Bloggers Marr Pepys Show?…
Silly Bloggers V diligent diarists…
Andrew Marr has been in the news in the past few weeks – to start with, something of his has fallen off the back of a lorry: fifteen tonnes worth of his new book, The Making of Modern Britain, apparently, on the A4 near Reading. (Luckily, Bexley readers can still obtain copies, unsoiled by tyre marks or diesel oil…)
Secondly, the BBC political presenter and handsomely-lobed author has recently let rip at ‘Silly Bloggers’:
“Bloggers” he says “seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother’s basements and ranting”…
(None of which terms, obviously, apply to your noble,unblemished and virtuous Blogbrarian…ahem)
Mr Marr continues: “This so-called citizen journalism is the spewing and ranting of very drunk people late at night…most of their blogging is too angry and too abusive…terrible things are said online, things that they wouldn’t dare say in person…”
Again, here I would stress that the Blogbrarian would never say anything terrible, is sober, measured & pure in thought and deed, and always tucked up in bed by 9.30 with a nice mug of cocoa…
However, Mr Marr’s comments did set me thinking…
What if our great diarists of the past had blogged rather than penned?
Downloaded rather than jotted?
Been at the Facebook rather than the bookface?
Would it have made a difference?...
Consider Jeffrey Archer’s prison blog?
What of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady blogger?...
Or the secret blog of Adrian Mole?...but now we’re back to spotty youths again!
A far cry indeed from Dr Johnson's dictionary of modern life : survey, definition & justify'd lampoonery of divers contemporary phenomena, from Top Gear unto Twitter…
Which only leaves the nation’s most famous diarist, the quill-meister, the Big Daddy of the diary, the one & only Mr Samuel Pepys…Just imagine what he could have done with a Blackberry! Or perhaps not, as it transpires that he was, in fact, something a rogue, a rotter, and a dirty dog! (Read his diaries or his life story to find out the real truth)…A bounder in Bermondsey, a debtor in Deptford, a rotter in Rotherhithe, a groper in Greenwich – thank goodness he never got as far as Sidcup!
We all like a good nose into other peoples’ business though, and diaries do make great reading; we’ve got plenty in Bexley, in fact or fiction. Take a peek.
And, if you still want to be a blogger, we’ve got books to teach you how to do that, too. Try not to rant, though…or be grumpy.
So, dear readers, if you can recommend any diaries to delve into, please let us know…don’t keep ‘em a secret, add them to the ‘comments’ box below.
As for me, well it’s nearly 9.20….must finish, ready for cocoa, then - & as Mr Pepys so famously scribbled – “And so to bed”
TTFN
Silly Bloggers V diligent diarists…
Andrew Marr has been in the news in the past few weeks – to start with, something of his has fallen off the back of a lorry: fifteen tonnes worth of his new book, The Making of Modern Britain, apparently, on the A4 near Reading. (Luckily, Bexley readers can still obtain copies, unsoiled by tyre marks or diesel oil…)
Secondly, the BBC political presenter and handsomely-lobed author has recently let rip at ‘Silly Bloggers’:
“Bloggers” he says “seem to be socially inadequate, pimpled, single, slightly seedy, bald, cauliflower-nosed young men sitting in their mother’s basements and ranting”…
(None of which terms, obviously, apply to your noble,unblemished and virtuous Blogbrarian…ahem)
Mr Marr continues: “This so-called citizen journalism is the spewing and ranting of very drunk people late at night…most of their blogging is too angry and too abusive…terrible things are said online, things that they wouldn’t dare say in person…”
Again, here I would stress that the Blogbrarian would never say anything terrible, is sober, measured & pure in thought and deed, and always tucked up in bed by 9.30 with a nice mug of cocoa…
However, Mr Marr’s comments did set me thinking…
What if our great diarists of the past had blogged rather than penned?
Downloaded rather than jotted?
Been at the Facebook rather than the bookface?
Would it have made a difference?...
Consider Jeffrey Archer’s prison blog?
What of The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady blogger?...
Or the secret blog of Adrian Mole?...but now we’re back to spotty youths again!
