What do you think?
Rate this book
Pleasures of a Tangled Life
The writer offers an anecdotal memoir of her colorful life, relating her adventures, friendship, controversial sex-change operation, and journey to self-discovery
209 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
About the author
Jan Morris
162 books492 followersJan Morris was a British historian, author and travel writer. Morris was educated at Lancing College, West Sussex, and Christ Church, Oxford, but is Welsh by heritage and adoption. Before 1970 Morris published under her assigned birth name, "James ", and is known particularly for the Pax Britannica trilogy, a history of the British Empire, and for portraits of cities, notably Oxford, Venice, Trieste, Hong Kong, and New York City, and also wrote about Wales, Spanish history, and culture.
In 1949 Jan Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss, the daughter of a tea planter. Morris and Tuckniss had five children together, including the poet and musician Twm Morys. One of their children died in infancy. As Morris documented in her memoir Conundrum, she began taking oestrogens to feminise her body in 1964. In 1972, she had sex reassignment surgery in Morocco. Sex reassignment surgeon Georges Burou did the surgery, since doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do at the time. They divorced later, but remained together and later got a civil union. On May, 14th, 2008, Morris and Tuckniss remarried each other. Morris lived mostly in Wales, where her parents were from.
In 1949 Jan Morris married Elizabeth Tuckniss, the daughter of a tea planter. Morris and Tuckniss had five children together, including the poet and musician Twm Morys. One of their children died in infancy. As Morris documented in her memoir Conundrum, she began taking oestrogens to feminise her body in 1964. In 1972, she had sex reassignment surgery in Morocco. Sex reassignment surgeon Georges Burou did the surgery, since doctors in Britain refused to allow the procedure unless Morris and Tuckniss divorced, something Morris was not prepared to do at the time. They divorced later, but remained together and later got a civil union. On May, 14th, 2008, Morris and Tuckniss remarried each other. Morris lived mostly in Wales, where her parents were from.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
February 12, 2021
Self obsession becomes very annoying after a couple of chapters. I couldn’t finish it
February 23, 2024
I was lent this book by a friend of my mother's.
Unfortunately, I didn't really like it...
It keeps poking at the idea of incest (consensual, adult, but still weird).
It's well-written but I found it a bit pompous and boring.
I was uncomfortable with the way it fetishizes and stereotypes Jews in the chapter with the dinner party (she talks about how one young Jewish man was the hottest guy she ever met and how the Jewish men at the table were disagreeable).
I did like the parts about her imaginary (in a positive way) relationship with the historical naval captain and her cats and her house.
I wish I had gotten more of a thesis out of the Palestine parts, it was more of a description of the time she spent there during the mandate period.
A lot of the essays in this book are descriptive and don't really have a point other than that pleasures are good and to describe said pleasures so that readers can experience them.
I didn't get much of the trans aspect from this book, so I don't know if I would recommend it to people who are looking to learn more about the trans experience (her 1974 memoir Conundrum might be better for that). It is cool to read a memoir of someone who started transitioning when she was 38 years old in 1964 and lived to be 94 years old by her death in 2020. There aren't a lot of trans elders who are writers and Morris was one of the first already famous people to come out as a trans woman. She's also probably the first Welsh writer I've read.
Morris was a journalist for The Times on the first successful expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She also interviewed a French pilot who admitted to aiding Israeli forces in the invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis.
She separated from her wife and five kids after coming out, but remained friends with her ex-wife. Her daughter Suki Morys wrote that she was a "cruel parent" in an expose in The Times.
Overall, this was kind of a mixed bag. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you love the writing style. It doesn't give a full picture of Jan Morris's life for people who are unfamiliar, rather it's a lot of disparate descriptive essays. If you know her and you like her writing and just want more of it, you'll probably like this, otherwise I would recommend starting with a more foundational work of hers.
Unfortunately, I didn't really like it...
It keeps poking at the idea of incest (consensual, adult, but still weird).
It's well-written but I found it a bit pompous and boring.
I was uncomfortable with the way it fetishizes and stereotypes Jews in the chapter with the dinner party (she talks about how one young Jewish man was the hottest guy she ever met and how the Jewish men at the table were disagreeable).
I did like the parts about her imaginary (in a positive way) relationship with the historical naval captain and her cats and her house.
I wish I had gotten more of a thesis out of the Palestine parts, it was more of a description of the time she spent there during the mandate period.
A lot of the essays in this book are descriptive and don't really have a point other than that pleasures are good and to describe said pleasures so that readers can experience them.
I didn't get much of the trans aspect from this book, so I don't know if I would recommend it to people who are looking to learn more about the trans experience (her 1974 memoir Conundrum might be better for that). It is cool to read a memoir of someone who started transitioning when she was 38 years old in 1964 and lived to be 94 years old by her death in 2020. There aren't a lot of trans elders who are writers and Morris was one of the first already famous people to come out as a trans woman. She's also probably the first Welsh writer I've read.
Morris was a journalist for The Times on the first successful expedition to reach the summit of Mount Everest. She also interviewed a French pilot who admitted to aiding Israeli forces in the invasion of Egypt during the Suez Crisis.
She separated from her wife and five kids after coming out, but remained friends with her ex-wife. Her daughter Suki Morys wrote that she was a "cruel parent" in an expose in The Times.
Overall, this was kind of a mixed bag. I wouldn't really recommend it unless you love the writing style. It doesn't give a full picture of Jan Morris's life for people who are unfamiliar, rather it's a lot of disparate descriptive essays. If you know her and you like her writing and just want more of it, you'll probably like this, otherwise I would recommend starting with a more foundational work of hers.
June 6, 2020
This travel memoir by Morris is a true delight. She has a dry wit, humor,
and is very articulate. She has a home in rural Wales where she also was
born and has traveled the world many times over. She calls herself an
"anarchist manquee" and dislikes concerts, organized religions, and is
extremely opinionated about almost everything. She writes from Venice
as well as rural Nepal where she spends the night in the sherpa's shrine
room in his hut watching the butter lamps flicker over statues and pictures
of the Buddha. This book is not to be missed.
and is very articulate. She has a home in rural Wales where she also was
born and has traveled the world many times over. She calls herself an
"anarchist manquee" and dislikes concerts, organized religions, and is
extremely opinionated about almost everything. She writes from Venice
as well as rural Nepal where she spends the night in the sherpa's shrine
room in his hut watching the butter lamps flicker over statues and pictures
of the Buddha. This book is not to be missed.
May 7, 2020
Jan Morris is one of my favorite authors. This enjoyable book recounts in 36 small chapters portions of her live including travels, her house and life in Wales and her Abyssinian cats. A delightful read.
February 9, 2021
For some reason I expected this book to be more memoir than essay, so I was disappointed in its somewhat disjointed nature and some of the topics addressed seemed a little dated. But the writing is as beautiful as ever, and one essay in particular—“On Books”—is worth the price of admission. Morris’ last two books will be published in early 2021, and after that we will have to be content with revisiting her oeuvre. Happy travels, Jan.
September 8, 2021
A series of short essays by Morris ranging over her career as a writer and including some of the people and places she's encountered and enjoyed along the way. As is the nature of these things, the quality varies and some of the essays are very slight works indeed while others are of more substance; but nothing really rises to the level of greatness.
November 11, 2009
not what I was expecting. It seems a little dated.
February 13, 2017
Love to dip into this regularly even if it has dated a bit now. Just love Jan Morris' writing and her wry, acute observations.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews