Autobiographies and memoirs have this effect on me, an effect that I realise sometimes makes me appear a little bit odd. But they make me feel like I know the author, as if I could refer to them in conversation like we are good friends and not some overly attached avid reader. I worry because for example when conversation at the pub gets a bit drab I retreat back to the book and the adventurous lives others have had.
(I just read this back and I am leaving it unedited, yet I seem rather mental but at least I am not content talking about new bus seats or something.)
Lynn Barber's An Education made me feel liked i'd skipped an era, as if this was my life and everyone else's. But not all of us attract an older lover who could whisk us away to Paris, the finest restaurants and concerts, things I wouldn't have even dreamed of at 16. But it wasn't that I wished it was me, it was the writing. Lynn's beautifully sentimental way of showing behind the ink and paper, the waiting for stories, the longing to see family all intertwined in the excitement of being in the perfect place at the perfect time are all situations that are a rare occurrence now and that is what I was jealous of .
I don't want to ruin the book or the film, nor is this a review but the way in which Penthouse, yes Penthouse! formed seemed so alluring, the quick rush of being a part of something small that has become so big. Here in the present day it is getting harder and harder to create something new, something unseen, but reliving in Lynn's words the creation and growth all from a house is amazing and I highly recommend everyone take them time to get An Education.
Buy it here: An Education
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