Customer Reviews

Rumpole a la Carte

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
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2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a really funny story, well told by Leo McKern, who IS Rumpole. (There are other Rumpole readers, but his is the best, even if you never saw his tv version) For Rumpole of the Bailey fans, you have all the usual cast, She Who Must Be Obeyed, Erskine Brown cheating on Portia, Uncle Tom, and Soapy Sam Ballard, head of Chambers. Lots of fun and really a pleasure to listen to. Couldn't even tell it was abridged. I'm a lawyer and I listen to mine evey fun months to get recharged

I for one can't get enough Rumpole in my diet. I look forward to each and every story in this wonderful series. This particular book consists of six short stories. They are all very good, and exceedingly funny, but I always have to pick a favourite, and I think "Rumpole at Sea" was the best in this collection. These stories are so totally wonderful, and Rumpole is so real that you will think that you know him as you read of his exploits. I laugh out loud many times during the course of reading each collection of stories. My hat comes off to Mortimer because of his formidable writing talents. I am glad I have more Rumpole to read.

I've never seen the TV version of RUMPOLE, so when
my local library had the cassette version of RUMPOLE A LA CARTE
by John Mortimer, I grabbed hold of it to see what all the excitement was about.

A LA CARTE features six short stories about Horrace Rumpole,
an eccentric British barrister . . . they were mildly amusing, but none of them leaves me wanting to listen to more and/or go
out of my way to view the program when next on the tube.

Leo McKern's narration, however, was excellent.

Despite the fact that I generally enjoy comic British writing, and have on occasion watched the TV version of Rumpole with amusement, I found this collection of short Rumpole stories rather tedious. Having never read any of the extensive Rumpole series, I figured this collection of six stories would be a good place to test the waters. What I found was a series of predictable tales, populated by thin characters that offer little variety in their foibles from story to story. And while you could make the same case for P.G. Wodehouse's creations, the difference is that he had the Midas touch when it came to language and wit, whereas Mortimer's prose is generally uninspired. After a while, the curmudgeonly grumblings of Rumpole get rather old, as does the sharp tongue of his wife (She Who Must Be Obeyed), the pathetic philandering Erskine Brown, and the doddering foolishness of Uncle Tom. While the cut and thrust of the courtroom scenes do impart a sense of vigor and wit to the proceedings, they are the only bright lights in what are otherwise remarkably dull and predictable stories. Perhaps lawyers find Mortimer's prose remarkable, I, on the other hand, do not.