- Audio CD
- Publisher: BBC Audiobooks Ltd (Aug 6 2001)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0563535237
- ISBN-13: 978-0563535232
- Product Dimensions: 14.2 x 11.8 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 118 g
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #877,715 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Product Description
The humorous and moving tale of Miss Shepherd, an eccentric old lady who, by a bizarre series of twists and turns, lived in the author's garden for many years. Alan Bennett reads his own acclaimed work, recently adapted as a West End smash hit starring Maggie Smith as the eccentric old lady.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life with an eccentric acquaintance,
By
This review is from: Lady In The Van (Paperback)
More than thirty years ago, lovable British playwright Alan Bennett encountered an eccentric and difficult old woman, Miss Shepherd, living contentedly, eccentrically, and not without troubles, in her van - in his London neighborhood. Bennett, intrigued by her and concerned for her safety (which was not always assured) subtly befriended her. Within a few months she had moved the van to a parking spot across from his house. She stayed for years and this slim book, first published in 1989 as a long piece in "The London Review of Books," is the story of their gently and sometimes humorously intersecting lives.In subsequent years Miss S.'s highly individual sense of upward mobility would find expression, and there would be replacement vans. Miss S. was a Catholic who loved to paint her vans and favored yellow - asserting "it's the papal colour." She was sometimes demanding of Bennett's time, requesting favors and errands of him. She never said "Thanks." She revealed precious little about her past: only of her current opinions. She wrote and sold pamphlets on the street that she claimed were authored anonymously. She sold pencils on the street, claiming that her pencils were the best. She was given to fanatical religious and political pronouncements, and outrageous statements of prejudice and some silliness. Her right-wing politics clashed with Bennett's, and her comments on current events - reported deadpan, and verbatim - were often very funny. Old age and its freight of health and personal problems dogged her, and Bennett did what he could to help. Alan Bennett is a great listener. In addition he can tell a story simply and clearly, with precision and understatement. He tells just enough. He encourages his characters to speak for themselves. This is a great little nonfiction story that is tender but never mawkish - told with wit and elegance.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
4.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 28 of 29 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Life with an eccentric acquaintance,
By Eileen Galen - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Lady In The Van (Paperback)
More than thirty years ago, lovable British playwright Alan Bennett encountered an eccentric and difficult old woman, Miss Shepherd, living contentedly, eccentrically, and not without troubles, in her van - in his London neighborhood. Bennett, intrigued by her and concerned for her safety (which was not always assured) subtly befriended her. Within a few months she had moved the van to a parking spot across from his house. She stayed for years and this slim book, first published in 1989 as a long piece in "The London Review of Books," is the story of their gently and sometimes humorously intersecting lives.In subsequent years Miss S.'s highly individual sense of upward mobility would find expression, and there would be replacement vans. Miss S. was a Catholic who loved to paint her vans and favored yellow - asserting "it's the papal colour." She was sometimes demanding of Bennett's time, requesting favors and errands of him. She never said "Thanks." She revealed precious little about her past: only of her current opinions. She wrote and sold pamphlets on the street that she claimed were authored anonymously. She sold pencils on the street, claiming that her pencils were the best. She was given to fanatical religious and political pronouncements, and outrageous statements of prejudice and some silliness. Her right-wing politics clashed with Bennett's, and her comments on current events - reported deadpan, and verbatim - were often very funny. Old age and its freight of health and personal problems dogged her, and Bennett did what he could to help. Alan Bennett is a great listener. In addition he can tell a story simply and clearly, with precision and understatement. He tells just enough. He encourages his characters to speak for themselves. This is a great little nonfiction story that is tender but never mawkish - told with wit and elegance. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb,
By S J Buck - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Lady In The Van (Paperback)
'The Lady in the Van' is a completely true story. In the 1970's and 1980's outside Alan Bennett's own house in Camden an old lady (Miss Shepherd) lived in a Van in the street. After a time she could no longer stay on the street. Amazingly Bennett allowed her to move her Van into his garden and there she remained until she died.This is a remarkable story, and its one of the funniest, yet moving pieces of writing that I have ever read. Bennett is a marvellous observer of people and his humanity shines through. Miss Shephard's living conditions were frankly disgusting (just think of the smell) and this would be enough to put most people off having any contact with her at all. Bennett here has written one of the finest works of moving and poignant non-fiction I know of.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Alan Bennett - as usual - at his best,
By Sheila H. Mclaren "Sheila McLaren" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Lady In The Van (Paperback)
This is a wonderful two-act, two-hour play by Alan Bennett. When he first met Miss Shepherd in the 1960s, she prevailed on him to push her stalled van from Gloucester Crescent to Albany Street in Camden Town. This was the beginning of a very long relationship, brilliantly, wittily and with deep perception brought to life in both the short book of the same name and the play.Miss Shepherd and her van periodically changed their "permanent" parking place, and in 1974 both of them moved into Alan Bennett's front garden "for a few months", after some unkindness towards her out on the street, and also because the Council was about to make it illegal to permanently park in the road. The few months became fifteen years. For fifteen years Alan Bennett lived with the nose of this (terribly smelly) egg-yellow van directly outside his front door, and with its (also very smelly) occupant who made incessant and unreasonable demands, didn't believe in "thank you" or "sorry" ("Sorry is for God"), hated noise (music was considered noise) and children, and didn't wash. She also quite frequently met the Virgin Mary and other notables in her wanderings around Camden town. The play re-enacts those years, in compressed form of course, with Alan Bennett divided into two Alans, the first being the one who takes part in the action, and Alan Bennett 2 being the one to describe and comment. This device works brilliantly, and we see every mood induced in Alan by this situation, as well as the interest and fascination it holds for him as a writer. We also see and sense his kindness, but he insists that he does not like the word "kind"; nor does he see himself as a "nice" person. Others might disagree. The dialogue is sharp and witty; the action often hilarious. But not all of it is funny, because Miss Shepherd's state of mind and precarious lifestyle are very sad. As her past slowly and with difficulty unfolds, we see how deeply traumatic most of her life has been, and Mr Bennett handles all this with the utmost sensitivity. This play is comedy, satire and tragedy at their best. |
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