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Monty Pythonin maailma Monty Pythonin mukaan
Kuvia kumartelemattomien ja joka suuntaan pyllistävien koomikkolegendojen tarina.
Vuonna 1969 kuusi englantilaista kaveria (tai oikeastaan yksi heistä oli Walesista ja toinen taas porukkaan tunkeutunut jenkki) ryhtyi tekemään tv-ohjelmaa häikäilemättömästä, epäluotettavasta ja jokseenkin limaisesta teatteriagentista nimeltä Monty Python.
Monty Pythonin lentävä sirkus mullisti tv-komedian ja nosti tekijänsä uuden ajan komiikan kruunatuiksi kuninkaiksi. Nyt, miltei neljäkymmentä vuotta myöhemmin, ryhmän anarkistista ja surrealistista huumoria ylistetään yhä. Monty Pythonin virallinen ja kattavaakin kattavampi elämäkerta kertoo koomikkokoplan tarinan ryhmän jäsenten omin, purevin sanoin.
Luvassa on tappavan osuvaa yhteiskuntakritiikkiä, hulvattomia anekdootteja, ajankuvaa kiinnostavasti maalailevia analyyseja ja pommikoneen ärhäkkyydellä lentävää läppää. Miehet esimerkiksi esittelevät toistensa myöhemmät urat ja kuvailevat ryhmän sisäisiä konflikteja tavalla, joka saisi useimmat tähdet soittamaan lakimiehelleen.
Ryhmän edesmennyt jäsen Graham Chapman esittää näkemyksensä haudan takaa, aiemmin tehdyistä haastatteluista poimituksissa lainauksissa. Mukana on myös otteita ryhmän jäsenten päiväkirjoista. Televisiosarjan jäljittelemätöntä animaatiotyyliä mukaileva kuvitus on herkullisen psykedeelistä silmänruokaa, ja ennennäkemättömät valokuvat kertovat omaa tarinaansa ryhmän edesottamuksista.
Koomikkoryhmä Monty Pythonin pääjäseniä olivat Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, John Cleese ja Graham Chapman. Se tunnetaan paitsi tv-sarjasta Monty Pythonin lentävä sirkus myös elokuvistaan ja lukemattomista oheistuotteistaan, ja sen mittaamaton vaikutus on nähtävissä kaiken maailman komediassa aina South Parkista Studio Julmahuviin ja Alivaltiosihteeriin.
"Kukaan muu kuin Monty Pythonin jäsenet itse ei voisi tehdä oikeutta Monty Pythonin tarinalle. - - Sitä paitsi kukaan muu ei osaisi kertoa tarinaa yhtä hauskasti." - Big Issue
"Haastatteluhistoriikki on äärimmäisen mielenkiintoista luettavaa, ei vain Python-fanille, vaan brittiläisen elokuva- ja tv-komedian historiasta kiinnostuneille." - Tuomas Riskala, Episodi
Vuonna 1969 kuusi englantilaista kaveria (tai oikeastaan yksi heistä oli Walesista ja toinen taas porukkaan tunkeutunut jenkki) ryhtyi tekemään tv-ohjelmaa häikäilemättömästä, epäluotettavasta ja jokseenkin limaisesta teatteriagentista nimeltä Monty Python.
Monty Pythonin lentävä sirkus mullisti tv-komedian ja nosti tekijänsä uuden ajan komiikan kruunatuiksi kuninkaiksi. Nyt, miltei neljäkymmentä vuotta myöhemmin, ryhmän anarkistista ja surrealistista huumoria ylistetään yhä. Monty Pythonin virallinen ja kattavaakin kattavampi elämäkerta kertoo koomikkokoplan tarinan ryhmän jäsenten omin, purevin sanoin.
Luvassa on tappavan osuvaa yhteiskuntakritiikkiä, hulvattomia anekdootteja, ajankuvaa kiinnostavasti maalailevia analyyseja ja pommikoneen ärhäkkyydellä lentävää läppää. Miehet esimerkiksi esittelevät toistensa myöhemmät urat ja kuvailevat ryhmän sisäisiä konflikteja tavalla, joka saisi useimmat tähdet soittamaan lakimiehelleen.
Ryhmän edesmennyt jäsen Graham Chapman esittää näkemyksensä haudan takaa, aiemmin tehdyistä haastatteluista poimituksissa lainauksissa. Mukana on myös otteita ryhmän jäsenten päiväkirjoista. Televisiosarjan jäljittelemätöntä animaatiotyyliä mukaileva kuvitus on herkullisen psykedeelistä silmänruokaa, ja ennennäkemättömät valokuvat kertovat omaa tarinaansa ryhmän edesottamuksista.
Koomikkoryhmä Monty Pythonin pääjäseniä olivat Michael Palin, Terry Jones, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, John Cleese ja Graham Chapman. Se tunnetaan paitsi tv-sarjasta Monty Pythonin lentävä sirkus myös elokuvistaan ja lukemattomista oheistuotteistaan, ja sen mittaamaton vaikutus on nähtävissä kaiken maailman komediassa aina South Parkista Studio Julmahuviin ja Alivaltiosihteeriin.
"Kukaan muu kuin Monty Pythonin jäsenet itse ei voisi tehdä oikeutta Monty Pythonin tarinalle. - - Sitä paitsi kukaan muu ei osaisi kertoa tarinaa yhtä hauskasti." - Big Issue
"Haastatteluhistoriikki on äärimmäisen mielenkiintoista luettavaa, ei vain Python-fanille, vaan brittiläisen elokuva- ja tv-komedian historiasta kiinnostuneille." - Tuomas Riskala, Episodi
489 pages
First published January 1, 2003
132 people are currently reading
2710 people want to read
About the author
Graham Chapman
43 books126 followersGraham Chapman was an English comedian, actor, writer, physician and one of the six members of the Monty Python comedy troupe. He was also the lead actor in their two narrative films, playing King Arthur in Monty Python and the Holy Grail and the title character in Monty Python's Life of Brian.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 155 reviews
September 3, 2014
Despite giving this book 4 stars I must admit I hated it. Not because it was a bad book - it's a brilliant book and obviously the only way to do a Python biography that gives out a true feeling of how the Pythons worked together - I hated it because as a Python fan, or indeed a fan of any comedy group, you have this idea in your head of a very idyllic "behind the scenes" relationship within the group where someone says a funny word, they all laugh, and run off into the sunset together. Perhaps that's just me, but reading this book I realized how much tension was actually behind all the funny stuff, and it sort of broke my heart. Not that that in anyway takes away the merit of the absolutely hilarious things that those six (now five) men has achieved since they officially became a group in '69; but to hear how much they struggled especially with regard to Graham's alcoholism and John's peculiar and stubborn tendencies can really be heartbreaking when you have this (completely unmerited) idealized idea of how the group dynamic worked. Furthermore it does give you very brusque images of how some of these men actually behave(d), which probably do not live up to the images that precedes the one you possess before reading this book.
