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An Orderly Man (Dirk Bogarde's Autobiography)
by
Dirk Bogarde
In 1970 Dirk Bogarde retired from acting and turned towards a quieter, more contemplative, more settled way of life. He both dreaded and yearned for a change from the preceding 20 years of "continual motion."
Bogarde sought "a place of my own" and found it in a dilapidated farmhouse in the south of France.
He writes eloquently of the dual struggle he faced--first dealing w
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"An Orderly Man" is the third of Dirk Bogarde's eight volumes of autobiography. I read the first book, "A Postillion Struck By Lightning," recently, and went directly into this one, skipping the second book, something I correctly assumed that I would come to regret, but which couldn't be helped.
The book covers Bogarde's life from 1970 to 1981 and has four main story lines: 1) Bogarde's purchase, renovation, and on-going improvements to a farmhouse in the south of France which proved to be both a ...more
The book covers Bogarde's life from 1970 to 1981 and has four main story lines: 1) Bogarde's purchase, renovation, and on-going improvements to a farmhouse in the south of France which proved to be both a ...more
The third in Dirk Bogarde's series of seven autobiographical works. Most of this one is about his move to France and trials with that. There's the usual account of what films he was doing during the period written about and his thoughts on first becoming a published author. The series is worth a read for anyone who likes autobiography, of which these books are an excellent example. Bogarde did not utilise any ghost writer and he could write very well, as this and other books attest. He also wrot
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Nearing the end of Dirks Autobiographies, he tells of his life in France and how he began his writing career in the pigionnier of his beloved house, high in the hills near Grasse in Provence. Eloquent, evocotive and endearing, another triumph. He makes you feel as though you know him as an old friend, he takes you into his world and makes you feel privileged and pleased that you discovered his wonderful books. He gave me so much pleasure, a wonderful man, he is missed.
I really enjoyed all of Dirk Bogarde's books. I read them a long time ago, so forget the details, but a good idea to start with the first one, "A Postillion Struck by Lightning" This series is autobiographical. I love France and he spent a many years living there. Thoroughly entertaining.
Others in this series are (in order):
2/ Snakes and Ladders
3/ An Orderley Man
4/Backcloth
5/A Short Walk from Harrods
6/Cleared for Take Off
slightly prissy (of course!), it reads a bit patchy, and he has a melodramatic habit of ending sections with something "significant". reads as sincere, and makes one yearn to enjoy the anecdotes over a bottle on his patio in the south of france.
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Dirk Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde was born of mixed Flemish, Dutch and Scottish ancestry, and baptised on 30 October 1921 at St. Mary's Church, Kilburn. His father, Ulric van den Bogaerde (born in Perry Barr, Birmingham; 1892–1972), was the art editor of The Times and his mother, Margaret Niven (1898–1980), was a former actress. He attended University College School, the former Allan
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