"A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin" by Chris Mullin

The meeting on 20 October 2010 was notable for the second coming of Lloyd.  Fabulous to see Lloyd back in the book group.  Nick and Jason were - alas - unable to attend.  

BOOK: "A View From The Foothills: The Diaries of Chris Mullin" by Chris Mullin

Nick (via e-mail) was very positive about diaries generally, and also this particular diary.  

Hamish felt the diaries were irreverent, dull and not worthy of publication.  

Lloyd unfavourably compared the diaries to Alan Clark's political diaries.  Clark's were "unputdownable", Mullin's "putdownable".  

Robin was captivated.  Robin saw Chris Mullin give a talk and he was "really engaging in real life".  

Tristan referred to his only other experience of diaries - The Diary of Adrian Mole, and felt Mullin was "a decent bloke".  

Don was unimpressed.  So much so that - with a memorable flourish - he reached into his ruck sack and pulled out a supermarket carrier bag containing the shredded remains of his copy.

He then read out a poem called 'Ode To Nick'.  Referring  to the size of the book: "And down the long and winding street, the DHL man with shattered feet, wanders aimlessly dreading the book club's next literary treat".  Referring to Nick: "You are essential to the book club, it's you we adore".  

I like diaries, and share Nick's enthusiasm for those by Joe Orton and Kenneth Williams.  I am not interested in party politics and so was less taken with Mullin's diaries.

We discussed how the New Labour experiment had started with optimism and public goodwill, and ended in relative failure and ignominy.  

The scores on the doors (out of 10):

Nick (guess) 9

Hamish 5

Lloyd 6

Robin 8

Tristan 6

Don 2

Nigel 5

Overall 6/10

MUSIC: 'Barking' by Underworld

Only Lloyd and I managed to listen to the album, though most had heard the single on Spotify.  Lloyd enjoyed it when he cranked up the sound.  I felt it was pleasant enough but not up to the calibre of their early work.

TELEVISION: Mad Men

Don hasn't seen Mad Men and resolved to put this right having heard the rest of us - to one degree or another - rave about this excellent TV series.