Alec Guinness (1914–2000)

A relaxing read following Alex’s activities and thoughts for 18 months from Jan 1995.
He obviously enjoys nature as flowers and birds are often mentioned.
It is surprising to find out his is very self-conscious, gets nervous in new situations.
An interesting and honest report even revealing his thoughts on approaching old age and grumpiness at times.
“It seems a pity that the good old phrase ‘living in sin’ is likely to be dropped by the C of E. So many friends, happily living in sin, will feel very ordinary and humdrum when they become merely partners; or, as the Americans say, ‘an item’.” Page 26.
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A memoir covering the life and career of Alec Guinness up until roughly about 1980. If you have an interest in what it was like to be a jobbing actor in mid-century Britain, or in reading anecdotes about various different actors and directors—some still well-known today, others largely forgotten—this I think might be an engaging read for you. Guinness writes with great fluidity and meanders amiably from one topic to the next, eschewing chronological order, and my sense was that he must have been a great dinner party guest. There's too much performative humility in Blessings in Disguise, though, and too many other things (hints of a certain kind of very English snobbery, racism, misogyny) for me to think I would have liked the man had I ever met him.… (mehr)

Guinness is a skilled writer. He weaves his tales and vignettes of "the great dead" simply, in an unpretentious tone and then, when you're not expecting it, slips in a wry, comical but wisely accurate observation that makes you pause and reflect and/or laugh.

His preface was particularly clever and enlightening, as was his lengthy chapter on his religious journey and his time in the Navy during WWII.

I found myself looking for events, moments, coincidences, that were the blessings in disguise referenced in the title. As I came to the end of the book I realized that it wasn't the moments that he was highlighting. It was the people that were the blessings in disguise. So, perhaps, it is with us.… (mehr)

Somebody said, "Hey, Sir Alec Guiness, will you keep a daily diary for a couple years so we can publish it?" And he said "ok." If one expects to learn deep or penetrating information about the life of Alec Guiness, one will be disappointed. If, however, one enjoys an old British actor's daily commentary on his mundane and sacred activities, with lots of reminisces included, this is a delightful read! Despite the conceit of the book, I really liked his ruminations, often witty, mostly candid, on aging, what books he is reading, and his random stories of actors I may or may not have heard of. It made me want to read more books of the "journals of" or "letters of" variety.… (mehr)