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Time To Be In Earnest: A Fragment Of Autobiography
by
P.D. James
On the day she turned seventy-seven, internationally acclaimed mystery writer P. D. James embarked on an endeavor unlike any other in her distinguished career: she decided to write a personal memoir in the form of a diary. Over the course of a year she set down not only the events and impressions of her extraordinarily active life, but also the memories, joys, discoveries,
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Paperback
,
306 pages
Published
February 27th 2001
by Ballantine Books
(first published 1999)
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Community Reviews
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I can make a strong argument that P.D. James is the world's greatest mystery writer, but she falls short in the realm of memoirs.
Time To Be In Earnest: A Fragment Of Autobiography
has an innovative structure: James wrote a diary that spans from her 77th birthday to her 78th, and used her day-to-day experiences as jumping off points to, sometimes, reflect on writing, past eras of her life, the modern era, and crime. This seems like a good idea, but the daily accounts sometimes feel like dull tra
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Jan 27, 2015
^
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
autobiography
,
non-fiction
,
reminiscences
,
review-liked
,
books-with-101-to-1000-ratings
,
author-female
,
y-1991-2000
Part diary, part memoire is, I think, the perfect recipe to enable the living to satisfy the fans, to avoid baring all, and to circumvent that rather dreadful cold ‘dead, stuffed, fish’ feeling.
This book also challenged me to think, recollect, and consider, ‘well, what did I do between August 1997 and August 1998? What, actually, did I achieve above and beyond my salary, above and beyond my day to day existence?’
That combination: asking what has happened today, and how one thought triggers ano ...more
This book also challenged me to think, recollect, and consider, ‘well, what did I do between August 1997 and August 1998? What, actually, did I achieve above and beyond my salary, above and beyond my day to day existence?’
That combination: asking what has happened today, and how one thought triggers ano ...more
This reminded me a bit of May Sarton's "At Eighty-two", though P.D. James at 78 seemed much more spry than did Sarton at 82. Several of the reviews quoted on the back cover of the book mention that we learn as much about James from what she leaves out as from what she includes. The decisions she made about what to write about are thus as interesting as the actual content.
She includes musings on various aspects of writing, the mystery genre, the difference between American and English fans, as we ...more
She includes musings on various aspects of writing, the mystery genre, the difference between American and English fans, as we ...more
Time to Be in Earnest
is an autobiography written by P. D. James in journal format, kept between her 77th to 78th years of life. In it, she tells of her beginnings as a writer, her experiences during the war, and her opinions on a hodge-podge of topics from the craft of writing to eight pieces of advice for book reviewers (“Be scathingly witty if you must, but never be deliberately cruel” is one I wish were followed more often) to the way the BBC ought to be run.
If you are looking for an autobi ...more
If you are looking for an autobi ...more
This book made me nervous the whole time I read it, because I kept thinking, "When is she going to write her next book? She's doing all these public appearances all the time, giving talks, getting awards, going to lunch, making speeches--but when will she ever write?" Spoiler alert: the whole year goes by and she never does. Aaaaaarrrrrgg.
I only recently became a PD James fan, thanks to "Death Comes to Pemberley." So, being a completist, now I have to read everything of hers. And I don't mean to ...more
I only recently became a PD James fan, thanks to "Death Comes to Pemberley." So, being a completist, now I have to read everything of hers. And I don't mean to ...more
I really enjoy PD James' detective novels - both the Adam Dalgliesh and the Cordelia Grey series. I haven't read her stand-alone books, but will at some point, I'm sure.
This book was interesting - a combination one-year diary and memoir. The book doesn't flow together, but contains entries she made between August 1997 (when she turned 77) and August 1998. Although it is not a traditional memoir, it does talk about her life and her thoughts, as her obligations of the day remind her of things past ...more
This book was interesting - a combination one-year diary and memoir. The book doesn't flow together, but contains entries she made between August 1997 (when she turned 77) and August 1998. Although it is not a traditional memoir, it does talk about her life and her thoughts, as her obligations of the day remind her of things past ...more
Mar 13, 2010
Cathy
marked it as to-read
I didn't know this book existed - I'm so happy to have found out about it through goodreads. I attended an author reading with PD James and Ruth Rendall in Vancouver BC as part of the Writers' Festival. I was already a fan and it was such a pleasure to hear her talk about her books. Ruth Rendall was quite funny and I wasn't too sure about her books having read a few. But after 'meeting' her at this event I decided to give her books another go and I can say I enjoy her writing more. It was intere
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Of course, I should like what she has to say, since I liked what her characters had to say.