A far cry indeed from Dr Johnson's dictionary of modern life : survey, definition & justify'd lampoonery of divers contemporary phenomena, from Top Gear unto Twitter…
Which only leaves the nation’s most famous diarist, the quill-meister, the Big Daddy of the diary, the one & only Mr Samuel Pepys…Just imagine what he could have done with a Blackberry! Or perhaps not, as it transpires that he was, in fact, something a rogue, a rotter, and a dirty dog! (Read his diaries or his life story to find out the real truth)…A bounder in Bermondsey, a debtor in Deptford, a rotter in Rotherhithe, a groper in Greenwich – thank goodness he never got as far as Sidcup!
We all like a good nose into other peoples’ business though, and diaries do make great reading; we’ve got plenty in Bexley, in fact or fiction. Take a peek.
And, if you still want to be a blogger, we’ve got books to teach you how to do that, too. Try not to rant, though…or be grumpy.
So, dear readers, if you can recommend any diaries to delve into, please let us know…don’t keep ‘em a secret, add them to the ‘comments’ box below.
As for me, well it’s nearly 9.20….must finish, ready for cocoa, then - & as Mr Pepys so famously scribbled – “And so to bed”
TTFN
13 comments:
On a loosely related theme, I have frequently countered criticisms of the use of txt language, with the defence that it is simply a natural extension of rational spelling. I feel sure that had the technology been available then, both George Bernard Shaw and Melvil Dewey (Rational Spellers both) would have embraced the new "language" with fervour.
Thank you – good point.
But what, exactly, is this strange ‘txt’ language you mention?...Is it what all these young people nowadays are doing, jabbing away with their thumbs? The Blogbrary is sure that it’ll never catch on!
(And do young people keep diaries these days?...)
Interestingly enough the classics do seem to be developing through the medium of Facebook - it's now possible to read Pride and Prejudice or Hamlet through a series of status updates - now is that dumbing down or bringing the classics to a new audience?
Thanks for this…Classics on Facebook? What will they think of next!
Someone else has just mentioned to me about the different attitudes to privacy between a blog or a Facebook page, and a secret, hidden, handwritten diary from olden times…
Or are we just less secretive these days, and more willing to “let it all hang out”? Fearless or furtive?
Does the media mange the message?
Discuss…
Oh please, no more undressing of famous people in public. I have a image of Pepys as THE perceptive biographer of his day, plagues, fires, naval visionary, respected Member of Parliament etc. Please reassure me that Claire Tomalin does not challenge this view?
I think you are very unfair on Mr Pepys. He had the right idea about the work/life balance ie office in the morning, dallying with my lady Castlemaine in the evening! A shame he gave up writing the diaries after the death of his wife
Thanks for your comments about Samuel Pepys…
Well, as for the ‘work-life’ balance question, I couldn’t possibly comment – I`m a Blogbrarian, not a lifestyle guru…
But, yes – I fear that if you read Clare Tomalin’s biography of Pepys it may well shatter your illusions even further, as well as putting you off gallstone surgery for life…You have been warned!
I don't see why a great man & perceptic chronicler can't also be very human. If you haven't read Pepys'diaries you are missing something.
The only thing I can't stomach is his dallying with the wife of a man who depended on him for employment. Not cricket.
Compare and contrast with the enchanting & appalling Joe Orton's diaries - exactly 300 years after Pepys wrote in the 1660s...
Thanks for these comments…You’re right, definitely “not cricket!”
Good idea too about the Joe Orton diaries (we’ve got copies in stock) – but I have my concerns, as didn’t he do unpleasant things to library book covers?...
I think Islington Libraries are now very proud of the books Joe Orton defaced - they had them on display a few years ago at an event celebrating Joe. I've read his diaries - fascinating. Have to admit, though, that Pepys (so far) is one that got away...
Thanks for these comments…
Why not try ‘The Shorter Pepys’?...It’s a collection of his writings, and is available at Sidcup Library – so, no excuses!
On another subject, someone has asked me why we didn’t include Anne Frank’s diaries?...I suppose that the subject matter didn’t warrant being included in our light-hearted feature, but it’s true – they are the most famous, emotional and powerful diaries ever written, well worth a read.
I do still keep a diary and it is a very different notion to a blog.
Andrew Marr is right in that bloggers write things without any notion of privacy. Don't they think who is going to read it before they broadcast it? (But this library blog is great by the way. Very funny but informative too).
HH
Yes, you're so right about the new notions of privacy online...and yet, didn't Pepys write lots of his diary in secret code or mangled-up French in order that no-one else could read the racy bits?...
Anyway, thanks for your comments about our blog - we're glad that you like it.
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