Frances DonaldsonCritiques

I have enjoyed reading P.G. Wodehouse in the last few years so I thought getting to know him might be fun. I'm so glad I did because this book really humanized him, highlighted his humor, and addressed his faults with grace. The next time I pick up a Jeeves or Psmith book I think I will enjoy it even more now that I've learned so much about the man behind the characters.

Evelyn Waugh: Portrait of a Country Neighbour is a light, highly readable memoir of the author's experiences as the friend and neighbor of one of Britain's more remarkable 20th century writers. It's a bit on the gossipy, colloquial side, but it's fun and makes Waugh sound like fun (and a pain-in-the-behind). What makes it particularly interesting is that the author was an avowed Socialist, which Waugh was definitely not, so you are looking at him from a completely different point of view than if the author were one of Waugh's fellow Catholic travellers. Not a book for those looking for serious research, but if you want to know what Waugh the man was like, it's a good place to start.

One for the hard-core Wodehouse enthusiast.

I read this with great enjoyment many years ago, since when it disappeared into the morass of a lifetime of detritus that I fondly call my home. Wishing to share some of my love of Wodehouse with my book club, I bought a second-hand copy and set myself to reread it some six-ish months ago.

There are indubitable gems to be had (Flo Ziegfeld and his barely one baby elephant leaps to mind), and it's good to get the real dope from the horse's mouth as it were rather than the fictionalised account to be found in Bring on the Girls (which I haven't read, but P.G. spills the beans here about the degree to which events that happened to other people were adopted therein for the sake of a good story), but there's a lot of fairly mundane stuff as well.

Really, my score is an average between the 4.5 I would have given it 20 years ago, on first reading, and the 3.5 I would give it today.

Edward VIII, by Frances Donaldson, is an excruciatingly detailed biography of Edward VIII, more commonly known as the Duke of Windsor.

Much emphasis is placed upon his upbringing (not one one would envy, despite the wealth and title). The royal parents were actually quite crappy parents when you get down to it, and much of the later behaviour of the Duke can be laid at their feet.

However, in the end, the portrait painted of the Duke is one of a man, not too bright to put it mildly, badly educated, and surrounded without sycophants who told him what he wanted to hear, but with a great deal of physical charm and a practical sense of how to relate to the "common man."

The tragedy is of course that all this talent was completely wasted because he chose, early on, to marry another man's wife and spent the rest of his life a) making that happen and b) paying the consequences.

The concurrent description of Wallis Simpson was very interesting as well. She was described by many (in other books as well) as not loving him quite as much as he loved her. If she had truly wanted to prevent the "tragedy" of the life of the Duke, she would not have permitted his attentions, and would have absented herself from his presence permanently. She didn't, and much if not most of the blame for his aimless and sad later life is to be placed at her feet.

At the end of the book, and the end of his life, it's impossible not to make comparisons between the Duke and the current Prince of Wales. Consider: the Duke gave up the throne and lived a life, mainly pointless, with no real job or point to his life because he broke up a marriage and then married the divorcee. He spent the rest of his life hopelessly trying to get the Royal Family to recognize Wallis, and grant her the title of Her Royal Highness (they didn't).

The current Prince broke up a marriage, married the woman in question, lives a life without a real job or aim to his life, is surrounded by sycophants who tell him what he wants to hear, but lost nothing at all in status, money, title, etc. His wife will by all accounts become Queen of England one day. It is amazing what the passage of 80 years changed in the way of acceptance of what is identical behaviour.

What would the Royal Family be like now if Edward had not found it necessary to abdicate? He would have remained King. The Queen would have remained a Princess, Charles would not be the heir apparent. The entire Diana tragedy would not have occurred. Camilla would not be Queen in waiting.

A biography of the Duke of Windsor, formerly King Edward VIII. I've read several books about him in the last few years, and the more I read, the more I think that everyone in the world needs to go down on their knees and thank their creator that he abdicated when he did. Well, maybe not Germany.
He was NOT a very bright boy (although very cute and possibly personable in his early days). This book makes him out to be quite a whiner, and it's not the first time I've heard that. It's a very well-researched book, although it tends to drag in places, and at the beginning, the titles and pronouns are switched around so I had to re-read several passages to know which king it was referring to. The book trails off somewhat after the abdication, so not a lot of information about the life he and the duchess lived.½

At the time of its 1982 release, this was the first "full-dress" biography of Wodehouse. LJ's reviewer gushed over the book, saying it contains "a wealth of information, anecdotal and otherwise and will probably stand as the best general account of the man and his writings for some time." Two decades later, Wodehouse is a popular humorist with tons of books in print and many fans, so this volume is a worthy addition to literary biography sections

The memoir of Frances Donaldson, daughter of playwright Frederick Lonsdale, committed socialist and wife of Lord Donaldson.

This is a dreadful book. It is written from the perspective that whatever Mr Wodehouse did must be correct and because of this, makes his famous errors far more significant than perhaps they should be.
Wodehouse was wrong to broadcast for he Germans during the Second World War. This is fact, and the page after page of tortured explanation Ms. Donaldson presents simply highlights this. I also find it difficult to take this man, who wrote amusing books, as some gift to literature. Wodehouse's books are fun, but are they really a great addition to World Literature?
The first part of the book, covering Wodehouse's life until he went to Germany, is presented in such a tediously dry manner that I almost gave up on it. It is written with all the gravitas of a degree thesis, but has no objectivity. When Wodehouse insults fellow authors, they deserve it but, when any slightly derogatory remark is made about him , or his books, then opprobrium pours from the page.
It is almost impossible to believe that the man portrayed in this book would be capable of producing the light, amusing works that Wodehouse did: I must,therefore, look for another biography of the man in the hope of building a more balanced picture of him.½

4065 Edward VIII, by Frances Donaldson (read 31 Aug 2005) One of my reading projects is to read a biography of every US president and every English king, and this book is a step pertinent to that aim. This is 1974 biography of the duke of Windsor, who died 28 May 1972, and I found it full of interest, though somewhat gossipy--but Edward VIII invited a lot of gossip. The account of the events leading up to the abdication, while I had read Abdication by Brian Inglis on 3 Jan 1982 and still remembered that excellent account, is well told and of high interest. This book was fun to read, and held my interest throughout.