Notwithstanding, the book is a great read for any Python fan because you really understand how much of a struggle and leap of faith these six took when they first came up with Flying Circus; their courage in what they were doing is awe-inspiring. It is also a great look into the deep and unreliable world of memories which the six have - the author has done a wonderful job by putting together all the "facts" where the Pythons contradict each other; like who said and did what right next to each other - then it's up to the reader who you choose to believe is the Python in the right in those instances! The interspersion of diary entries from Michael and Terry J also makes up a great source of "actual facts" about what happened when, etc. Graham's annoying habit of not having been present at the time the book was written is hardly felt as the author has clearly done his research in the material Graham himself wrote before he died, and by adding in the voice of his partner David Sherlock, his brother and sister-in-law.
There are funny moments throughout the book as the Pythons recollections take you through their history, but if you are looking for a laugh in true Python style I wouldn't recommend this book. Are you, however, interested in actually knowing something about the formation of the legendary comedy group and how it worked when they finally got together, then I would ask you why you haven't read this before now.
A brilliant - yet distressing - look into the greatest comedy group that ever existed.
Notwithstanding, the book is a great read for any Python fan because you really understand how much of a struggle and leap of faith these six took when they first came up with Flying Circus; their courage in what they were doing is awe-inspiring. It is also a great look into the deep and unreliable world of memories which the six have - the author has done a wonderful job by putting together all the "facts" where the Pythons contradict each other; like who said and did what right next to each other - then it's up to the reader who you choose to believe is the Python in the right in those instances! The interspersion of diary entries from Michael and Terry J also makes up a great source of "actual facts" about what happened when, etc. Graham's annoying habit of not having been present at the time the book was written is hardly felt as the author has clearly done his research in the material Graham himself wrote before he died, and by adding in the voice of his partner David Sherlock, his brother and sister-in-law.
There are funny moments throughout the book as the Pythons recollections take you through their history, but if you are looking for a laugh in true Python style I wouldn't recommend this book. Are you, however, interested in actually knowing something about the formation of the legendary comedy group and how it worked when they finally got together, then I would ask you why you haven't read this before now.
A brilliant - yet distressing - look into the greatest comedy group that ever existed.
October 4, 2011
...and now for something completely different, let me introduce you the Pythons autobiography by... the Pythons themselves (applause).
What you can find in this book is:
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and yes, ladies and gentlemen, Graham Chapman live-dead from the afterlife talking about the twenty years they spent together.
Plus
What they did earlier.
What they did after.
Plus
Who they were before Monty Python:
their provincial childhoods, their boarding and public schools, the dichotomy between an Oxford University and a Cambridge University education (with a brief interlude at the Occidental College - thank you Terry G).
Action. Surprise. A hint of Ambition.
Emotion. Delight. And George Harrison
The rise and fall of a sublime world of clever entertainment provided by blasphemous - pardon - heretical entertainers.
And much more.
They wrote celestial songs such as the crossover hit "Always look at the Bright Side of Life" or the Catholic standard "Every Sperm is Sacred" standing on the top of the seminary charts for 39 weeks after its release and which Benedict - Benny - XVI has recently put #1 on his iPope tunes.
And it's not over yet, mesdames et messieurs.
They revamped the jolly good cult of the Spanish Inquisition.
They gave a new meaning to Life and a new life to Death. They managed to elevate the mundane Victorian squalor of a tasteless salmon mousse to a cracking social icebreaker.
Are they the same Monty Python who searched for the Holy Grail?
Yes, they were.
Are they the same Monty Python who portrayed a complete and utter history of Britain?
Yes, Sir.
It's them.
They were great. They set the scene. They did pretty well, didn't they?
But how they made it for twenty years?
Let's face it. They were underdogs.
Graham Chapman drank. John Cleese was in it for the money. Terry Gilliam never went to Oxbridge, Eric Idle was...well, idle, Terry Jones was Welsh and Michael Palin is now making documentaries for the Bbc...
And in this book Chapman (from post-mortem) quarrels with Idle who criticizes Cleese who throws shit over Palin who doesn't like Jones who quarrels with Gilliam who hates them hall (but especially Cleese) re-hated.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you will love this book.
It's absolutely Pythonesque. It glitters wit. It's savage. It's pure Monty.
And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
What you can find in this book is:
John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, Michael Palin and yes, ladies and gentlemen, Graham Chapman live-dead from the afterlife talking about the twenty years they spent together.
Plus
What they did earlier.
What they did after.
Plus
Who they were before Monty Python:
their provincial childhoods, their boarding and public schools, the dichotomy between an Oxford University and a Cambridge University education (with a brief interlude at the Occidental College - thank you Terry G).
Action. Surprise. A hint of Ambition.
Emotion. Delight. And George Harrison
The rise and fall of a sublime world of clever entertainment provided by blasphemous - pardon - heretical entertainers.
And much more.
They wrote celestial songs such as the crossover hit "Always look at the Bright Side of Life" or the Catholic standard "Every Sperm is Sacred" standing on the top of the seminary charts for 39 weeks after its release and which Benedict - Benny - XVI has recently put #1 on his iPope tunes.
And it's not over yet, mesdames et messieurs.
They revamped the jolly good cult of the Spanish Inquisition.
They gave a new meaning to Life and a new life to Death. They managed to elevate the mundane Victorian squalor of a tasteless salmon mousse to a cracking social icebreaker.
Are they the same Monty Python who searched for the Holy Grail?
Yes, they were.
Are they the same Monty Python who portrayed a complete and utter history of Britain?
Yes, Sir.
It's them.
They were great. They set the scene. They did pretty well, didn't they?
But how they made it for twenty years?
Let's face it. They were underdogs.
Graham Chapman drank. John Cleese was in it for the money. Terry Gilliam never went to Oxbridge, Eric Idle was...well, idle, Terry Jones was Welsh and Michael Palin is now making documentaries for the Bbc...
And in this book Chapman (from post-mortem) quarrels with Idle who criticizes Cleese who throws shit over Palin who doesn't like Jones who quarrels with Gilliam who hates them hall (but especially Cleese) re-hated.
Ladies and Gentlemen, you will love this book.
It's absolutely Pythonesque. It glitters wit. It's savage. It's pure Monty.
And nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!
November 14, 2021
My parents are responsible for getting me hooked on Monty Python. I remember seeing the dead parrot sketch, the lumberjack song, the Spanish Inquisition, and so much more on PBS back in the day. But what hooked me forever was Monty Python and the Holy Grail. My parents had a copy of the movie on Betamax. I lost track of the number of times I'd watched the film after about the 40th time.
I even got to see Graham Chapman on a speaking tour in 1987 while I was in college. I don't recall much from it, but one thing still sticks with me. He was talking about the making of Holy Grail and confessed when he realized that he was an alcoholic. They were in the Scottish Highlands. The weight of playing King Arthur was getting to him. He desperately wanted a drink to steady his nerves, but there was nothing available. Between the cold, the dampness, the pressure, and withdrawal symptoms, he was shaking and feverish in his chain mail and wool. He was completely miserable. The auditorium had grown completely silent as Chapman revealed that he was not an invulnerable comedic hero but a human being with all the frailties of mortality.
