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Strange as it is, I read James' fragment of an autobiography before I read any of her fiction. My father had met her aboard an ocean liner and as they got to know one another, James recommended that he give me a copy of Time to Be In Earnest. I enjoyed it because it gave me ideas of how an autobiography might be shaped, should I ever want to write one myself. The approach James took, that of keeping a diary that then led her when appropriate to comment on past events of her life, was interesting and made perfect sense. I did enjoy reading about the daily activities of such a famous personage, the meals out, the talks given, the places visited. I appreciated how her approach to autobiography allowed her complete control over what she chose to share and what she chose to keep private. Her musings on the art of fiction were also thought-provoking.
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I've never read a P.D. James book before; I've only seen the adaptions on TV of her Adam Dalgliesh mysteries, however since reading this fragment of autobiography I am a new and loyal fan of her writing. This book takes one year of Ms. James's life and lets us in to know her points of view, her dislikes, insights into how she writes and what she thinks are the key elements for creating a detective story, along with the busiest schedule I've ever seen for a 77 year old (although she is now 89 and still writing bestsellers).
Ms. James's love of Victoriana and all things connected with that era comes through both in her writing and speech but also in her thoughts on the world. As a fellow fan of this era I immediately knew I'd found an inspirational and wonderful writer from whom I can glean a better look into the human psyche through her insightful words and observations. During the writing of this book, Ms. James was promoting her newest novel at the time, "A Certain Justice". This is where I have started in reading her works and as a gentle warning, once you pick them up, they are very hard to put down!
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Samuel Johnson famously said that 'at 77 it is time to be in earnest' and P.D. James is. She has not been a diarist but for this book she forced herself to become one. The book consists of a year's worth of diary with flashbacks and memories of the past. Structuring an autobiography is far more difficult and far more problematic than it may at first appear. Her solution here is certainly novel. Superficially, the book is an account of a year's events--speeches, book tours, lunches, and so on, but ultimately it explores the key events and key individuals of her life, with all the tears and joys attached. She evokes a vivid sense of the war and what it was like to bear and protect infants then; she speaks of her beloved husband's struggles with mental illness, the fact that she was forced to support the family and do so by wending her way through a government career after taking what Americans would think of as a continuing ed program at the City University in London. She is so literate, so polished, and so well educated that it is hard to believe that she lacks a formal college education. Her success as a writer came relatively 'easily', though that is always a relative term. It came early, but it did not come without great labor.
Time to Be in Earnest includes wonderful reflections on the craft of writing and the specific culture of crime writing and interesting anecdotes about such household names as Ruth Rendell and Iris Murdoch. Phyllis James/Baroness James knows everyone and speaks of them honestly and in detail. She also tells us about her cat (named for Johnson's cat, Hodge), which I found more interesting than I expected. I loved her comments on modern culture--on travel, on cell phones, on education, on political correctness, political personages (including the Blairs) and such unexpected pleasures as an account of what it is like to spend the night at Chatsworth. In all of these matters she is scrupulously honest and scrupulously frank. The impact on her of Johnson and of the Jane Austen of the letters as well as the novels is clear.
This is a delightful book and you do not need to be a fan of P.D. James's crime fiction (she would say detective fiction) to enjoy it. It is a very English book in every way, but it is also pure Horatio Alger--relatively poor woman hungry for butter during the war becomes Baroness James of Holland Park and doesn't change a great deal in the process. I had the great pleasure of meeting her once and talking to her for a few minutes. She is absolutely the genuine article--kind, direct, real with a capital R and authentic with a capital A. The book conveys that, without any arrogance and without any pretense. Read it and love her.
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I've enjoyed all of P. D. James' fiction works, but found the fragment of autobiography interesting, but a bit tedious. The book is interesting in that her life is filled with drama, trials, and turmoil; tedious in the multiple social and literary events that are recited. I can only surmise that the author herself really was not interested in keeping the diary and found it tiresome.
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As a long-time fan of PD James, I was eager to read her fragment of an autobiography. Upon finishing it, I regretted reading it. This esteemed author reveals a bit too much about her extremely right-wing politics, her puzzling infatuation with rank and privilege, and her obsessive nature. I didn't count the number of speeches and signings she did in her 78th year, but the number would be staggering. She seems unable to refuse any request to be honored and fawned over. Of course, her obsessive nature is useful in crime fiction, I suppose. And her prose remains the model of clarity. I still love her work and will go on reading it, but I will have to make an effort to separate my negative impression of the woman.
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