"Every morning thought my school like I heard a reading from the King James Bible. There was, thank God, no Good News Bible, a version which is very bad news for anyone who cares for either religion or literature."
One quotation I would most like to see in any revised edition are the words of Henry James, writing of Anthony Trollope, "We trust novels to maintain us in the practice of great indignations and ...more
"Every morning thought my school like I heard a reading from the King James Bible. There was, thank God, no Good News Bible, a version which is very bad news for anyone who cares for either religion or literature."
One quotation I would most like to see in any revised edition are the words of Henry James, writing of Anthony Trollope, "We trust novels to maintain us in the practice of great indignations and ...more
Time to Be in Earnest: a fragment of autobiography is P. D. James's response to Dr. Johnson's advice that seventy-seven is "a time to be in earnest." The much celebrated and beloved writer of mystery novels has created a luminous memoir of one year of her life. During the course of that year she not only relates experiences of the current time, but travels in time to give the reader snapshots of her life. These snapshots are vivid--full of descriptive clarity and beautiful language, only to be e
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I just finished the book last night. It is a diary kept for one year by the detective writer, P. D. James. Her purpose for writing it was to not only chronicle the 77th year of her life but to use it as a vehicle to fill in details of her life as a child, young adult newly married, young mother during WWII, and now well regarded writer.
She gives speeches, receives awards, visits friends, attends church, paricipates in the House of Lords, and remarks on the events of the day such as the death Pri ...more
She gives speeches, receives awards, visits friends, attends church, paricipates in the House of Lords, and remarks on the events of the day such as the death Pri ...more
An original format - explicitly a diary of a year in P.D. James's life in her 70's. But she takes this starting off point to range widely, to reveal parts of her life, and to digress on matters that interest her.
Her energy and enthusiasm is awe-inspiring, for any age. A bright, positive, intelligent thinker, it's not surprising Phyllis is so much in demand for book-signings and talks.
James was less revealing about being married to someone with a mental illness. In part I admired her - especiall ...more
Her energy and enthusiasm is awe-inspiring, for any age. A bright, positive, intelligent thinker, it's not surprising Phyllis is so much in demand for book-signings and talks.
James was less revealing about being married to someone with a mental illness. In part I admired her - especiall ...more
The diary, really, of one year in the late 1990's (the year that Princess Diana's death happened). Nicely written. Not a real autobiography: lots of room for reminiscences and memories evoked of a long, long life (childhood, early education in a girls' school WW II spent in London, the success of a first novel, the death of a husband, the maturation of P.D. James' daughters...). All this, while writing diary notes about her current (late '90s) daily life for one calendar year: book-signings and
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I expected not to like Time to Be In Earnest simply on the principle of it being an autobiography and therefore being navel-gazing. Consequently, I was happily surprised to really enjoy it.
I liked the format of the book--part daily diary, part lifelong history. I thought James combined the two well, going from a discussion of a minute detail of her life to the broader topic of, for instance, the purpose of the BBC, fairly effortlessly.
James referenced a number of events and people of whom I ha ...more
I liked the format of the book--part daily diary, part lifelong history. I thought James combined the two well, going from a discussion of a minute detail of her life to the broader topic of, for instance, the purpose of the BBC, fairly effortlessly.
James referenced a number of events and people of whom I ha ...more
Reading about other people is always interesting but I found the format of this autobiography a bit tedious - day by day entries.
For me, reading this book (even though it was 15 years old) was special because I picked the book off the library shelf and thought 'PD James must be very elderly by now'. Checking this out on the internet I discovered she died a month earlier. It was almost a celebration of her life. RIP.
For me, reading this book (even though it was 15 years old) was special because I picked the book off the library shelf and thought 'PD James must be very elderly by now'. Checking this out on the internet I discovered she died a month earlier. It was almost a celebration of her life. RIP.
I must preface this by saying P.D. James is my idol and role model, the author who most inspires me in my own writing. This autobiography, in which she journals her 77th year of life, allows her points of entry to talk about her childhood, her husband's mental illness and her work in the British government bureaucracy. Along the way, she talks about what makes a good mystery and the importance of literature in our culture. Reading this book was like sitting down with Ms. James for a good, long c
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I love P.D. James, her mysteries, that is. Unfortunately, as much as I love her work, the fact is that autobiographical diaries require something interesting to happen, profound insights or a unique historical perspective in order to remain interesting. None of those happened here.
