Bright Side

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Much of the book involves celebrity name-dropping and this gets tiresome, even as Idle admits to it. The book could have been quite a bit shorter, which would have increased its relative amount of interesting material, if Idle had worked with a collaborator to edit these name-drops. He says in the book that he’s a better rewriter than writer, and the book shows it. A few of said celebrities, notably George Harrison, were friends, and these parts of the book have real depth and show witty yet caring exchanges between the men. But, for example, who cares that Harrison introduced him to Eric Clapton once? Or a list of all the famous guys that he partied with? Interestingly, his relationship with his wife is rather glossed over, and it seems like he has more in common with his buddies. Though he mentions her several times, it’s mostly to say she’s a hot model. Both Graham and John refused to run across the bridge that spans "the Gorge of Eternal Peril." To be fair, the Bridge of Death was terrifying. It was erected by Everest mountaineer Hamish McInnes and his local mountain rescue team. I for one certainly would never have crossed it, but fortunately my character Robin was killed before I had to. Immediately, there’s a chemistry that comes alive between them. Kate tries to suppress her intensifying feelings for him, but the more she gets to know him, the more she falls for everything about him. He’s smart, funny, caring, but also a bit of a mystery. The truth is, both Keller and Kate are keeping secrets. The kind of secrets that can change everything. “My life will not follow a fairy tale, and that’s okay. My life is reality. And in my reality people don’t fall in love and get married and live happily ever after, because life is complicated. And messy.”

Bright Side: Holden, Kim, Parpal, Monica: 9780991140237

If you love Python, or saw the title of this book and began to whistle, or just know him as the guy from the Figment ride at DisneyWorld, you can’t go wrong with this one. It’s entertaining, hilarious, and insightful. Highly recommended. Hendrik and his best friend Evert continue to get up to mischief – their stirring of trouble delights the group. Well something has to brighten their day, doesn’t it! With death getting closer to them all, a lot of the residents spend time going to funerals. But Hendrik no longer goes – he’ll be at his own soon enough he thinks!

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Tanztee“ ist ein Roman der nicht durch eine besondere Spannung lebt, sondern durch facettenreiche Alltagssituationen aus Hendriks außergewöhnlicher Sichtweise an Reiz gewinnen. I encountered the song before I saw the movie. My first year in high school we had a headmaster who always started the assemblies with a piece of classical music. One day the seventh form decided to sabotage him and swapped out his chosen piece of pompous boredom for "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life". My enduring memory of this occasion is the majority of the other teachers trying not to laugh out loud. Few succeeded. So in general I enjoyed this book and learnt a lot along the way. Yes there were sections where I was worried I would lose interest but thankfully they did not last long and another chapter would open up in front of me.

Bright Side - Kim Holden - Google Books

This book is so well written and although its subject is perhaps difficult to imaging being so entertaining and witty, the author brings it to life with charm. As one Goodreads reviewer says, "She wasn't writing about Covid, but the timing's perfect." This theme was echoed in a cover endorsement from Plum Johnson -- author of my favourite books of 2015, "They Left Us Everything" (reviewed here) -- who called it "the perfect antidote to a tough year." As soon as I read a review of "The Bright Side" by Canadian journalist Cathrin Bradbury, I knew I had to get my hands on a copy.

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As you can tell from the title, the main achievement of his was the song, Always Look on the Bright Side of Life that he wrote for Monty Pythons’ Life of Brian. It has become a part of life around the world. It is the number one piece played at funerals in the UK, for example. Sports fans sing it loud when their team is losing. What would Spamalot have been without it? It’s the Greensleeves of the 21st century. The New Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 85 Years Old is his diary for 2015 detailing his life in a care home in Amsterdam. This book follows on from The Secret Diary of Hendrik Groen, 83 ¼ Years Old, which was his 2013 diary. Hendrik did NOT publish a diary for 2014. This book can be read as a stand-alone and covers similar ground to the first book. Hendrik Groen is 85 years of age in this, his second episode of life in the slow lane, living in the care home in Amsterdam and writing in his diary daily with his various exploits. The Old-But-Not-Dead Club is still going strong, although one or two members have left – a couple of new things have also been added to their agenda. Going to different restaurants every three weeks for a culture change; and the planning of a trip away, where the eight elderly members will stay overnight in a hotel for two nights.

Bright Side: Twelve Months, Three Heartbreaks, and The Bright Side: Twelve Months, Three Heartbreaks, and

I must say, I’ve never been one for clubs but if I’m fortunate enough to get to the ripe old age of 86 or thereabouts, I would absolutely jump at the chance to join the Old-But-Not-Dead Club. Their sheer determination to keep living life to the fullest does really prove that age is nothing but a number as they keep broadening their horizons, stay active as best as they can, laugh and have a good time. We also begin to see some chapters in Keller’s perspective, and we experience how he fell in love with Kate. He too, tries to stay away for reasons of his own, but he can’t help but love Kate’s personality, her edginess, her kindness and feistiness. “Then it hits me how beautiful this woman is. Like a freight train it hits me…everything about her is beautiful…What the hell just happened? I feel like I’ve been asleep for years and I’ve only just woken up.” It reminds me of the Peter Cook-Dudley Moore sketch Bloody Greta Garbo. It’s too absurd to be remotely true, but that’s the life of Eric Idle. He says. The best parts of the book are about Idle’s relationship with the other Pythons. Although he gets a bit judgmental, it is clear that he really loves his old collaborators. Or at least most of them—as happens in most groups. Idle’s difficult childhood memories are revealing, and the story of how he comes to humor in his life is thought provoking. Discourses on his many projects and productions show the breadth of Idle’s talent, and give the reader a complete list of his movies to watch. Attempts to make something of life in 2016 won the Audience Award for the Dutch Book. This prize was not personally collected by the author.

I got my copy of this at a book-signing in my hometown. It was a big event by local standards, billed as a conversation between Idle and Naperville’s own Bob Odenkirk (of Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul fame). It was quite an enjoyable evening. Idle, who is now 75 years old, is still razor sharp and can still deliver the laughs. I’ll remember that next time I’m chewing on life’s gristle. THIS BOOK! You. Must. Read. It. It's beautiful. Heart-wrenching." -Colleen Hoover, #1 New York Times bestselling author Most of all, in a year when so much is upside down for so many of us, I found her honest memoir so validating. We all live with uncertainty, are mired in periods of dread, deal with dead end relationships at one point or another- Bradbury lived through a year heaped and shaped by much all at once and survived. Now this was exceptional! I have always loved the Monty Python boys, and their work, but if hard pressed I would usually declare myself a Michael Palin girl. Palin's diaries of the Python years, by the way, are a great read as well. It's really difficult to say too much about the story without giving much away; it's written in a funny, yet touching and moving way. It is insightful into the life of many elderly people, and although I'm quite a long way off retirement, it does make you ponder slightly about your future care and of your parents/grandparents.