The Diary Of Someone Who Should Have Been Somebody (The Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith)

Member Name: Emmald

Product:	The Diary of a Nobody - George Grossmith
Date:	22/06/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: A hilarious tale

Disadvantages: Not one single one !

The Diary Of a Nobody written by George and Weedon Grosssmith was originally published in Punch magazine and in subsequent years it has been added to.
George Grossmith (1847-1912) was a actor turned comedian and Weedon Grossmith (1852-1919) was also in the entertainment business and it was he who illustrated the Diary Of A Nobody.

This is a purely fictitious story that centres around the life of Charles Pooter, a lower middle- class London city clerk who quite rightly so believed that his rather ordinary day to day routine was worth documenting and saving for future generations to read and share.
Charles strives to be the epitome of the Victorian gentleman but he finds his own ideals quite hard to live up to !
The diary charts just short months in the life of Charles Pooter, his family and his friends. Pooter loves to think that he has life under control but often nothing could be further from the truth.

The diary was written in the Victorian era so the text is quaint and way behind the times now. The Diary is full of laughter, light story lines and much mirth.
The book fits into the humorous section of anyone's bookshelf perfectly but it is more often than not Pooter's gaffes that we end up rolling with laughter about.

The entire diary is made up of 24 chapters but the whole book only contains 228 pages so it is not long and lengthy by any means and there is no time to be bored.
Chapter One sees the Pooter's acclimatising to their new home, then following chapters involve troubling and tedious tradesmen, Pooter's jokes that have a habit of backfiring, social occasions and parties, the homecoming of their beloved son Willie, a Christmas spent with the Mother-In-Law and the importance and value of Charles Pooter's diary. Chapter 24 deals with the happiest day in Charles Pooter's life.

In Chapter four Mr and Mrs Pooter attend a ball at the Mansion house, of course Pooter is tickled pink by the whole idea and buys himself a new pair of dancing shoes. He longs to impress Carrie, his wife who loves to waltz.
Carrie advises that Charles scratches the soles of the new shoes to make them less slippery but of course Charles knows best.
His left foot slips from underneath him, he pulls Carrie down with him and the waltz is abruptly brought to an end.
Carrie is taken off to have a seat and a calming drink and Charles finds himself being told he is too old for `that sort of caper` - the dancing of course !

The Diary is genteel, it is quaint, it epitomises just how polite life used to be in the Victorian era.
Whatever happened there were standards that had to be maintained at all costs.
If you revel in the writing of yesteryear and love to laugh at other peoples misfortune then you will enjoy the Dairy Of A Nobody.

The Diary Of A Nobody and The Diary Of Adrian mole have been put together in the same sentence and I can see why. Adrian mole is everything that Charles Pooter was.


Paperback: 240 pages
Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd; New edition (1 July 1999)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0140285563
ISBN-13: 978-0140285567
Available on the Amazon website for as little as a few pence and so very well worth the read.

Summary: A genteel story that is packed with laughter.