The book is a diary for one year, beginning at age 77. I enjoyed her Prologue, but I'm just not that interested in her life, and especially not in the details of one year, at this point. I do think I might like to try some of her fiction.
A fun read and interesting idea. P. D. James, my favorite "light" writer (I say light because she is a classic murder mystery writer, but she is anything but light in her ability to turn a sentence or plot), writes an autobiographical diary for a year, covering the mundane and anything else. Whether she's writing on her cat, the writing process, the politics of the Booker prize committee, being in the House of Lords, her childhood, or how much noise bothers her, she is always interesting. I part
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Almost half-way through and thoroughly enjoying the reminiscences, the tales, and the history of this wonderful lady's life. She tells her tale well, giving us insight into how she writes, her reactions to the modern world, her career, her hopes, family, friends, and impresses me with her fortitude.
I enjoyed this book, which is written as journal entries during one year of the life of a mystery author so revered she is a Dame in England (I didn't know that after you are knighted or made a dame you can attend the House of Lords and make speeches, etc.). I learned a lot about writing, a lot about British history, and a little of Ms. James' personal life and views. I noted the authors she enjoys. She is heavily involved in civic affairs and writer's organizations. It might be hard/uninteresti
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I heard P.D. James being interviewed on NPR many years ago, and was intrigued. Not having been a "detective fiction" reader, it took me a while to pick up on of her books, but as soon as I did, I was hooked. So far, I have not been able to find murder mysteries that I like nearly as well as hers. Having read everything fictional she has written, I finally read this autobiography. If possible, I may have enjoyed it more than her fiction! She is an excellent writer, and the insights into not only
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Though I enjoyed PD James' insights about the changes in British society over her lifetime, I ended up skimming most of this memoir.
Subtitled, “A Fragment of Autobiography,” this book is the diary of her 78th year, from October 1997-October 1998. She discusses all kinds of things besides her daily activities, and she is a very busy woman who is also a member of the House of Lords. Her thoughts on her successful mystery stories and how she wrote them make me want to go back and re-read her books. She gave many talks and lectures to local groups in London, and traveled on a book publicity tour in the U.S. I thoroughly enjoyed
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This is a personal memoir, what James calls "a fragment of autobiography", that takes the form of a diary.
Written in a diary format from her seventy-seventh to her seventy-eighth year, it moves back and forth in time during which James shares many events and times in her life, some of which were filled with joy and others which were very painful.
She reflects on her extraordinary writing career, events from her youth and her school years, times during the war, her husband's mental health problems ...more
Written in a diary format from her seventy-seventh to her seventy-eighth year, it moves back and forth in time during which James shares many events and times in her life, some of which were filled with joy and others which were very painful.
She reflects on her extraordinary writing career, events from her youth and her school years, times during the war, her husband's mental health problems ...more
Having seen PD James on Anne Robinson's book programme earlier in the year, I was intrigued to read more about her. What a fascinating woman! I was exhausted just reading about all the travelling around and talks she does. There's also a good reminder to make time for friends and family and to appreciate the good things that we encounter. I could have done with a dictionary with me while I was reading it - I thought my vocabulary was OK but she used lots of words I've not come across before - su
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Enjoyed the insight into a writer's thinking.
Beautifully written as are all her books and interesting as diary plus autobiography, wish there had been more.
It was kind of interesting to read this book at the same time that I read The Diana Chronicles since P.D. James wrote this diary-like book during the year of Diana's death. I found the book fascinating, probably because I find it so interesting to have a glimpse into how an author thinks. It is not hard to see where the books come from - the worldview that she shows in her diary feeds both the Adam Dahgleish mysteries and, especially, Children of God.
I've never read a P.D. James book prior to this one. Her year of autobiography was very moving, especially in the first major portion of this work, as she reflected upon her deeper truths. As the book continued, the last third was more a recounting of activities with less and less earnestness and inwardness.
PD James wrote this in the form of a diary between her 77th and 78th birthdays. It's a memoir of her life, reflections of her philosophy and personal beliefs and fascinating notes on her novels. It's interesting to see how she incorporated different elements of her life's experience into her novels. There are lots of little gems - will comment some more when I finish the book.
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P. D. (Phyllis Dorothy) James was the author of twenty books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Department of Great Britain's Home Office. She served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BB ...more
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P. D. (Phyllis Dorothy) James was the author of twenty books, most of which have been filmed and broadcast on television in the United States and other countries. She spent thirty years in various departments of the British Civil Service, including the Police and Criminal Law Department of Great Britain's Home Office. She served as a magistrate and as a governor of the BB ...more