In October of 1989 he died of cancer.
This book is an account of the group's lives growing up, their days at university, their early pre-Python work, the coalescence of what would become Monty Python, the TV show, the movies, and the inevitable end. Each of the Pythons provided the information in interview format with Chapman's parts taken from previous memoirs and from his brother and his partner. So you would get each of their recollections about events, what they were doing and thinking.
It's clear to me now that postwar English schools were horrid places. Roger Waters, Bruce Dickinson, and the members of Monty Python have all provided details about how miserable these places were. It's almost as if the adults were punishing the children for not having a dour disposition brought on by the travails of the war.
It was really interesting to see how the Python troupe came together, and I'm curious to know how well the pre-Python work holds up. Of course, with the BBC in the habit of recycling all of its tapes back then, I don't know if any of it still exists.
There was a certain joie de vivre that the group back in the days of the TV show, and it was a delight to read about it. But you could see it start to slip away. Certain members didn't want to do the TV show anymore, so others suggested a movie. And for a while they were happy again. Holy Grail was a success and then Life of Brian. They would separate to work on their personal projects, but they would always come back. But they got the work process wrong with The Meaning of Life. Lessons of creation were forgotten. The joy was gone.
When Chapman died, the unraveling of the knot that kept them together quickened. They tried to reunite, but there was always someone to veto a project, whether it be TV, movie, or tour. While they still professed their love for one another, it was clear to me by this book's publication in 2003 that Monty Python had ceased to be as a creative entity.
While there was an abundance of detailed material for their early years, it seemed like when the joy was gone, so too went many of the details. All of these non-Python side projects they were involved in left huge gaps between events in the Python history. The interview format kind of broke down with grudges and hurt feelings creeping in. Subjective accounts obscured objective reality, forcing the reader to deduce what actually happened.
I'm glad that I read it, but now it's more of a reference book than something to revisit for nostalgia's sake, which I guess is why I read it in the first place.
I even got to see Graham Chapman on a speaking tour in 1987 while I was in college. I don't recall much from it, but one thing still sticks with me. He was talking about the making of Holy Grail and confessed when he realized that he was an alcoholic. They were in the Scottish Highlands. The weight of playing King Arthur was getting to him. He desperately wanted a drink to steady his nerves, but there was nothing available. Between the cold, the dampness, the pressure, and withdrawal symptoms, he was shaking and feverish in his chain mail and wool. He was completely miserable. The auditorium had grown completely silent as Chapman revealed that he was not an invulnerable comedic hero but a human being with all the frailties of mortality.
In October of 1989 he died of cancer.
This book is an account of the group's lives growing up, their days at university, their early pre-Python work, the coalescence of what would become Monty Python, the TV show, the movies, and the inevitable end. Each of the Pythons provided the information in interview format with Chapman's parts taken from previous memoirs and from his brother and his partner. So you would get each of their recollections about events, what they were doing and thinking.
It's clear to me now that postwar English schools were horrid places. Roger Waters, Bruce Dickinson, and the members of Monty Python have all provided details about how miserable these places were. It's almost as if the adults were punishing the children for not having a dour disposition brought on by the travails of the war.
It was really interesting to see how the Python troupe came together, and I'm curious to know how well the pre-Python work holds up. Of course, with the BBC in the habit of recycling all of its tapes back then, I don't know if any of it still exists.
There was a certain joie de vivre that the group back in the days of the TV show, and it was a delight to read about it. But you could see it start to slip away. Certain members didn't want to do the TV show anymore, so others suggested a movie. And for a while they were happy again. Holy Grail was a success and then Life of Brian. They would separate to work on their personal projects, but they would always come back. But they got the work process wrong with The Meaning of Life. Lessons of creation were forgotten. The joy was gone.
When Chapman died, the unraveling of the knot that kept them together quickened. They tried to reunite, but there was always someone to veto a project, whether it be TV, movie, or tour. While they still professed their love for one another, it was clear to me by this book's publication in 2003 that Monty Python had ceased to be as a creative entity.
While there was an abundance of detailed material for their early years, it seemed like when the joy was gone, so too went many of the details. All of these non-Python side projects they were involved in left huge gaps between events in the Python history. The interview format kind of broke down with grudges and hurt feelings creeping in. Subjective accounts obscured objective reality, forcing the reader to deduce what actually happened.
I'm glad that I read it, but now it's more of a reference book than something to revisit for nostalgia's sake, which I guess is why I read it in the first place.
May 7, 2015
Forget about the impact of The Pythons on British Culture and The World, what about the impact of The Pythons on My Sense of Humour!
I think it’s fair to say that I have a warped sense of humour, and for this I hold The Pythons to be fully responsible. I mean, one of them is from my home town of Sheffield – it’s clearly a plot!
The thing is, this has infected and affected my entire adult life.
Whereas before The Pythons, the worst thing that could be said about me was ‘Must try harder’; after The Pythons (henceforth to be known as MPFS (duly copied and ready to paste)) I find that just about everything I say and do is largely incomprehensible to vast swathes of the human race.
Take shop assistants as an example – an exemplary breed of people for the most and, because of their (management injected) desire to retain custom, often the bearers of the only opportunity for some people (customers – sad, single, lonely customers) to have any kind of conversation.
For example: enter me into shop – big smile on face – walks up to shopkeeper:
Me: Hi – how’s your day going?
Shopkeeper: What?
Me: Can you tell me if you have any multipacks of McCoy’s Salt and Vinegar crisps in stock?
Shopkeeper: What?
Me: I’ll just go and look on the shelf then.
Shopkeeper: Uh, they’ll be on the shelf if we have any.
Me: Thanks.
I don’t know why I’m incomprehensible in this way – maybe I’m smiling in the wrong tone of voice, maybe it’s the silly walk, maybe people are distracted by my bright yellow Mr Smiley t-shirt – I just don’t know.
At work – misunderstood.
At home – barely understood but still trying.
In shops – see above.
In books – no requirement for understanding. Is it any wonder I read so much?
MPFS has changed me, but his book doesn’t tell me why or how. The book just contains the facts of the matters as seen through the eyes and memories of the six guys who did the needful. It’s not funny. It doesn’t tell you why MPFS is funny. It doesn’t explain anything really.
Apart from that – it’s really good.
I think it’s fair to say that I have a warped sense of humour, and for this I hold The Pythons to be fully responsible. I mean, one of them is from my home town of Sheffield – it’s clearly a plot!
The thing is, this has infected and affected my entire adult life.
Whereas before The Pythons, the worst thing that could be said about me was ‘Must try harder’; after The Pythons (henceforth to be known as MPFS (duly copied and ready to paste)) I find that just about everything I say and do is largely incomprehensible to vast swathes of the human race.
