Alan Bennett: KEEPING ON KEEPING ON
Having read the
previous volumes of Mr Bennett’s Diaries, I put off reading this, thinking it
was bound to be more of the same. Well, it is – and that’s what so joyful about
it! His life is only a little bit grander than yours and mine – he and his
partner shuttle by car and rail between their homes in Camden and Yorkshire
(and an annual trip to a cottage in France). They take sandwiches on visits to
beauty spots and country churches, they shop for antiques which usually require
Rupert to do some restoration. Alan, of course, also does talks and readings
and book-signings – and writes plays.
He supports causes
close to his heart: keeping libraries open and schools open-minded are two of
his great concerns. And he has bees in his bonnet: during the decade covered
here, 2005-2015, the police kill an innocent Brazilian on the London
Underground and never apologise. The British government colludes in the
rendition of terror suspects. Tony Blair continues to pop up; Mr B despises him as
powerfully as he did Lady T in a previous era. Nor is he a fan of David Cameron
(“smart alec”), Richard Branson (“a bit of a pillock”) and Boris Johnson
(“doesn’t seem to have a moral bone in
his body”), among many others. He blames Classic FM and the National Trust
for “the Torification of life” and
deplores “the nastification of England”
by property “improvers”. Waiting to go on a stage in West Yorkshire he is
confronted by a pair of “sabre-toothed
pensioners.”
He confesses to “a fully developed ability not quite to enjoy
myself”. A newborn baby, his partner’s nephew “doesn’t make me feel old, just huge.” Old age (he’s approaching 85)
has brought health issues and other drawbacks: “These days I am too old to be on my best behaviour. And I’m too old not
to be on my best behaviour.”
![]() |
Alex Jennings (who plays Mr Bennett) and Maggie Smith in The Lady in the Van |
There are insights
into his creative process, in this case the writing of his Britten/Auden play,
the one set in a not-so-stately home and the movies of The History Boys and The Lady in the Van. There’s a nice smutty episode when the cast of A Habit of Art are listening to
sound-effect farts to choose an appropriate one for the actor playing Auden.
After the Diaries there are some bits and bobs, including a lovely funeral
tribute to John Schlesinger who directed An
Englishman Abroad, in my opinion one of the finest hours television has
ever produced.
One cannot have too
much of Mr Bennett.