Customer Reviews

First Childhood

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3 star:		(1)
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I came to Berners' writings by way of his music. "The Triumph of Neptune," a Beecham staple, has long been a favorite of mine, and the ongoing Berners series on the Marco Polo label has been a delight.

Above all else, what one seems to encounter when reading ABOUT Berners are copious anecdotes of his alleged "eccentricity." Having completed both volumes of this delicious memoir, I am tempted to chalk it all up rather to a keenly-developed wit and an extremely cultivated sense of the ridiculous. In fact, Berners in his own words comes across as exceptionally sane, a gifted observer. Time and again, he hits upon just the right detail to establish a knowing sympathy with his reader, skewering the hypocrisies of relatives and professors alike, and deftly conveying all the distant terrors of childhood. At the same time, he casts an almost Proustian glow over his recollections, so that there are moments of aching nostalgia, as we have all experienced at one time or another.

Those curious about his later musical triumphs may find themselves disappointed - there are sporadic anecdotes about his first encounters with the music of Chopin and Wagner, but nothing of those he rubbed shoulders with in his maturity - but "disappointment" is soon compensated for by Berners' wit. The man certainly did know how to craft a sentence, and his prose is studded with erudite (although not too much so) allusions, always to humorous effect. If the book is to be criticized, it is because it is TOO SHORT. I am delighted to find there is actual a third volume, picking up the thread of the second, about his adventures in France. I will be ordering this very soon.

An extremely entertaining memoir. You'll probably be hungering for more, so be sure and move on to "A Distant Prospect."

Lord Berners remembers childhood more accurately than most memoirists. He doesn't romanticize nor does he dwell on the darker days. He looks back with wry amusement at himself (an only child of a thoughtful and dreamy nature) and his family (relics of another era). Written with a deft light touch and adult insight into the ways of childhood. Don't miss this -- you'll laugh out loud!

This much talked about but rarely read character from the recent past is proved to be a real artist and talented writer in this lovely book. I dare you not to be enchanted by this wonderfully written and charming tale of a comfortable childhood. It is arch and queeny at times, but so utterly readable that it is sure to be consumed at a single sitting. For anyone with class!

A nice, slow read about the nice English child-Lord Berners.Although jacket blurbs promise to make the reader laugh,laugh,laugh..I only smiled!