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Even As We Speak: New Essays 1993-2001
EVEN AS WE SPEAK is an illuminating and hilarious collection of essays from one of Picador’s most beloved authors. Reflecting his comprehensive knowledge, wide-ranging interests and eclectic style, Clive James explores the rise and fall of various celebrities, discusses Australian poetry, considers the state of television today, questions the culpability of the ordinary German in the holocaust, and contemplates – in a compellingly provocative and much-talked about piece – the death of Diana.
Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
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About the author
Clive James
94 books289 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
An expatriate Australian broadcast personality and author of cultural criticism, memoir, fiction, travelogue and poetry. Translator of Dante.
An expatriate Australian broadcast personality and author of cultural criticism, memoir, fiction, travelogue and poetry. Translator of Dante.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 15, 2014
I could happily read James just writing out the phone directory at this point. Even the numbers themselves would be laconically delivered and have a killer joke to finish. James remains a rare combination of intellect, wit and readability. Even if you don’t necessarily agree with him he’s almost always worth reading for his seductive style.
His essay on Diana, written in the direct aftermath of her death, is the highlight of the volume. It’s a finely drawn picture in which James unashamedly admits to being dazzled by her charms and is lent weight by a thoughtful postscript which allows the author the facility to reflect on words written in the heat of the moment. Other than that the book’s is frontloaded with a fine one-two punch at the start with an extended reflection on the life and work of George Orwell and a review of a book called Hitler’s Willing Executioners which ponders on the wider questions of how ordinary Germans were complicit in Nazi atrocities and how weighty subjects demand a wide frame of reference. Suffice to say James appears to say more on the subject, and in far fewer words, than the author of the original book managed in his whole. Both these essays point the way to where James would eventually end up with his masterpiece, Cultural Amnesia.
Other than that there are some fine pieces, such as an obituary for Peter Cook and a heartfelt plea for experts in the field to present TV shows rather than actorly voiceovers (it’s slightly outdated now, James must adore BBC4). And his pieces on the Sydney Olympics are beautiful snapshots of the time, though probably outdated by the British having their own similar epiphanies during London 2012.
There’s a small amount of filler here – Incident at St Denis, for instance, is written for and about a friend and is of little interest beyond that. But in a collection like this you can forgive the author his odd indulgence.
His essay on Diana, written in the direct aftermath of her death, is the highlight of the volume. It’s a finely drawn picture in which James unashamedly admits to being dazzled by her charms and is lent weight by a thoughtful postscript which allows the author the facility to reflect on words written in the heat of the moment. Other than that the book’s is frontloaded with a fine one-two punch at the start with an extended reflection on the life and work of George Orwell and a review of a book called Hitler’s Willing Executioners which ponders on the wider questions of how ordinary Germans were complicit in Nazi atrocities and how weighty subjects demand a wide frame of reference. Suffice to say James appears to say more on the subject, and in far fewer words, than the author of the original book managed in his whole. Both these essays point the way to where James would eventually end up with his masterpiece, Cultural Amnesia.
Other than that there are some fine pieces, such as an obituary for Peter Cook and a heartfelt plea for experts in the field to present TV shows rather than actorly voiceovers (it’s slightly outdated now, James must adore BBC4). And his pieces on the Sydney Olympics are beautiful snapshots of the time, though probably outdated by the British having their own similar epiphanies during London 2012.
There’s a small amount of filler here – Incident at St Denis, for instance, is written for and about a friend and is of little interest beyond that. But in a collection like this you can forgive the author his odd indulgence.
August 9, 2022
Always enjoy his voice, knowledge, breath of reference, humor. This one a collection of journalism which can be a mishmash and of uneven quality. Read some, skipped others (like his articles from the 2000 Aussie Olympics), some gems.
January 16, 2019
An enjoyable collection full of james wit and sparkle.
December 10, 2025
A collection of essays. Always enjoy reading anything Clive James has to say. When I read his words I can almost hear his distinctive voice.
August 4, 2018
The last twenty years see James taking a turn from light entertainment to the history of totalitarianism. He then brings it into everything, everything else, dragging Hitler and Stalin around like the stations of the cross.
His long excoriation of Daniel Goldhagen is angry, entertaining, and an education in itself. (The question the two men are at odds over is, “How could civilised, literate, assimilative Germany Do Such Things?” Goldhagen says: 'because they – all Germans – were eliminationists just itching for an excuse'. James’ answer instead puts due weight on the simplest explanation: 'they did it because a single word of dissent meant death, for any of them'.)
James is a bit obsessed by his chosen field – Hitler references turn up in his sunny, giddy Sydney Olympics pieces! Then there’s an ornately maudlin account of his acquaintance with Diana Spenser. (I spent a little while trying to pigeonhole his politics recently – this non-republican, anti-Marxist, pro-American-culture hobnobber – and decided it is wrong to call him right-wing. “Democracy is really valuable only for what it prevents…”)
Funny, profound in places, but his late themes had solidified already and are covered better in A Point of View and Cultural Amnesia.
Galef type:
Data 3 - highlights patterns in the world
Values 1 - an explicit argument about values .
His long excoriation of Daniel Goldhagen is angry, entertaining, and an education in itself. (The question the two men are at odds over is, “How could civilised, literate, assimilative Germany Do Such Things?” Goldhagen says: 'because they – all Germans – were eliminationists just itching for an excuse'. James’ answer instead puts due weight on the simplest explanation: 'they did it because a single word of dissent meant death, for any of them'.)
James is a bit obsessed by his chosen field – Hitler references turn up in his sunny, giddy Sydney Olympics pieces! Then there’s an ornately maudlin account of his acquaintance with Diana Spenser. (I spent a little while trying to pigeonhole his politics recently – this non-republican, anti-Marxist, pro-American-culture hobnobber – and decided it is wrong to call him right-wing. “Democracy is really valuable only for what it prevents…”)
Funny, profound in places, but his late themes had solidified already and are covered better in A Point of View and Cultural Amnesia.
Galef type:
Data 3 - highlights patterns in the world
Values 1 - an explicit argument about values .
October 11, 2013
Found it a little dry and arty to begin with but the section on Diana I found moving and heartfelt. A good book to dip into
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews