Audiobook – The Diana Chronicles by Tina Brown
>> Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Genre: Biography
Publication Date: 2007
Read by: Rosalyn Landor
I wasn’t sure whether or not I’d finish this one before the end of the year or not. At 17 cds it’s a lengthy one. I’ve never been a big tabloid reader or royal watcher and frankly after Princess Diana’s death I kind of avoided all the books and tell all’s that showed up in the first couple of years.
Tina Brown is the former editor in chief of Tatler (a gossip magazine), and has gone on from there to Vanity Fair and The New Yorker. She did know Diana, but it’s pretty unclear from the book how close they were. This book came out 10 years after Diana’s death and has the advantage of hindsight and (hopefully) a bit of perspective.
Parts of this book were quite interesting. I did learn things I didn’t know, along with a lot of rehash of well known information. It feels a lot like a very extended magazine article. Part of the time Diana is portrayed as an innocent among the lions and part of the time she seems to come across as a savvy media manipulator. Perhaps that’s the thing that makes people want to continue to read about her. She really does seem to have been a woman of striking contrasts. Part spoiled petulant child, part a woman who wanted to create her own place in the world.
All in all, it was OK, nothing earth shattering in its revelations, but it made for interesting listening in small increments over the last two months.
No stars – I couldn’t even finish it
1 star – I didn’t like it but I managed to finish it.
2 stars – It was OK. Not good, but seriously just OK.
3 stars - I liked it. I didn’t think it was great, but I thought it was good entertainment.
4 stars – I really liked it. I really think you might like it too.
5 stars – It was amazing. I’d recommend this to just about anyone.
2 comments:
Tabloids interest me from a morbid curiosity perspective. Wild and fantastical tales about humans doing things you would never think of doing, thinking or saying yourself. Far fetched to the extreme! (I do'nt go about reading tabloids but those are guilty pleasures of the worst kind maybe once a year.)
That aside, I've always thought Diana was fascinating. She was a reachable princess - a public face with a private life that is now being exposed to varying degrees, book by book.
I'd be curious to read this book! THanks for mentioning it and sharing about it!
Carrie: It wasn't wonderful, but it had some interesting insights. I cannot imagine why anyone would want to marry into such a life.
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