Take shop assistants as an example – an exemplary breed of people for the most and, because of their (management injected) desire to retain custom, often the bearers of the only opportunity for some people (customers – sad, single, lonely customers) to have any kind of conversation.
For example: enter me into shop – big smile on face – walks up to shopkeeper:
Me: Hi – how’s your day going?
Shopkeeper: What?
Me: Can you tell me if you have any multipacks of McCoy’s Salt and Vinegar crisps in stock?
Shopkeeper: What?
Me: I’ll just go and look on the shelf then.
Shopkeeper: Uh, they’ll be on the shelf if we have any.
Me: Thanks.
I don’t know why I’m incomprehensible in this way – maybe I’m smiling in the wrong tone of voice, maybe it’s the silly walk, maybe people are distracted by my bright yellow Mr Smiley t-shirt – I just don’t know.
At work – misunderstood.
At home – barely understood but still trying.
In shops – see above.
In books – no requirement for understanding. Is it any wonder I read so much?
MPFS has changed me, but his book doesn’t tell me why or how. The book just contains the facts of the matters as seen through the eyes and memories of the six guys who did the needful. It’s not funny. It doesn’t tell you why MPFS is funny. It doesn’t explain anything really.
Apart from that – it’s really good.
July 31, 2019
Em honra dos 50 anos do Flying Circus a ser comemorado esse ano.
Depois de ler ess livro não sei gosto mais tanto assim do John Cleese, claro, ele é um gênio da comédia física e verbal, mas ele me parece ser particularmente insuportável de se conviver, mas tudo bem, também acho isso do Peter Sellers e nem por isso ele é menos gênio.
No mais é um livro super informativo para fãs dos Pythons, há diversos detalhes e pequenas informações que me passaram batido em todos essas décadas admirando-os, além de também reiterar informações que os fãs de comédia inglesa sabem por osmose, eles nunca deixam de mencionar que foram os Goons e o pessoal do Beyond The Fringe que abriram as portas para o tipo de comédia que faziam, o que achei bem ético da parte deles.
A informação mais interessante desse livro é a afirmação dos Terrys que a influência cinematográfica principal do Holy Grail foi Pasolini. E nóis achando que era o Monicelli. Italiano errado.
Depois de ler ess livro não sei gosto mais tanto assim do John Cleese, claro, ele é um gênio da comédia física e verbal, mas ele me parece ser particularmente insuportável de se conviver, mas tudo bem, também acho isso do Peter Sellers e nem por isso ele é menos gênio.
No mais é um livro super informativo para fãs dos Pythons, há diversos detalhes e pequenas informações que me passaram batido em todos essas décadas admirando-os, além de também reiterar informações que os fãs de comédia inglesa sabem por osmose, eles nunca deixam de mencionar que foram os Goons e o pessoal do Beyond The Fringe que abriram as portas para o tipo de comédia que faziam, o que achei bem ético da parte deles.
A informação mais interessante desse livro é a afirmação dos Terrys que a influência cinematográfica principal do Holy Grail foi Pasolini. E nóis achando que era o Monicelli. Italiano errado.
October 12, 2019
Thank goodness this is almost all recordings of the actual cast members, or I wouldn’t have listened to it. As it is, and since I am a massive fan, I loved it. I just wish there had been more from Chapman, but as he is dead and has been for some time, this wasn’t particularly possible at this time.
It’s not a long listen, and was rather fun. Please check and see if your local library has a copy so you can listen to it also. I feel it was well worth it.
4 stars, and recommended to all.
“The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his “greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.'[96] Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.[97]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_P...
It’s not a long listen, and was rather fun. Please check and see if your local library has a copy so you can listen to it also. I feel it was well worth it.
4 stars, and recommended to all.
“The Pythons Autobiography by The Pythons (2003), compiled from interviews with the surviving members, reveals that a series of disputes in 1998, over a possible sequel to Holy Grail that had been conceived by Idle, may have resulted in the group's split. Cleese's feeling was that The Meaning of Life had been personally difficult and ultimately mediocre, and did not wish to be involved in another Python project for a variety of reasons (not least amongst them was the absence of Chapman, whose straight man-like central roles in the Grail and Brian films had been considered to be an essential anchoring performance). The book also reveals that Cleese saw Chapman as his “greatest sounding board. If Graham thought something was funny, then it almost certainly was funny. You cannot believe how invaluable that is.'[96] Ultimately it was Cleese who ended the possibility of another Python movie.[97]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monty_P...
December 17, 2009
The Pythons Autobiography is a funny and fascinating history of Monty Python, by the Pythons themselves: Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin. (Graham Chapman died in 1989; he's represented by excerpts from earlier books and articles, as well as by his longtime companion David Sherlock and his brother and sister-in-law John and Pam Chapman.) Switching back and forth from one member to another, it covers their individual beginnings, their coming together as a group, and their work together and apart, up to the present day. The multiple viewpoints give an occasionally contradictory but always honest and interesting account of the group's ground-breaking comedy work; I particularly liked the sections on The Holy Grail and The Life of Brian. The book is fairly long (though my paperback edition isn't as long as the hardcover, which had many, many more photographs and images), but it's an absorbing read -- definitely an essential for any Python fan.
September 16, 2018
Adore the pythons but unfortunately this audiobook was a companion to the huge book of their autobiography. So, I'll give the audiobook 4 stars for what it is and read the book in the near future.
November 15, 2012
2006:
"Could I love Michael Palin more? No, no I could not. And don't even get me started on the whole getting paid to travel around the world thing and write books about it. Funny books. Between him and Bill Bryson, I -- Oh, but about the book? It's definitely worth reading if you're a fan, although it's a long one, and some of the pages have just the stupidest layouts ever devised - I mean, let us use tiny black print and place it on a background consisting of dark photographs. Or better yet! Let the background be more writing! Writing on top of writing! It's brilliant! That'll be fun for them book readers to decipher! Morons.
But it's nice to hear the thing from their own mouths; the photos, the stories, who wrote who and what and why, where they all began, diary entries, etc. The diary entries are from Palin and Jones, and they (the editors of the book, that is) deal with Chapman by talking to Sherlock (his lover), and Pam and John (his sister-in-law and brother), as well as taking excerpts from books and interviews. I found it a good book to just lie there - be picked up whenever I felt like it, you know? I've finished about 14 books in the time it took me to read that one. That sort of book. It's incredibly interesting and informative, although slow in parts. Another strange thing was the editing - the topics would change with no warning, and I'd have no idea what anyone was talking about for a good few paragraphs before I realised they'd changed gears.
But yeah, all of the above are highly recommended. You all would know if it's the type of thing you'd be interested in or not."
"Could I love Michael Palin more? No, no I could not. And don't even get me started on the whole getting paid to travel around the world thing and write books about it. Funny books. Between him and Bill Bryson, I -- Oh, but about the book? It's definitely worth reading if you're a fan, although it's a long one, and some of the pages have just the stupidest layouts ever devised - I mean, let us use tiny black print and place it on a background consisting of dark photographs. Or better yet! Let the background be more writing! Writing on top of writing! It's brilliant! That'll be fun for them book readers to decipher! Morons.
