When I was little we had Winnie the Pooh audio cassettes we'd play in the car on holiday, and they were narrated by Alan Bennett. His voice is synonymous with my childhood and I find it incredibly comforting. When I was older my mum showed me a couple of Talking Heads and I've been a fan of his work ever since. The humour and quiet tragedy he articulates perfectly captures the human condition. If you haven't seen talking heads I'd highly recommend them, there are older ones from 1988 and 1998 as well as a more recent series, all absolutely fantastic, poignant, funny and tragic. He's a national treasure
Nobody does that quiet, English, 'life isn't meant to be easy' pessimism as well as Alan Bennett. In Bennett's England it's either raining, just stopped raining, or just about to start raining. Life as one long, cold, damp, uneventful Sunday afternoon. Everybody smiles...but nobody really has anything to smile about.
As we await the birth of our first grandchild, I am dying to know the names the happy parents have chosen, but have to admit, I hope it's something more classic than trendy. I expect Edna and Ethel were trendy when my respective aunties were christened back in 1900's! Beautifully observed, Mr Bennett.
@bensimps123 Thank you. I lived in the UK in the '70s. Those Sunday afternoons still haunt me. The British sense of humour is what what I admire most about them. No matter how grim things are, the British can always see the funny side of it.
Dear Alan, what a treasured litany; with any luck she will not be christened Brighton - although her baby brother yet to be conceived, might just be Heathrow. I got Wendy, my grandmother's choice because she liked that damn' book. Her only daughter was Doris.
How is "Alan" faring? Prominent individuals with that moniker are found in the 19th and 20th centuries (including AB), and it still sounds modern in my ears, but is there a new cohort coming along? I don't know. Finally, I know for certain that Walter has not died out, and it is an attractive name.
When my great-nephew was named Dylan, my dad was thrilled because he assumed his great-grandson was named after Dylan Thomas. Not one person in our family ever disabused my dad's notion, but we all knew the baby was named after a character in 'Neighbours'.
That is his way. I always feel guilty about my political disposition which is clearly not his. I daresay I'm the type of person he loathes. I admire him hugely nonetheless. A Mozart with words.