Reading the 20th Century discussion
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Group Reads -> May 2024 -> Nomination thread (Wild Card month - won by The Fight by Norman Mailer)
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My Autobiography (1964)
by
Charlie Chaplin
It's readily available in all formats and Chaplin was such a global star I think it will be fascinating to discover more about his life, work, and its impact
Here's the blurb which makes me even keener to read and discuss it....
A silent comedy star whose legendary slapstick routines are recognisable to this day, Charles 'Charlie' Chaplin's My Autobiography is an incomparably vivid account of the life of one of the greatest filmmakers and comedians, with an introduction by David Robinson
As a child, Charlie Chaplin was awed and inspired by the sight of glamorous vaudeville stars passing his home, and from then on he never lost his ambition to become an actor. Chaplin's film career as the Little Tramp adored by the whole world is the stuff of legend, but this frank autobiography shows another side. Born into a theatrical family, Chaplin's father died of drink while his mother, unable to bear the poverty, suffered from bouts of insanity. From a childhood of grinding poverty in the south London slums, Chaplin found an escape in his early debut on the music hall stage, followed by his lucky break in America, the founding of United Artists with D.W. Griffith and Douglas Fairbanks, the struggle to maintain artistic control over his work, the string of failed marriages, and his eventual exile from Hollywood after personal scandals and persecution for his left-wing politics during the McCarthy Era.
Sir Charles 'Charlie' Chaplin (1895-1976) was born in Walworth, London. Best known for his work in silent film, his most famous role was The Little Tramp, a universally recognisable and iconic character who appeared in films such as The Kid (1921), The Gold Rush (1925) and City Lights (1931). His other films include Modern Times (1936), a commentary on the Great Depression, and The Great Dictator (1940), a satirical attack on Hitler and the Nazis.
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I'm nominating The Fight by Norman Mailer:
1974 in Kinshasa, Zaïre, two African American boxers were paid five million dollars apiece to fight each other. One was Muhammad Ali, the aging but irrepressible “professor of boxing.” The other was George Foreman, who was as taciturn as Ali was voluble. Observing them was Norman Mailer, a commentator of unparalleled energy, acumen, and audacity. Whether he is analyzing the fighters’ moves, interpreting their characters, or weighing their competing claims on the African and American souls, Mailer’s grasp of the titanic battle’s feints and stratagems—and his sensitivity to their deeper symbolism—makes this book a masterpiece of the literature of sport.
Praise for The Fight
“Exquisitely refined and attenuated . . . [a] sensitive portrait of an extraordinary athlete and man, and a pugilistic drama fully as exciting as the reality on which it is based.” — The New York Times
“One of the defining texts of sports journalism. Not only does Mailer recall the violent combat with a scholar’s eye . . . he also makes the whole act of reporting seem as exciting as what’s occurring in the ring.” — GQ
Mr RC has been pleading with me to read this for some time for the extraordinary characters, politics and setting, as well as for the way this reveals Mailer's own reckoning with his prejudices.
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I've seen the documentary film about the fight and it's insanely compelling - so much more than just a boxing match
These nominations are both interesting. The Fight is my generation and Charlie Chaplin is an historic icon. Comedy and prize fighting are disparate subjects that I would never expect to be partnered for a readers choice.
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Ha, needless to say I know nothing about it - I don't even know who wins 🤭
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We're taking this wild card thing seriously 😊
Interesting choices. I’ve never read anything by Norman Mailer.
“As a kid growing up in Seattle in the 1970s, Troy Wright idolized Muhammad Ali. He had the showmanship. He had the athleticism. And most importantly, he had the commitment – to his beliefs, to his people and to equality.”Above quote from The Miami Herald piece about the museum opened in Miami.
I am likely to read all the wild card books if I have time.
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I'm pretty sure I enjoyed the Chaplin book. I gave it 4 stars many years after the fact. I think I read it in the '70s. And I think I still have it so I must have enjoyed it.
I'll nominate Vera Caspary's 1981 memoir, The Secrets of Grown-Ups. She was the author of Laura, among others. It includes her early days at an ad agency through being gray-listed in the '50s (McCarthy era of black/gray-listing).