But it's nice to hear the thing from their own mouths; the photos, the stories, who wrote who and what and why, where they all began, diary entries, etc. The diary entries are from Palin and Jones, and they (the editors of the book, that is) deal with Chapman by talking to Sherlock (his lover), and Pam and John (his sister-in-law and brother), as well as taking excerpts from books and interviews. I found it a good book to just lie there - be picked up whenever I felt like it, you know? I've finished about 14 books in the time it took me to read that one. That sort of book. It's incredibly interesting and informative, although slow in parts. Another strange thing was the editing - the topics would change with no warning, and I'd have no idea what anyone was talking about for a good few paragraphs before I realised they'd changed gears.
But yeah, all of the above are highly recommended. You all would know if it's the type of thing you'd be interested in or not."
June 8, 2017
Really, this book is great, but beware: it will change the way you see the Pythons. It did for me anyway. I built up this idea that they were all friends, making shows and movies because they spent all their time together, making each other laugh. I had no business doing that. No reason to believe it. No tabloid or interview ever told me that was the case. Turns out: it wasn't/isn't the case. They fought. They were just a writing group/entertainment company type thing. That took a hammer to my unjustly preconceived notions.
Still, this book is interesting. Funny in places. Sad in others. Engaging. All that. Good for obsessive Python fans like me and your mom.
Still, this book is interesting. Funny in places. Sad in others. Engaging. All that. Good for obsessive Python fans like me and your mom.
February 10, 2025
Kirjassa nostetaan usein esiin se, miten Pythoneissa ja Beatlesissa oli paljon samaa, ja samalla tavalla pohdin molempien kohdalla sitä, miten on mahdollista luoda kuolematonta taidetta, vaikka ihmisten välit ovat kireällä ja päihteiden liikakäyttö haittaa töiden tekemistä?
Tarina kerrotaan kaikkien Pythoneiden omien muistikuvien ja kerronnan kautta (Graham Chapmankin pääsee ääneen haudan takaa), ja se on hyvä tapa kertoa tarinaa. Monty Python oli oikeassa paikassa oikeaan aikaan, ja ilmiö paisuu hämmästyttävän suureksi. Lukiessa saa hymähdellä ääneenkin, vaikka maailman hauskimman komediaryhmän kulissien takana onkin ollut paljon ikäviä asioita ja jännitteitä. Muhkeaan kirjaan ei millään voi tietenkään laittaa kaikkea, mutta silti ihmettelin, ettei Neil Innesiä mainittu kai ollenkaan (vaikka hänen nimensä lopun henkilöluettelossa onkin).
Luin kirjasta noin 1/3 englanniksi ja vaihdoin sitten suomeen, koska suomenkielinen pokkaripainos oli huomattavasti pienempi ja nopealukuisempi. Jokin Pythoneiden omasta äänestä häviää suomennoksen myötä. (Mustavalkoiset!) kuvaliitteet olivat pettymys värikkään alkuperäisteoksen jälkeen, vaikka viimeksimainittu olikin jokseenkin hölmösti taitettu.
Tarina kerrotaan kaikkien Pythoneiden omien muistikuvien ja kerronnan kautta (Graham Chapmankin pääsee ääneen haudan takaa), ja se on hyvä tapa kertoa tarinaa. Monty Python oli oikeassa paikassa oikeaan aikaan, ja ilmiö paisuu hämmästyttävän suureksi. Lukiessa saa hymähdellä ääneenkin, vaikka maailman hauskimman komediaryhmän kulissien takana onkin ollut paljon ikäviä asioita ja jännitteitä. Muhkeaan kirjaan ei millään voi tietenkään laittaa kaikkea, mutta silti ihmettelin, ettei Neil Innesiä mainittu kai ollenkaan (vaikka hänen nimensä lopun henkilöluettelossa onkin).
Luin kirjasta noin 1/3 englanniksi ja vaihdoin sitten suomeen, koska suomenkielinen pokkaripainos oli huomattavasti pienempi ja nopealukuisempi. Jokin Pythoneiden omasta äänestä häviää suomennoksen myötä. (Mustavalkoiset!) kuvaliitteet olivat pettymys värikkään alkuperäisteoksen jälkeen, vaikka viimeksimainittu olikin jokseenkin hölmösti taitettu.
January 27, 2020
"Monty Pythonin maailma Monty Pythonin mukaan" (Like, 2008) on kiinnostava muistelmateos maailmankuulun englantilaisen komediaryhmän vaiheista. Teos on toteutettu ns. oral history -periaatteella, eli ääneen pääsevät vuorotellen kaikki Python-ryhmän jäsenet. Vuonna 1989 menehtynyt Graham Chapman kommentoi tapahtumia haudan takaa haastatteluista ja muista vastaavista koostettujen lausuntojen kautta, ja kokonaiskuvaa täydentävät hänen lähiomaisensa.
Vaikka Monty Pythonista kertovan kirjan olettaisi olevan hauska - ja sitä se hetkittäin onkin - on tarinassa myös vakavampi ja surumielinen pohjavire. Chapmanin alkoholismi heitti varjonsa komediaryhmän työskentelyn ylle. Lisäksi ryhmän jäsenten erimielisyydet olivat hetkittäin vakavia, ja suoranainen katkeruus heijastuu suoraan myös kirjan sivuille. John Cleesesta ei kirjasta välity välttämättä positiivisinta mahdollista kuvaa.
Vuonna 2008 ilmestyneeseen kirjaan eivät tosin ole myöhemmät vaiheet ehtineet mukaan, eli vakavimmat erimielisyydet saatiin kuin saatiinkin kuopattua ja koomikkoryhmä uudestaan yhdessä lavalle.
Vaikka Monty Pythonista kertovan kirjan olettaisi olevan hauska - ja sitä se hetkittäin onkin - on tarinassa myös vakavampi ja surumielinen pohjavire. Chapmanin alkoholismi heitti varjonsa komediaryhmän työskentelyn ylle. Lisäksi ryhmän jäsenten erimielisyydet olivat hetkittäin vakavia, ja suoranainen katkeruus heijastuu suoraan myös kirjan sivuille. John Cleesesta ei kirjasta välity välttämättä positiivisinta mahdollista kuvaa.
Vuonna 2008 ilmestyneeseen kirjaan eivät tosin ole myöhemmät vaiheet ehtineet mukaan, eli vakavimmat erimielisyydet saatiin kuin saatiinkin kuopattua ja koomikkoryhmä uudestaan yhdessä lavalle.
