Jasper Rees

This is a very thorough and well researched biography of Victoria Wood, a comedian, writer, actor and musician. It is fascinating to read about her early life in Bury, her university life in Birmingham and early days in Morecambe and the north-west of England. Later she moved to London. Jasper Rees clearly had masses of archival material to use for this biography, not just interviews with Victoria Wood but also with her family, friends and colleagues. It is hard to decide what to include and miss out when you have so much and I did find the amount of detail exhausting and sometimes as much a list as a story. This is an all-round biography of her home life and working life and it is comprehensive. For anyone who has enjoyed one of the varied things that Victoria Wood has done you will want to know more about this talented woman.… (plus d'informations)

Quite a good read - on the whole Jasper Rees is a pleasant writer. The quest itself is close to my heart, as my Welsh lineage has always had a strong emphasis within my own inner connections. I thought Rees's recount was a little too lengthy for some of the subject matter, I found the initial rites of passage being language very good - however some of the "Welshness" Rees was searching for came across as stereotypical, and I kept on reading hoping that through-out the football, song, sheep and walking, there might be a chapter devoted more to the idiosyncratic nature of the Welsh temperament, perhaps abutting to the brythonic nature of the peoples of Wales. But this is Jasper's journey, and I can't argue with his perspective because it was through it that he was searching for his own association with what Welshness meant. It's a fair journey in any case, borderline novelisation of a Lonely Planet guide in parts but on the whole a welcome read.… (plus d'informations)

This represents the dream of most of our Walter Mitty selves. I was in my mid-thirties when my son took up the trombone in school and, wanting to help him out, started French Horn lessons at the college where I worked. 20 years later he had long given up the trombone and I, after 15 years, gave up the French Horn, tiring (lazy, I guess) of the requirement to play every single day for 45 minutes to an hour just to maintain some flexibility in the lips. Skipping a couple days would set you back a week. I guess I also tired of being mediocre. I was what most would consider competent, good enough to play with local orchestras, but to get really good you have to practice hours daily. I did have the advantage of having played piano and organ for years so at least I didn't have to learn to read music. The worst part was transposing on the fly. I look forward to reading how Rees did. Got to admire his courage.… (plus d'informations)