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The Fatal Englishman: Three Short LivesYoung English painter Christopher Wood arrives in Paris in 1921 set on becoming the next great master. By day he studies; by night he attends parties with Picasso and Cocteau before paying too high a price for success. Richard Hilary, a confident if unprincipled Spitfire pilot, is suffering from terrible burns after being shot down. But the operations to restore him haven't deterred him from returning to action. And Jeremy Wolfenden, the cleverest of his set at All Souls College, leaves it all behind to report on the Cold War. But his louche private life makes him a plaything for the intelligent services, taking him on a fateful journey between East and West.
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So, NOT a nomination, but I suspect a few people here might like it and not know about it.
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Who else is considering a nomination?
Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (Roman Clodia)
The Secrets of Grown-Ups (1981) by Vera Caspary (Jan C)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Susan)
The Prestige by Christopher Priest (SueLucie)
An author who has been on my mind since I read his obituary very recently. Perhaps his best known novel since it was made into a film, directed by Christopher Nolan.The Prestige
Christopher PriestIn 1878, two young stage magicians clash in the dark during the course of a fraudulent séance. From this moment on, their lives become webs of deceit and revelation as they vie to outwit and expose one another.
Their rivalry will take them to the peaks of their careers, but with terrible consequences. In the course of pursuing each other's ruin, they will deploy all the deception their magicians' craft can command--the highest misdirection and the darkest science.
Blood will be spilled, but it will not be enough. In the end, their legacy will pass on for generations...to descendants who must, for their sanity's sake, untangle the puzzle left to them.
I won't be nominating this month. I have my choices.
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There were detractors who tried to goad Chaplin about his citizenship. This resulted in some very good news sound bites. Chaplin was much more than a film entertainer.
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"I don't think I've ever seen a Charlie Chaplin film (I know!) but am hugely struck by how different he looked in real life from that cover than the David Suchet/Poirot figure I have in my head. I also thought he was American"
🤠
Everything you have written there had me chuckling in disbelief
You're amazing RC
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Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (Roman Clodia)
The Secrets of Grown-Ups (1981) by Vera Caspary (Jan C)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Susan)
The Prestige by Christopher Priest (SueLucie)
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You're amazing RC"
Mr RC says to you 👏 and welcome to my world!
I will nominate Half a Lifelong Romance
Why? It has been on my wishlist for sometime and I thought it was different to other suggestions.
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As a responsible parent I made sure we had Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, and Marx Brothers DVDs to educate the kids into the wonderful world of vintage cinema when they were young.
The silent era L&H + Chaplin films still really work well, especially with young kids who find them hilarious. Stan and Ollie will always be the best for me (of the early cinema), though the Marx Brothers also rule supreme (of the slightly later era).
I remember watching the old silent 'comedies', but never found them funny - Chaplin, Keaton, Laurel and Hardy. I was more of a Round the Horne and Navy Lark fan.
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Nor me, or Buster Keaton. Never heard of Harold Lloyd. Have a vague idea that George Formby played a ukelele? My dad once forced me to watch a Laurel & Hardy film, something about a ladder (?) - I thought it was silly but pretended to laugh to keep my dad happy.
Susan and I were clearly both curled up happily with Malory Towers and Agatha Christie 😊
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I'll add that I read all the Malory Towers books and plenty of Christie too as a child.
Rosina wrote:
"I was more of a Round the Horne and Navy Lark fan."
Love it Rosina - a good 10 years before my time but I've heard them subsequently
No Goons though?
My Dad absolutely loved The Goons. I used to watch Spike M on TV in the 70s and 80s but he was past his best by then. The Pythons had stolen his thunder
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Most of the TV you mention are not familiar to me. I remember Laurel & Hardy though I wasn’t a huge fan. I was too serious for The Three Stooges that my younger brother thought were hilarious.
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Buffy? Friends? Ab Fab? My brother's treasured recordings of something called The Young Ones with Rick Mayall and Ade Edmonson who was married to Jennifer Saunders?