April 2, 2015
I just saw this recently in the store, liked the structure of the book (ie Please Kill Me) and thought I might finally want to read about the Python members. I found it much more interesting than I thought, but this book did start to lag once Python had begun making movies as the hindsight still seemed emotionally charged and therefore was a bit restrained. Once the people get famous, they tend to obstruct their lives a bit and indulge in some revisionist history from time to time, but all in all, a fun read if you are into Python as rabidly as I have been at different points in my life. I became more interested in their comedy origins and influences because of reading this book, and that could have had an effect on my zest for reading the end, as I was still needing to sort out this new information more substantively. Eh, it's just a celebrity tell-all, that of course, didn't tell enough. Never juicy enough for my cynical tastes. I'm glad that I finally Googled Hazel Pethig after seeing her picture for the first time in the book. I even fetishized the credits of the TV show. The names were just unique sounding, as if they were comedic elements of the show.
February 22, 2008
This is sort of like "The Python Anthology." The remaining members of Monty Python, as well as Graham Chapman's brother, sister-in-law, and longtime partner David Sherlock, tell the history of Monty Python in their own words. There are a lot of contradictions; no one can seem to remember who actually picked "The Liberty Bell March" as the theme, for example, and some things have become so legendary that one gets the feeling that everyone is telling the version that makes the best story (case in point: everyone loves to tell the story that Graham Chapman invited his fiancee to the party where he announced he was gay, but according to David Sherlock, she wasn't actually his fiancee anymore at that point. What's true? Who knows.) You get to learn a lot about their personalities and their working relationships, which is always interesting, even if it means finding out that John Cleese is kind of a git. Good stuff for fans of Monty Python, probably utterly boring for anyone else (although there's lots of great pictures of Terry Gilliam's cartoon work).
December 1, 2009
It's... an account of the story of the group since the very beginnings (childhood and all). I personally found Graham Chapman's story (told here with some excerpts from other books and with testimony of his longtime partner, his brother and his sister-in-law) quite amusing. In general, the book is a pretty fast and entertaining read. Recommended even if you are not that much into Monty Python.
August 9, 2011
recommended for any python fan, this book covers pretty much all the bases. a quick and interesting read - i would've liked it if the pythons' involvement in this were a little more than just being interviewed, but i guess we can't expect much more from them at this point.
oh and there's plenty of sweet pics, too.
oh and there's plenty of sweet pics, too.
February 12, 2012
If you're a Pythonista, this is required reading! Lots of fun, lots of photos, diary entries and interviews.
March 30, 2021
Solid enough, I guess--it can be interesting to read the different takes on the same situations that the different Pythons held--but there are some limitations. For one, though I think I did learn a few things I did not know before (e.g. I think this is the first I've heard about the proposed but never-realized sequel to Monty Python and the Holy Grail), a lot of what's here not only isn't stuff I didn't know but also sounded pretty familiar, which makes me wonder whether some sections (other than those explicitly acknowledge has having been garnered this way--the various Graham Chapman sections) were just cadged from other sources (e.g. film commentary tracks) rather than created specifically for this project. I could of course be wrong. I was also somewhat irked that, while there were lots of pictures (great!), many of them had no captions contextualizing them or clarifying why they were chosen. I was also surprised at how relatively little it seemed was said a bout some things (e.g. the fourth season gets fairly short shrift, and a lot of the non-film projects--the albums and books, for instance--get some coverage but far less than I would have liked to see). This is probably a must-read for Python fans and of interest to others, but it's not as deep and illuminating a dive as I had hoped for--which was perhaps foolish of me, as it's formatted basically as a coffee table book.
September 19, 2014
I would just like to say how much I enjoyed this book. This is a story about four Englishmen, a Welshman, an American (and later on an Englishwoman) who came together to form one of the most influential comedy groups not just of the 1960s and 1970s, but of all time. They did not just change the face of comedy, they managed to influence their own and subsequent generations. It is the words of the Python’s by the Pythons about the Pythons, including the late Dr. Graham Chapman (he is an ex-python. He has ceased to be).
It’s obvious to see that, like all relationships, they didn’t always get on, but there is a deep seated love (and in some cases a tiny bit of loathing) for each other that shines through.
The younger members of group, the Oxford and Cambridge Python’s (let’s leave out the interloping American for the moment) all wanted to be John Cleese because he was more experienced when it came to writing, organizing and performing reviews. Michael Palin and Terry Jones were/are best friends and extremely good writers. Eric Idle was a terrific writer and composer for some of the most memorable Python songs (are you humming, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life?). And Graham Chapman was… apart from a very good and skillful medical doctor, an incredibly talented actor (seriously, watch his performances as King Arthur in Holy Grail and as Brian in Life of Brian, the man had class) he was also deeply troubled.
Then there was the American with the seriously strange coat and mad ideas about animation. It took a while for the others to come to terms with this slightly odd colonial, but when they did the magic began.
But let’s not forget the sometime forgotten female member of the group, the lovely Carol Cleveland. When Python wanted old hags, they did it themselves, look at Terry J in Life of Brian, or the entire cast in the Hell’s Grannies sketches, but when they wanted glamour the delightful Ms. Cleveland came into her own.
It has to be said that Python did not work on all levels, sketches fell flat, some had no endings, some were too abstract, but what we got from them was a complete and utter rethink as to how we perceived comedy, philosophy, lumberjacks and slightly deranged Wellington boot wearing men with handkerchiefs on their heads.
If you want to comment on what I’ve said please do. I will reply, although I’m not expecting The Spanish Inquisition. But then again NO ONE EXPECTS… oh bugger!
It’s obvious to see that, like all relationships, they didn’t always get on, but there is a deep seated love (and in some cases a tiny bit of loathing) for each other that shines through.
The younger members of group, the Oxford and Cambridge Python’s (let’s leave out the interloping American for the moment) all wanted to be John Cleese because he was more experienced when it came to writing, organizing and performing reviews. Michael Palin and Terry Jones were/are best friends and extremely good writers. Eric Idle was a terrific writer and composer for some of the most memorable Python songs (are you humming, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life?). And Graham Chapman was… apart from a very good and skillful medical doctor, an incredibly talented actor (seriously, watch his performances as King Arthur in Holy Grail and as Brian in Life of Brian, the man had class) he was also deeply troubled.
Then there was the American with the seriously strange coat and mad ideas about animation. It took a while for the others to come to terms with this slightly odd colonial, but when they did the magic began.
But let’s not forget the sometime forgotten female member of the group, the lovely Carol Cleveland. When Python wanted old hags, they did it themselves, look at Terry J in Life of Brian, or the entire cast in the Hell’s Grannies sketches, but when they wanted glamour the delightful Ms. Cleveland came into her own.
It has to be said that Python did not work on all levels, sketches fell flat, some had no endings, some were too abstract, but what we got from them was a complete and utter rethink as to how we perceived comedy, philosophy, lumberjacks and slightly deranged Wellington boot wearing men with handkerchiefs on their heads.
If you want to comment on what I’ve said please do. I will reply, although I’m not expecting The Spanish Inquisition. But then again NO ONE EXPECTS… oh bugger!
