The Diary of a Nobody

Synopsis: 'Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see - because I do not happen to be a 'Somebody' - why my diary should not be interesting.' The Diary of a Nobody (1892) created a cultural icon, an English archetype. Anxious, accident-prone, occasionally waspish, Charles Pooter has come to be seen as the epitome of English suburban life. His diary chronicles encounters with difficult tradesmen, the delights of home improvements, small parties, minor embarrassments, and problems with his troublesome son. The suburban world he inhabits is hilariously and painfully familiar in its small-mindedness and its essential decency. Both celebration and critique, The Diary of a Nobody has often been imitated, but never bettered. This edition features Weedon Grossmith's hilarious illustrations and is complemented by an enjoyable introduction discussing the book's social background and suburban fiction as a genre.

Review: Bless him, you can't help but be rather fond of Charles Pooter, he's a bit pompous and he's forever getting his knickers in a twist about something but he means well and his pathetic little attempts to rise above his rather ordinary suburban life are rather touching. He has a terrible sense of humour, making puns which are not very funny but which keep him amused for hours .. at one point he even wakes up laughing in the middle of the night so tickled is he by a pun he'd made during the evening (you won't be tickled .. you'll just groan.) His diary entries early on are laughably banal, just basic recounting of his terribly dull days at the office and terribly dull evenings at home with his wife Carrie and their fairweather friends Mr Cummings and Mr Gowing (who are habitual visitors unless they're at home sulking over some perceived slight.) So exciting are his days that twice he starts his diary entry with 'mustard-and-cress and radishes not come up yet' and all his little tiffs and disagreements with Gowing, Cummings and the maid are written down and chewed over. But for all that you can't help but become engrossed in his tales, you sort of cheer him on and hope that tomorrow will be a better day because he is forever suffering little (and large) disappointments and embarrassments (there's a good deal of farce and buffoonery.) Whatever grand schemes he and Carrie embark on .. disaster and disappointment often follow. Some of these disappointments involve his son Lupin, who is a bit of a cad. Charles and Carrie (Carrie especially) are apt to think the best of him (naturally) but the reader can see from a long way off that Lupin is a bit of a scoundrel.

The humour is subtle but it actually entertained me far more than a lot of so called hilarious books. It helps if you're fond of the characters and I was. How can you not love a man who buys some red enamel paint on his way home from work and then proceeds to paint practically everything in the house in it (including book spines) ... just because it looked so nice on the flowerpots (ok ... if he's your husband then obviously you would kill him but as a literary character you can't help but feel indulgent towards him.) It's one of the 1001 books that I've been told I must read before I die and I have to agree with them .. it's a peach.