My office-mate is always showing me clips from Monty Python - he can't believe I've never seen them either.
Hurrah for Malory Towers though. All those midnight feasts with tinned sardines and pineapple chunks!
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Everyone of a certain age loved The Young Ones though it’s not dated well. The Comic Strip Presents was great too. Coincidentally I’ve just read Ade Edmondson’s autobiography. Very enjoyable it was too
Ab Fab was ab fabulous. I was way too old for Buffy. Friends was enjoyable enough but again feels quite recent
Well this is quite an interesting conversation! I grew up with Laurel and Hardy and The Three Stooges, came of age with Monty Python, and came to appreciate Charlie Chaplin and to love Ab Fab as an adult. (Monty Python was the biggest influence--I can't imagine what life would be without their perspective.)
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Also agree with all you’ve written there Kathleen
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Or do we have all our nominations?
Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (Roman Clodia)
The Secrets of Grown-Ups (1981) by Vera Caspary (Jan C)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Susan)
The Prestige by Christopher Priest (SueLucie)
Nigeyb wrote: "So back to the nominations, who else is nominating?Or do we have all our nominations?
I added a nomination post 25, it got lost in the comedy programmes gossip.
Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (R..."
Mod
I've not heard of that book, or that writer. Both look very intriguing
Any more nominations?
Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (Roman Clodia)
The Secrets of Grown-Ups (1981) by Vera Caspary (Jan C)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Susan)
The Prestige by Christopher Priest (SueLucie)
Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang (Sonia)
This discussion of early film stars makes me feel ancient! Most of those oldies listed above were staples of my childhood TV watching, along with WC Fields, Mae West, and Abbott and Costello. Some of the more "recent" (and British) shows mentioned are not that known to me. Would love to read the Chaplin book.
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Nominations so far....
My Autobiography (1964) by Charlie Chaplin (Nigeyb)
The Fight by Norman Mailer (Roman Clodia)
The Secrets of Grown-Ups (1981) by Vera Caspary (Jan C)
The Fatal Englishman: Three Short Lives by Sebastian Faulks (Susan)
The Prestige by Christopher Priest (SueLucie)
Half a Lifelong Romance by Eileen Chang (Sonia)
Young Man with a Horn by Dorothy Baker (Brian)
I rarely nominate but I think I can come up with something that fits in the May category. Hmm.After being greatly impressed by Dorothy Baker's Cassandra at the Wedding I have been interested in reading her earlier novel, Young Man with a Horn, published in 1938.
It's described on the back cover of the NYRB edition, which Goodreads then lifted, as:
Dorothy Baker’s Young Man with a Horn is widely regarded as the first jazz novel, and it pulses with the music that defined an era. Baker took her inspiration from the artistry—though not the life—of legendary horn player Bix Beiderbecke, and the novel went on to be adapted into a successful movie starring Kirk Douglas, Lauren Bacall, and Doris Day.
So unless the moderators plan a "music" themed novel month in the near future, or the group recently did such a theme and I happened to miss it, I would like to nominate:
Young Man with a Horn
by Dorothy Baker
There are so many good nominations for May.
Barbara wrote: "This discussion of early film stars makes me feel ancient! Most of those oldies listed above were staples of my childhood TV watching, along with WC Fields, Mae West, and Abbott and Costello. Some ..."I'm with Barbara. Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin, Our Gang were staples of my youth. Imagine my surprise when my mother told me she was in an Our Gang film when quite young. All she could remember was having been in a baby carriage and one of the kids was Benny (Ben Alexander?). I later caught up with Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton (my fave).
Late to the discussion.
Reading the 20th Century
Books mentioned in this topic
On Boxing (other topics)Magnolia, 木蘭 (other topics)
The Executioner's Song (other topics)
The Fight (other topics)
The Silent Clowns (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Nina Mingya Powles (other topics)Walter Kerr (other topics)
Dorothy Baker (other topics)
Christopher Priest (other topics)
Vera Caspary (other topics)
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Please supply the title, author, a brief synopsis, and anything else you'd like to mention about the book, and why you think it might make a good book to discuss.
Happy nominating