August 6, 2018
I'm not sure the authors expected people to actually read this book cover to cover, the way I did. It is big and heavy and full of pictures, which leads me to believe it might have been intended as a casual coffee table book. But I read it; all of it. I expected it to be a very funny book, considering it was written by the Monty Python team. It wasn't very funny at all, but it is a very interesting story of how the group came to be and how they managed to stay together and accomplish so much.
The book tells the story of each of the Pythons, from college, to starting out in comedy, to helping to create Monty Python's Flying Circus, to becoming a Python. The stories about making the television show and then the movies and stage shows and specials are all told seperately by each of the team members, so you get the little differences in the memories and points of view from each of them. I found it interesting that one person would tell a story and the very next paragraph would be another team member telling the same story, but contradicting the first. That's the effect of memory. I'm glad they left those contradictions in the book. I think they make it real.
Graham Chapman passed away before the book was finished, so the majority of his parts were written by his brother, John Chapman, or his long time partner, David Sherlock. They both had been around enough over the years that they were able to give a very detailed description of the story from Graham's point of view.
The stories are very entertaining. The photos are incredible. This is a great history of the Monty Python team.
The book tells the story of each of the Pythons, from college, to starting out in comedy, to helping to create Monty Python's Flying Circus, to becoming a Python. The stories about making the television show and then the movies and stage shows and specials are all told seperately by each of the team members, so you get the little differences in the memories and points of view from each of them. I found it interesting that one person would tell a story and the very next paragraph would be another team member telling the same story, but contradicting the first. That's the effect of memory. I'm glad they left those contradictions in the book. I think they make it real.
Graham Chapman passed away before the book was finished, so the majority of his parts were written by his brother, John Chapman, or his long time partner, David Sherlock. They both had been around enough over the years that they were able to give a very detailed description of the story from Graham's point of view.
The stories are very entertaining. The photos are incredible. This is a great history of the Monty Python team.
August 22, 2014
The Python’s Autobiography by the Pythons possesses a great balance of their comedic nature along with a poignancy that helps the reader discover how they came about into being and the methods they employed in achieving several occurrences of comic brilliance.
The book begins with sketches of each member's past and posits the impact that certain moments and circumstances (i.e. abuse, failure, and isolation) may have had on their future. Each Python makes a connection between their younger lives and their eventual success with a new form of comedy. For example, a few came into the troupe as a result of an alternative to a failed venture or aspiration.
The “autobiography” continues by detailing how many of their most popular sketches from television to motion pictures came into being; from happy accidents to bits of inspiration (i.e. while producing “Life of Brian”, Eric Idle felt that the movie needed a happy, Disney ending). This same irreverence is also employed whilst discussing Graham Chapman's death from throat cancer in 1989. Rather than eulogizing with the usual platitudes deserving of a deceased one, they honor Chapman with the same irreverent (yet in this case also respectful) humor for which they and Chapman were a part.
A wonderful, entertaining, and enlightening read.
The book begins with sketches of each member's past and posits the impact that certain moments and circumstances (i.e. abuse, failure, and isolation) may have had on their future. Each Python makes a connection between their younger lives and their eventual success with a new form of comedy. For example, a few came into the troupe as a result of an alternative to a failed venture or aspiration.
The “autobiography” continues by detailing how many of their most popular sketches from television to motion pictures came into being; from happy accidents to bits of inspiration (i.e. while producing “Life of Brian”, Eric Idle felt that the movie needed a happy, Disney ending). This same irreverence is also employed whilst discussing Graham Chapman's death from throat cancer in 1989. Rather than eulogizing with the usual platitudes deserving of a deceased one, they honor Chapman with the same irreverent (yet in this case also respectful) humor for which they and Chapman were a part.
A wonderful, entertaining, and enlightening read.
June 26, 2011
All the Pythons (one from his grave) give a collective account of the career of the owner of one Flying Circus, an account made up of extracts from interviews and extracts from diaries and published memoirs. The late Graham Chapman is represented by his own surreal recollections and comments from family members and partner, while the rest discourse freely on their early lives, education, university experiences (principally Oxbridge) and occupations as comedy writers, actors and (in the case of Terry Gilliam) cartoonist, before fame, fortune, frustration and infamy beckoned.
If you were of the generation that lived through the Python years this is a fascinating trip down Memory Lane with many revelations and insights. If you came to Python late (perhaps in the US after their star suddenly appeared in the ascendant, or through the medium of their films or the surprise musical phenomenon that was Spamalot) this may well be a rather curious ramble through largely British idiosyncracies over four decades. I'm in the former group and devoured the autobiography in very little time. My only reservations came from the way it all petered away at the end, with little exploration of the Pythons' individual career trajectories. But that's just a minor personal gripe.
If you were of the generation that lived through the Python years this is a fascinating trip down Memory Lane with many revelations and insights. If you came to Python late (perhaps in the US after their star suddenly appeared in the ascendant, or through the medium of their films or the surprise musical phenomenon that was Spamalot) this may well be a rather curious ramble through largely British idiosyncracies over four decades. I'm in the former group and devoured the autobiography in very little time. My only reservations came from the way it all petered away at the end, with little exploration of the Pythons' individual career trajectories. But that's just a minor personal gripe.
May 2, 2013
Great book for Python fans or anyone who wants to know more about then, their journey and the turn that comedy had in the 60s in the UK. Which was when satire and all of that dark humour most of us grew up with was actually born.
This book is great fun but it is also quite informative. The British Pythons were all born during WWII and it is very interesting to read about their experiences growing up.
As you read the book you get this notion that Monty Python burst out of this river of change that was flowing at that time but and the same time you also get the feeling that if some tiny little thing had been different they might not exist at all. In a way it was quite random and a lot to do with luck, really.
And although it is quite fun and amusing and hilarious at times, you (or me at least) also end up feeling some nostalgia as you get the firm belief that those great social and mental changes that made a group like Python emerge no longer exist. Not in this life time anyway.
It is certainly a must have for the true Python fan and it is also extremely useful as it has an index to which you can go to for some explanation or enlightenment on your favourite sketch, film or Python concept.
This book is great fun but it is also quite informative. The British Pythons were all born during WWII and it is very interesting to read about their experiences growing up.
As you read the book you get this notion that Monty Python burst out of this river of change that was flowing at that time but and the same time you also get the feeling that if some tiny little thing had been different they might not exist at all. In a way it was quite random and a lot to do with luck, really.
And although it is quite fun and amusing and hilarious at times, you (or me at least) also end up feeling some nostalgia as you get the firm belief that those great social and mental changes that made a group like Python emerge no longer exist. Not in this life time anyway.
It is certainly a must have for the true Python fan and it is also extremely useful as it has an index to which you can go to for some explanation or enlightenment on your favourite sketch, film or Python concept.
September 1, 2017
An interesting book about how Monty Python as a collective and the Pythons themselves came to be and what they did and what they didn't do.
But.
