in 'code', but he knew the code could easily be cracked by someone who had shorthand skills (as indeed it was) so he could have destroyed his diaries after he stopped writing them.

The other thing that stood out for me, was the pain he experienced with his 'stone'. This is something I could relate to, since, a couple of years before I read this book, I too had a 'stone', and, until it was removed, I was in considerable discomfort, and often pain, every night. My stone was about an inch long by a quarter of an inch thick. Pepys's was the size of a grape-fruit. Mine was removed painlessly while I was anaesthetised. Pepys's was removed while he was fully conscious (albeit by the best man in London). He wasn't even allowed alcohol (too dangerous) and his chances of survival had been about 20%. Small wonder that, afterwards, he reflected on life 'before the stone' in a way that suggests his re-birth. Nobody, from no matter what era, could have gone through that amount of pain and fear without being considerably changed.

The other remarkable honesty Pepys' displayed was regarding his sexual liaisons; one of his most endearing features was the feelings of guilt he expressed - always immediately afterwards. All right, he made little attempt to curb his habits, but he does come across as a man with a conscience and well aware of his bad behaviour. In our own times such men are pretty rare.

And the third thing that remains in my memory was his unique use of 'pidgin' English when describing his sexual adventures. He would use a combination of French, English and (I think) Latin, in order to 'obscure' (or, possibly, negate) the reality of his behaviour, even though what he was doing was as plain as a pikestaff to even the most naive of readers. In this way he was very child-like.

Yes, Pepys was a womaniser and, occasionally, a wife-beater. He was as flawed as any man in this respect, but put anyone under a microscope for a life-time and see if he remains faultless.

What was such a joy in this book was Ms Tomalin's impeccable writing. The biography read almost as a novel would, and Pepys's character flowed across every page. The humour, occasional violence, anger, opportunism (oh, yes, he was probably as dishonest in his naval dealings as any man, in any century has ever been) and skill, both as an administrator and as a survivor.

In fact, his greatest achievement was as a survivor of possibly the greatest upheaval in Engli