How Many Camels Are There in Holland?

by Phyllida Law

The charming, funny successor to the hugely popular 'Notes to my Mother-in-Law', from the inimitable Phyllida Law. When her Uncle Arthur dies, actress Phyllida Law returns to the tiny Scottish village of Ardentinny to look after her ma, Mego. Mego's always been deliciously dotty. She once put a new packet of tights in the fridge (and the bacon in her sock drawer). But Mego's older now and becoming ever more muddled. So Phyllida devotes herself to looking after Mego, but not without the help of friends, local villagers, and her two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson: pulling together, they maintain order in the cottage, find Delia on the telly and keep Mego's spirits up-with a G&T if all else fails. Somehow, Phyllida even manages to slip away on acting jaunts in Glasgow and Italy. Running through Phyllida's account of Mego's final months are the anecdotes, memories and legends that form the fabric of every family. Phyllida's account captures the warmth and tenderness of two generations of daughters brought together to care for their much-loved mother and grandmother.

(Waterstones.com)

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Biography Memoir, Family, Mental Health

208 pages, Hardcover

First published February 1, 2013

Reviews

[Kristin · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a handful of chapters to catch on to the writing style, but once I did, I loved it. Touching, heartfelt, sad, funny...all the feels. It hits home as I have always feared dementia/Alzheimers.

[Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely tale of anecdotes and memories of Phyllida Law’s (Emma and Sophie Thompson’s mum) last few months with her mother and her dementia. Funny, charming and poignant read.

[Triinu · Rating 2 out of 5]

Minu arvamuse leiab blogist https://triinuraamatud.wordpress.com/...

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bitter sweet and often darkly comic memoir by Actress Phyllida Law of the final months of her mother's life, whose glorious eccentricities gradually fade into a real and frightening dementia. Illustrated with her own watercolours the book is part journal, part anecdotal, but the overall effect is a courageous celebration of life.

[Damaskcat · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this a funny, heart -warming and poignant read. Phyllida Law returned home to look after her mother when her mental capacity started to deteriorate and this book is the story of the changes both she and her mother had to go through while her mother’s Alzheimer’s disease progressed.

It is never easy for anyone to try and put their life on hold to look after someone else but sometimes, as the author shows, it can have its amusing moments as well as its more frightening aspects. Having to get up in the night several times because her mother thought it was breakfast time proved to be the least of the author’s worries. Trying to have conversations with someone who cannot grasp the simplest piece of information becomes an everyday nightmare of misunderstandings and repetitions.

Through it all the author found herself mislaying her car keys among other important objects and she was forced to wonder about her own brain and whether she was heading in the same direction as her mother. Trying to organise her own working life at the same time as ensuring her mother had the care she needed in her own absences was also a minefield as her mother frequently did not understand why she was going away.

I liked the staccato style of the writing in this book and loved the black and white drawings which display well in my e-book edition. I think this a book I shall return to time after time for its humour and its down to earth picture of looking after a relative with dementia.

[Pam · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise of this book outweighed my actual enjoyment of it. A pretty book, interesting and topical subject matter, written by well known actor, Phyllida Law, I was so looking forward to it. Initially I found it very confusing as the writing was all over the place. I did enjoy the latter part of the book more, maybe when I had some inkling of how the writer thinks plus there were some very funny anecdotes. The title refers to a question you may be asked if you are suspected of having Alzheimer's.

[Debbie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Several years ago, I greatly enjoyed Law’s Notes to My Mother-in-Law. A sweet & short memoir of sorts, written in the titular notes by the author to her mother-in-law, who was hard of hearing and yet wanted the day’s news and arrangements, it was a short and charming read. Both women sounded like people I’d like to know, and Phyllida’s respect and affection for her mother-in-law were evident.

In How Many Camels Law recounts the final months of caring for her mother, who suffered from Alzheimer’s, in the tiny Scottish village of Ardentinny – with the help of friends, local villagers, and her two daughters, actresses Emma and Sophie Thompson. Amazon says that running through the account are “anecdotes, memories and legends that form the fabric of every family.”

Unfortunately when I tried to read it a couple of years ago, I got no further than the first chapter and just couldn’t make sense of it. That probably says more about my state of mind at the time than it does about the book.

[Seili · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ma nii tahtsin et see mulle meeldiks. Jah oli kohti ka ja üldiselt selline soe ja armas aga esimene osa oli nii palju parem... See meeldis mulle kõvasti rohkem. Et teema iseenesest on ju tõesti kurb ja sügav ja see, milliste naljadega kõige selle sees elati on vapramast vapper aga ikkgi...

