Customer Reviews

Trying to Please: A Memoir

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Few people have more interesting lives or interesting careers for that matter than John Julius Norwich. He is a historian of Venice, Byzantium, and England during the time of Shakespeare's kings, not to mention a former British foreign service officer, a member of the House of Lords, and television and radio personality. My only question to Lord Norwich, were I to have the opportunity to meet him, would be to ask which employment agency he uses to get all these plum job assignments.

It is not surprising that Norwich is as prominent as he is. He is the son of Duff Cooper and Lady Diana Cooper ("Viscount of Norwich" is the title his father took when elevated to House of Lords). Duff Cooper was a member of parliament, first Lord of the Admiralty, appeasement opponent, British ambassador to France and a renowned author and diplomatic historian. Diana Cooper was a famous beauty, friend of Evelyn Waugh (Mrs Stitch in "Scoop"), "bright young person and the youngest daughter of the 8th Duke of Rutland. Both emerge as engaging personalities in this memoir, although I have to say Diana Cooper emerges as the more amusing (this apparently was the case in real life as well). She is a fearless driver, frequently racing and keeping up with fire engines when John Julius was in the car with her. Her philosophy was that bumpers on cars were there to absorb shocks and not look so pristine. She is a frequent presence in the book and the source of much amusement.

With such parents Norwich is exposed to the great and the good, such as Winston Churchill, who he met during World War II at 10 Downing Street. There is also the not so good , such as the Duke and Duchess of Windsor who he met in the fifties. The Duchess apparently croaked out her entire life story to the young 15 year old John Julius one night after dinner. Not used to wine, he totally forgot everything by morning.

With a career in modern languages, Norwich was assigned to various postings around the Mediterranean, Yugoslavia and Lebanon which in turn served to promote an interest in both Venice and Byzantine history. It was only after the birth of his children that he decided to give up the diplomatic life and turn instead writing as a career.

The series of books that set Norwich apart were of course his history of the Normans in Sicily (which was part a trend in which Norsemen occupied tracks of land in Ireland, Normandy, Russia, Sicily and eventually England itself). Fascinated by the story of the kingdom, which he absorbed in bits and pieces, he was astonished to find that nothing had been written on it until his two volume study, which is a real delight to read. This luck to find subjects that are both engaging and somewhat unexplored has been with Norwich for most of his life. It probably would not be an understatement to say that with the exception of an encounter Stephen Runciman (whose life and interests are somewhat similar to Norwich's, although several years older), Norwich is probably one of the luckiest people to have lived.

A great deal of the book deals with Norwich's books, how he came to write them and lessons learned while filming television documentaries on historical subjects. It is pity that many of these are not available in any form in the US since they sound fascinating. Anyone attempting to produce a fifty minute historical documentary should examine Norwich's chapters on his past experiences. There are many pitfalls which can be avoided.

Norwich is also renowned for his work in historic preservation. A great deal of his effort has been spent keeping the monuments and historic treasures of Venice and elsewhere available for future generations to enjoy. Like so many public-spirited peers before him, he has used what influence in society his position has given him to accomplish good works.

This is in short a delightful book by one of the most interesting people alive today. It provides erudite commentary on the multi-faceted career of this outstanding person. If you are a fan of histories, this book too will also prove engaging.

Hard to categorize, not really a memoir, not a travelogue, but the author has led a life full of interesting people places and events. The son of Duff & Lady Cooper this will appeal to those readers with an interest in the parents as well as the son.

The first third of so of the memoir was the truly interesting story of what it's like to grow up in an upper, upper class British household--Winston and Clemmie dropping by, young John asking De Gaulle if he's going to finish that tarte pomme, the famous mother tooling around London in a series of cream-colored convertibles a la Julia Flyte. Great stuff. The memoir lost steam as Norwich got foreign service postings in less and less exciting places. He seems to have great curiosity about places and loves being anywhere on the globe; yay for him, but I can only smile and nod so long when someone is nattering on about 1960's Yugoslavia. To his credit, he was "into" city restoration and preservation before it was cool (although how someone can claim to not like Florence, Italy is beyond me). The odd, random dalliances were an unexpected curveball. To sum, would say the first third of the book was well worth reading but don't expect being thrilled with the last two.

J.J.Norwitch know how to please and that is what he had done for me with this book. An extraordinarily lucky man he has been, almost never in the low positions, always in poll position, always favoured by luck, friends, acquatainces, parents and all the members of that ilustrious club, high class in England. But he has also known how to make profit of it not only for him, but for us. And so it happens that almost every one of his history books are a pleasure to read, provided you go to the history shelves looking for pleasure, not for some extra notchs of remote knowledge; if not, then you cannot go wrong with this gentleman. I have read with pleasure his memoirs in a rush from first to last page and even if they are not, all of them, equally enjoyable, the overall efect is one of fun, entertaiment and even afection for this amiable and talented chavalier.

If you are thinking of buying this book because of the light it might shed on John Julius Norwich's famous parents, Duff and Diana Cooper, and on the chance its text might be infused with uncommon literacy you may safely avoid this purchase.

While the first half of the book has its interesting moments of period history, the second half dissolves into personal history of the type only fans, close friends and family members are apt to find enjoyable.

The book's limp title, coupled with a bland dust cover design, is a tip-off.

Also, should there be another edition, "dyed-in-the wool" for "died-in-the-wool" on p. 90.