The Last Diaries in and Out of the Wilderness : )

by Alan Clark

Alan Clark's acclaimed Diaries end a month before his death in 1999. After the first volume (30 weeks on the SUNDAY TIMES bestseller list), THE TIMES 'The best diarists, from Pepys and Boswell, to 'Chips' Channon and Harold Nicolson, have been the souls of indiscretion. But none so indiscreet as Mr Clark. For its Pooterish self-assessment, for Mr Toad's enthusiasm for new things, for Byron's caddishness, for its deadly candour, it is one of the great works in the genre.' This third volume begins in 1991 with Alan Clark contemplating quitting as MP. Life at Saltwood Castle, his home in Kent, hangs heavy; then comes the Scott inquiry and the Matrix Churchill affair, the publishing of the first volume of the Diaries, which leads 'the coven', a family of former girlfriends, to sell their story to the NEWS OF THE WORLD. The diaries follow his ongoing efforts to return to Westminster. As ever there is much, much his long-suffering wife Jane, his family, an affair that threatens his marriage, and, not least, the country life. This volume closes with the tragedy of his final months when he is diagnosed with a brain tumour, but he keeps his diary until he can no longer focus on the page.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Politics, Autobiography, Diary

Hardcover

First published October 10, 2002

About the author

Alan Clark was an English Conservative MP, historian and diarist.

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Jim · Rating 2 out of 5]

These final diaries should be a sympathetic read, but I found it hard to warm to the man as he faces his Maker. Regrets, he's had a few, but then again, don't mention them to the wife until you really need her support. Which you don't deserve. This was what I found the saddest part of the memoirs, that he only turns to his wife when he faces his final days. In the early pages, when Clark is still spritely, he's still having an affair or dalliance with some woman despite the fact that it is torturing his dear, sweet Janey, the wife who stays loyal to the end. He doesn't deserve her. Outside of that, I found the nicknames and abbreviations that Clark uses for cars, places, friends and foes to be rather irritating and disruptive. And, to be honest, he hasn't much else to write about as his career sinks with the Tories in Blair's Britain. If you're interested in political diaries, try those of Chris Mullen, or surprisingly Giles Brandereth or, even more surprising, Pier's Morgan's first book. All are much, much more interesting than this.

[Derek Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

aw... he dies in the end.

[Pam Baddeley · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is volume 3 in the diary extracts of the politician who died in 1999 of a brain tumour. I didn't enjoy the book, although I liked volume 2, partly because of the looming knowledge of what would happen to him by the end and partly because it starts off where he is having an affair with a woman known only as 'x' despite always telling us how lovely his wife Jane is. He throws the whole thing in her face for quite a while as well as being maudlin and self-pitying when the affair stutters to an end. He is also miserable at having left the House of Commons, which he did in the belief that the Conservatives would lose the election (in fact, it was the next one they lost). While working on a history of the party, which was published in 1998, he makes various attempts to get back into politics and is eventually selected for a safe seat, Kensington & Chelsea where he is happy (he was always dissatisfied with his previous constituency). But he suffers from various symptoms of ill-health throughout and has tests which come back negative. It is late on when his wife works out what is wrong and takes him for a brain scan. An immediate operation is carried out followed by radiotherapy, but it seems it was too late as he continues to decline and the final section of the diary describing his demise is written by Jane. So a sad book overall and therefore I can only give it a 2 star rating.

[Jim Bowen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well dying isn’t pleasant

This book sees what happens to Alan Clark, the humorous Conservative MP who left Parliament in 1992, only to return in 1997, after deciding almost immediately that he missed the intrigue, and politicking.

I get the sense, reading the book, that Clark isn’t the force he once was. He’s clearly ill, and in contrast to previous books, he seems… out of the centre of things.

The book is slightly infuriating. He’s clearly got an issue with his eyes, and headaches, but took too long to get the issue looked at by a professional.

The other infuriating thing is I probably won’t be reading much about death from the point of view of dying. Alan Clark’s family went through a lot, towards the end, and I can do without that in the short term.

[Ravi Singh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I found this to be quite boring and just a space filler. The real action has happened in parts 1 and 2. This ends with the last section being written by his wife as he has passed away. The struggled with illness are also documented. It is tragic in that he spent the first two diaries making ridiculous diagnosis' about his health as he was a hypochondriac.
I just read it for completion sake and was on a Margaret Thatcher binge.

[Meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Quite poignant, detailing his long decline into illness and death. But funny and entertaining as well. His love of nature and Scotland also shine through.

[Adam DeVille, Ph.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly addictive reading, though this volume has a deep poignancy as it draws to a close and we see Clark struggling with the brain tumor that would ultimately kill him in 1999. A complicated, hugely entertaining personality.

[Melanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Compelling.

[P. W. Lapwing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undescribable!