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Backcloth
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Based on personal letters, notebooks and diaries, 'Blackcloth' explores the patterns of happiness and pain that have made up his life. From the busy, eccentric family home in Hampstead to a secluded farmhouse in Provence.
'Backcloth' highlights the people, emotions and experiences that forged the man from the child. Written with all the honesty, wit and intelligence that ha ...more
'Backcloth' highlights the people, emotions and experiences that forged the man from the child. Written with all the honesty, wit and intelligence that ha ...more
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Mass Market Paperback, 313 pages
Published
1987
by Penguin
(first published 1986)
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Dirk Bogarde was my hero, I simply loved the man. I devoured all his autobiographies and will continue to re- read them over the years. His writing is touching,tinged with romantic longing and sadness. His descriptions of life as an actor during his Rank days is insightful and funny. He was a true romantic and learning about his life in his own words was a pure joy.
A short extract from His memoirs, which are beautifully but simply written. This part deals with the end of the Second World War. It's hard to believe that such a good actor was also such a good writer.
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I really enjoyed all of Dirk Bogarde's books. I read them a long time ago, so forget the details, but a good idea to start with the first one, "A Postillion Struck by Lightning" This series is autobiographical. I love France and he spent a many years living there. Thoroughly entertaining.
Others in this series are (in order):
2/ Snakes and Ladders
3/ An Orderley Man
4/Backcloth
5/A Short Walk from Harrods
6/Cleared for Take Off ...more
Others in this series are (in order):
2/ Snakes and Ladders
3/ An Orderley Man
4/Backcloth
5/A Short Walk from Harrods
6/Cleared for Take Off ...more
Wonderful actor. Authentic writer. Moving read.
Even though this is Volume 4, it is more of a follow up to Dirk's inaugural autobiography. Backcloth provides additional insights on his childhood and significantly expands upon his time in the military. The last chapters touch on more contemporary times, and the challenges of aging. A must read for fans.
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The Life of a soldier. After the last weeks of war in Germany, he finds himself in Asia. Okay, but not better. 5/10
I first 'discovered' Dirk Bogarde after reading Thomas Mann's Death in Venice and then watching the movie starring Bogarde as Gustave Aschenbach. The movie was rather true to the book and Bogarde's performance perfectly captured my mind's eye view of the story. An unusual but pleasing experience. So recently, when I 'discovered' a copy of Backcloth, I was impressed that Bogarde, after turning down Hollywood roles and refusing a 'marriage of convenience' to make American viewers happy, became a b
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Picked this up at the Silver Point hotel in Barbados for a quick beach read. This was a really interesting subtle story about racism during WW2. Bogarde spins a tale of how one of his non-British US troops, despite acting valiantly was unable to reep the rewards of a full soldier. His characters are rich and fully developed. You get a real sense that of the unfairness of that period; and that this unfairness was not entirely unrecognized by those that had to adhere to these norms. A great period
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The fourth in Dirk Bogarde's autobiographical sequence. The gaps from the first three are filled in during the course of this book and there is further more recent information up to the time of writing (around 1984).
This series of books really is worth seeking out, as Bogarde has an entertaining style and he doesn't shirk from some rather traumatic remembrances, many of which are contained in this volume. ...more
This series of books really is worth seeking out, as Bogarde has an entertaining style and he doesn't shirk from some rather traumatic remembrances, many of which are contained in this volume. ...more
Not too bad. A good quick read.
Enjoyable.
Nice little bit of a memoir.
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Dirk Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde was born of mixed Flemish, Dutch and Scottish ancestry, and baptised on 30 October 1921 at St. Mary's Church, Kilburn. His father, Ulric van den Bogaerde (born in Perry Barr, Birmingham; 1892–1972), was the art editor of The Times and his mother, Margaret Niven (1898–1980), was a former actress. He attended University College School, the former Allan
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