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S'està carregant… Splendour & Squalor: The Disgrace and Disintegration of Three Aristocratic Dynastiesde Marcus Scriven
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Apunta't a LibraryThing per saber si aquest llibre et pot agradar. No hi ha cap discussió a Converses sobre aquesta obra. I bought and read this book based on an interview with the author on Late Night Live. Its a very well written, and well researched story of the decline of the FitzGeralds, Herveys, and Montagus. And its often very funny. But I was left feeling a bit dirty and squalid myself. Because essentially this is literary tittle tattle. So all of these families had eccentric members who frittered away their inheritances on alcohol, drugs, exhibitionism and general incompetence and stupidity. Its an entertaining story but what business is it of mine? Its their money, why not fritter it away if they want to? I might feel differently if I was a member of the family, but I am not, so what business is it of mine? I felt like a voyeur at a Daily Mail sponsored aristocratic knees up. Ultimately the 4 aristocrats featured were all in need of professional help. They didn't get it, or rejected it and the ensuing chaos is really more of a personal tragedy than entertainment. This is an entertaining book but you may end up, like me, feeling more depressed than titillated ( ) Taken from my review of this book on Amazon: I found this book too crashingly boring to want to waste my time even to finish it. I forced myself to plow through the first 'Book' on Edward Fitzgerald, Duke of Leinster, then chucked the whole thing. Feel free to discount this review that is based on only a partial reading on that account. The writing style was not to my taste. The narrative, if you could call it that, seemed diffuse and disorganized. The author did not seem to have a clue how to organize the material so as to provide pace or drama. Perhaps the first person the author featured was ill chosen for drawing in the reader. Perhaps the others depicted in the book are more interesting. I'll never know. I was reading the Kindle version, which lacked the illustrations. Including them might have made some difference to holding my interest, though I doubt they would have redeemed the book enough for me to want to continue reading. Sense ressenyes | afegeix-hi una ressenya
Premis
From stately homes and prisons to the House of Lords and Edwardian asylums--the stories, spanning the 20th century, of the disintegrating fortunes of three of Britain's most illustrious aristocratic dynasties and the scapegraces responsible Splendour & Squalor traces the disintegration of three aristocratic dynasties through the twentieth century: families who seemingly had everything yet decided to take 'the down-escalator of life.' They include the Montagus, Dukes of Manchester, who had once employed Vanburgh--creator of Blenheim Palace, Churchill's birthplace--to remodel their principal family seat, Kimbolton Cast≤ shortly before the outbreak of World War II, the Montagus oversaw further renovation--converting the Kimbolton chapel into a bar, and stocking it with glasses decorated with 'pornography of the most interesting kind,' for the benefit of guests like the restless, bisexual Duke of Kent, younger brother of George VI. Four consecutive generations of the family went to jail. The Herveys, Marquesses of Bristol, went inside too, although John Bristol (7th Marquess of Bristol, born 1954; died 1999) spent most of his time investing his inheritance in helicopters, heroin, and--for strictly recreational purposes--handcuffs: a blazing quest for self-gratification which led him into the company of Andy Warhol and Mick Jagger. Splendour & Squalor offers a riveting insight into the disintegration of a once seemingly impregnable elite. The resultant portrait is the authentic Downton Abbey--stripped of gloss, mythology and sentiment, and brought mercilessly up-to-date. No s'han trobat descripcions de biblioteca. |
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Google Books — S'està carregant… GèneresClassificació Decimal de Dewey (DDC)941.08History and Geography Europe British Isles Historical periods of British Isles 1837- Period of Victoria and House of WindsorLCC (Clas. Bibl. Congrés EUA)ValoracióMitjana:
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