This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Uncle uncle uncle (talk | contribs) at 21:11, 6 February 2012 (26 October 2011 - Reply). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.
Revision as of 21:11, 6 February 2012 by Uncle uncle uncle (talk | contribs) (26 October 2011 - Reply)(diff) ← Previous revision | Latest revision (diff) | Newer revision → (diff) Retired This user is no longer active on Misplaced Pages.One despairs, one really does. --Dianna (talk) 20:56, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
- Is there an Italian word for someone who constantly retires in a huff? In English, we just use "diva." --MZMcBride (talk) 20:59, 6 February 2012 (UTC)
26 October 2011 - Reply
I was just typing this reply to a query back in October and got an edit conflict.
The Catherine de Burgh User:Catherine de Burgh/Catherine Bonkbuster page reminded me of "Lady Addle Remembers" but when I reread my Lady Addle I saw that except for the theme, timeline, photos, and much else that the two women are quite different, although that is to be expected as "Lady Addle Remembers" is a work of fiction. You can see the difference in this paragraph from "Lady Addle Remembers" pages 10-12: This delicate fastidiousness she inherited from my grandmother, the Duchess of Droitwich who always wore white kid gloves in the house because of a rooted aversion from touching anything that had been fingered by the servants. She only removed them when she wanted to touch her husband or children. One morning, however, she absent-mindedly walked into his dressing-room while he was getting up and found that he was being dressed by the butler, and thereafter she wore gloves even when alone with the Duke. My father was a bit of a martinet and insisted on our being educated. We had, besides our English governess, a French Mademoiselle for French, a German Fraulein for German, an Italian Signora for Italian, a Spanish Senorita for Spanish, and a Russian lady who took the dogs out. Uncle uncle uncle 16:41, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
I really think that my beloved cousin, Lady Addle, will be of little interest to Misplaced Pages's editors - not a crowd noted for their understanding of the finer points of life. When darling Blanche left us, panache left the world with her. As for you - one thing my dearest amd much belated mother always taught me was to beware of men wanting to be called "uncle"! Now, did you want something or are you here only to atract attention to yourself? The Countess of Scrotum (De facto) (talk) 21:47, 26 October 2011 (UTC)
As far as I remember, I had noticed the resemblance to Lady Addle and mentioned it - Frank Muir wrote "The Oxford Book of Humorous Prose" which is where I first read Lady Addle.
Similar faux memoirs which I like are:
"Augustus Carp, Esq., By Himself: Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man" Augustus_Carp,_Esq. is a story of "a self-aggrandizing, stuffy, puritanical oaf, who indulges in numerous vices in the name of Christianity, rationalizing his own weaknesses while condemning others for the same acts." according to an Amazon.com reviewer. The real author published the book anonymously - but he eventually revealed himself to be the doctor of George VI.
"Diary of a Nobody" Diary_of_a_nobody which is gentler and possibly funnier than Lady Addle. Described as a "gentle, loving, intricately detailed, and acute (but never hostile) evocation of late-Victorian London" according to someone on Amazon.com who writes better than I do.
"The Life and Death of Rochester Sneath" H._Rochester_Sneath the author "sent letters to real people (harasses them, if you will), in this case in the guise of a nonexistent headmaster of an equally nonexistent public school. The book consists of a collection of those letters and the various (real) responses received. Many notable British figures, such as George Bernard Shaw and Sir Andrian Boult, sent replies to Sneath's importunate letters, which asked them to speak at an annual celebration (Shaw) and conduct the school orchestra (Boult). Both men, need I say, declined the honor." Humphry Berkely Humphry_Berkeley the author was expelled from school for two years - but eventually finished and went on to elected to Parliment.