The translation seemed to have a few errors, or maybe the original did, I wouldn't know, as I only read the translation.
I'm not sure I wanted to know about all the issues they had with each other and their choices. Not really. In my head they were all one big happy family and now that image is ruined. Which is sort of sad. (Even if the sensible part of me knows perfectly well there is no such a thing as one big happy family, especially if said family has to spend long stretches of time with each other...)
I dunno what to think, really. It was interesting, it made me chuckle a bit, but all in all I'm not sure I learned anything that I really wanted to know from reading this. Except that the follow-up movie to the Holy Grail they thought about for a while kinda sounded amazing. As an idea, at least.
I'm mostly giving the 3 stars because it was easy reading, it made me smile and because the translation was mostly good. Which, believe me, is not really all that common when it comes to the translations of the company that published this Finnish version...
But.
The translation seemed to have a few errors, or maybe the original did, I wouldn't know, as I only read the translation.
I'm not sure I wanted to know about all the issues they had with each other and their choices. Not really. In my head they were all one big happy family and now that image is ruined. Which is sort of sad. (Even if the sensible part of me knows perfectly well there is no such a thing as one big happy family, especially if said family has to spend long stretches of time with each other...)
I dunno what to think, really. It was interesting, it made me chuckle a bit, but all in all I'm not sure I learned anything that I really wanted to know from reading this. Except that the follow-up movie to the Holy Grail they thought about for a while kinda sounded amazing. As an idea, at least.
I'm mostly giving the 3 stars because it was easy reading, it made me smile and because the translation was mostly good. Which, believe me, is not really all that common when it comes to the translations of the company that published this Finnish version...
January 25, 2017
Collecting and editing a series of separate interviews is certainly easier than forming a collective narrative - not least because the recollections of the subjects in question differ - but that doesn't make this loose "autobiography" any less compelling. There are only two laugh-out-loud parts, but I wasn't expecting there to be any, in all honesty. What there is, is a lot of what I wanted to know about; the creative process, how the team worked and collaborated - the act of artistic creation. I could understand if that maybe wasn't all that interesting to everyone - maybe you just want anecdotes and jokes, or maybe you're dull and want cold, hard facts. I want to understand how things I admire are created, and I feel I got that here. In fact, I enjoyed it so much that I realised I needed to buy the complete Flying Circus on DVD. It's 25 years ago now that the BBC started showing them in one of their traditional Thursday or Friday evening TV slots, allowing a whole new generation of 12 and 13 year olds to discover the magic. It's about time I took another look.
August 22, 2018
Sadly, I'm bailing on this one. I love the Pythons, but there's just no story here.
December 27, 2014
In short: if you love the Pythons - read it!!!
I'd also start with a warning: this book is probably not as funny as you'd expect it to be. Which I didn't mind at all.
It wasn't actually written by the Pythons, but their stories were collected and then edited together to form their story. They were interviewed individually, and so in addition to actually reading what went on, you also get each person's pov, in their own clear voice.
It is a great look behind the scenes of a group which changed the world of comedy and still affect new comedian to this day. There is so much information, I'd probably buy the Ebook version (once I get an Ereader) just so I could highlight everything I already forget since finishing it just a couple of weeks ago.
So, as I started it's very simple - if you love Python you'd love this too.
I'd also start with a warning: this book is probably not as funny as you'd expect it to be. Which I didn't mind at all.
It wasn't actually written by the Pythons, but their stories were collected and then edited together to form their story. They were interviewed individually, and so in addition to actually reading what went on, you also get each person's pov, in their own clear voice.
It is a great look behind the scenes of a group which changed the world of comedy and still affect new comedian to this day. There is so much information, I'd probably buy the Ebook version (once I get an Ereader) just so I could highlight everything I already forget since finishing it just a couple of weeks ago.
So, as I started it's very simple - if you love Python you'd love this too.
September 10, 2019
My two-star review hurts me to give, but as far as the audiobook is concerned, it is justified. I remember reading the book years ago, so I thought listening to the audiobook could be a fun way to reconnect with it. Unfortunately I have to report the audiobook feels beneath The Pythons themselves. It is choppily edited, and feels more like an under-produced podcast than a profession audiobook. It features only interviews, many conducted seemingly from a cell phone voice recorded, that are unpolished and at times hard to hear. John sounds as though he was taped in the middle of an empty cafeteria. Gilliam's actually features some phone ringing in the background.
In general I fall into the camp of biblipophiles that doesn't consider audiobooks to truly be 'reading,' and this production proves my point with flying circus colors. Go get the real thing this time around.
In general I fall into the camp of biblipophiles that doesn't consider audiobooks to truly be 'reading,' and this production proves my point with flying circus colors. Go get the real thing this time around.
October 30, 2014
This edition is quite lengthy and probably not for the casually curious. Each of the Pythons gives their view of their story and it's interesting to see how they did not always agree. The format follows both their individual and group lives chronologically, jumping from one to another on every page. This is at the same time entertaining, informative and irritating. If you want the story from everyone's viewpoint, it does that; if you want to skip the more repetitive parts, you can. The format is also one that allows you to pick up and put down easily without losing the thread; in fact I think it would be a long and rather tedious read to try and do it without a few breaks.
It's not a riveting read, it's not enthralling, but it is, in many parts, entertaining.
It's not a riveting read, it's not enthralling, but it is, in many parts, entertaining.
July 25, 2018
Tof voor de fan, met leuke weetjes.
Voordat ik dit boek las, dacht ik dat ze allemaal super goede vrienden van elkaar waren, maar dat is precies niet :p. Vooral John Cleese lijkt nogal als een moeilijk persoon over te komen.
Het stuk over de universiteit en de afzonderlijke tv-programma's die ze hebben gemaakt vond ik zelf minder interessant. Dat kwam voor een deel omdat daar zoveel namen in voorkwamen van (waarschijnlijk bekende) Britten, maar aangezien ik niet in dat land ben opgegroeid, heb ik geen idee wie het is. Dat het een hele hoop nieuwe namen waren, maakte het dan ook niet erg makkelijk.
Plus: wie heeft het nu verzonnen om zwarte tekst op een korrelige foto-achtergrond te zetten? Totaal onleesbaar!
Voordat ik dit boek las, dacht ik dat ze allemaal super goede vrienden van elkaar waren, maar dat is precies niet :p. Vooral John Cleese lijkt nogal als een moeilijk persoon over te komen.
Het stuk over de universiteit en de afzonderlijke tv-programma's die ze hebben gemaakt vond ik zelf minder interessant. Dat kwam voor een deel omdat daar zoveel namen in voorkwamen van (waarschijnlijk bekende) Britten, maar aangezien ik niet in dat land ben opgegroeid, heb ik geen idee wie het is. Dat het een hele hoop nieuwe namen waren, maakte het dan ook niet erg makkelijk.
Plus: wie heeft het nu verzonnen om zwarte tekst op een korrelige foto-achtergrond te zetten? Totaal onleesbaar!
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