Väga hüplev ja kohati kuidagi teemast nii välja ja kõik need nimed, mis mulle midagi ei ütelnud ja siis teatab autor, et ei teadnud Kenau Reevesi nimelist näitlejat, oeh.... :D

Ühesõnaga, maitse asi. Mõte oli hea aga teostuse kallal ma nuriseks.
Tõlge on muidugi suurepärane, selle kohta ei ütle midagi halba :)

[Sydne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow. It took me some pages to figure where I was and get used to the quirkiness and slight chuckle in Phyllida's storytelling, and then it was such a wonderful ride. Yes, heartwrenching at times, and it ends very abruptly (as life does in most cases!), but the sparkle of the person that Phyllida must be is shining through all the time. Truly loved this. Wish she had written much more (and will seek out her other book now!)

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet, and sad, and a spare dry writing style. I wish Phyllida Law had written more books. It comes with bonus tidbits from the making of Much Ado About Nothing woven in as she leaves her caregiving several times to film scenes.

[Anca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heart breaking. Beyond word. Light and heavy at the same time. Light and humorous and deep. I'll never think of this the same way again.

[Mandy · Rating 3 out of 5]

These are diary entries regarding the writer caring for her mother, and her writings can be stecatto and short, and unexplained - who is Mildew for example? And they can be heart-rendingly moving.

[Reelika Raimet · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://raamaturiiulike.wordpress.com...

[Pille Piho · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://pilleraamatujakassiga.blogspo...

[Nele · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mulle tegelikult meeldis see raamat. Aga… mitte eesti keeles. Palju läks tõlkes kaduma, eriti seda kuiva briti huumorit. Nii et lugege, aga originaali!

[Aimi Tedresalu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Se raamat meeldis natuke rohkem kui sama autori "Märkmed minu ämmale". Tegelikult on mõlema teema ju nukralt valus, kuid millegipärast ei istu mulle autori kirjutamisstiil. Ega selliseid asju saagi ise tervet mõistust säilitada tahtes muudmoodi kui läbi huumoriprisma vaadata, kuid see inglise huumoriprisma ei ole pigem minu teetassike.

[Alison Christie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rather chaotic. Sometimes sad or funny. Likely a realistic description of supporting a parent with Alzheimer’s.

[Karen Plummer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phyllida Law has written three memoirs and I'm reading this one out of order mostly because it deals with her mother and dementia. My dad has Alzheimer's and I was interested in learning how other people coped as caretakers. So much of what happened to her mother is happening to my dad now and it was both hilarious and heart-wrenching at the same time. I cried along with Phyllida as she lost the mother that she knew and ached with her frustrations at trying to care for someone who's so lost in their mind where past and present are mixed up in convoluted ways.

This is a short book and the author's style is all over the place, but I enjoyed it immensely and will probably read it again. For me, her writing style is very stream of consciousness but still conversational and many readers might not enjoy that. The illustrations are lovely.

[Margaret · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very moving

[Sheila · Rating 2 out of 5]

I bought this book after listening to a really amusing and great talk about dementia by Phyllida Law about her mother along with Emma Thompson her daughter and Mego's (the character's) grand daughter. I therefore expected the book to carry on in the same vein, I was, however, very disappointed. The brief scenarios about Mego's life were occasionally a little amusing or touching but were on the whole very disjointed making for an interesting insight into dementia but not a very absorbing or compulsive read for the reader. Easy to put down and not very memorable at the end of the day.

[Rennie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am pretty sure few of us could handle things as well as the daughters in this story did when their mother/grandmother develops some mental health issues. I really could not put it down although I did skim a bit of the theatrical detail. It was both funny and heart-warming -yes I know - it makes you think of the Waltons but it is the right word. A good book for mothers and daughters to read.

[V A Hobbs · Rating 1 out of 5]

Missing pages

Low rating because of missing pages in the kindle download, loved other books by ms law , but unless this is a new form of literature where the reader fills in the gaps, not impressed with it at all anyone else had this problem?

[Ronaé Fagon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very sweet, funny at times. Phyllida writes in the same way she speaks. true insite to the humor and inconsistencies of living with a parent with dementia.
Phyllida's life is pretty awesome.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful snapshot of a family - and it moved me to tears.

[callan una · Rating 4 out of 5]

A sometimes funny, often thought provoking and rather melancholy book.

[Emma Dargue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stunning diary\journal of phyllida law's journey of looking after her mum through dementia. In this book there were bits that made me laugh and bits that made me well up. Just brilliant!

[Susan Pilkington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely book. Touching and sad,but done with love and a brilliant sense of humour.

[Dreda Corlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Camel number 75 was not impressed.

[Angela · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, I really did. I found it too boring to continue, and I know that may sound terrible given the subject matter but I found her writing to be sleep inducing.