Diaries 1969-1979: The Python Years

Palin Diaries #1

by Michael Palin

The amazingly insightful, funny and brilliant record of Michael Palin's prime years as a member of the famed comedic group, Monty Python.

Michael Palin has kept a diary since newly married in the late 1960s. This volume of his diaries reveals how Python emerged and triumphed, how he, John Cleese, Graham Chapman, the two Terrys---Jones and Gilliam---and Eric Idle came together and changed the face of British comedy.

But this is but only part of Palin's story. Here is his growing family, his home in a north London Victorian terrace, which grows as he buys the house next door and then a second at the bottom of the garden; here, too, is his solo effort---as an actor, in Three Men in a Boat, his writing endeavours (often in partnership with Terry Jones) that produces Ripping Yarns and even a pantomime.

Meanwhile Monty Python refuses to go away: the hugely successful movies that follow the TV (his account of the making of both The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian movies are page-turners), the at times extraordinary goings-on of the many powerful personalities who coalesced to form the Python team, the fight to prevent an American TV network from bleeping out the best jokes on U.S. transmission, and much more---all this makes for funny and riveting reading.

The birth and childhood of his three children, his father's growing disability, learning to cope as a young man with celebrity, his friendship with George Harrison, and all the trials of a peripatetic life are also essential ingredients of these diaries. A perceptive and funny chronicle, the diaries are a rich portrait of a fascinating period.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Memoir, Autobiography, Humor, Audiobook, Comedy

650 pages, Hardcover

First published July 20, 2006

About the author

Sir Michael Edward Palin, KCMG, CBE, FRGS is an English comedian, actor, writer and television presenter best known for being one of the members of the comedy group Monty Python and for his travel documentaries.

Palin wrote most of his material with Terry Jones. Before Monty Python, they had worked on other shows such as The Ken Dodd Show, The Frost Report and Do Not Adjust Your Set. Palin appeared in some of the most famous Python sketches, including "The Dead Parrot", "The Lumberjack Song", "The Spanish Inquisition" and "Spam". Palin continued to work with Jones, co-writing Ripping Yarns. He has also appeared in several films directed by fellow Python Terry Gilliam and made notable appearances in other films such as A Fish Called Wanda, for which he won the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role. In a 2005 poll to find The Comedian's Comedian, he was voted the 30th favourite by fellow comedians and comedy insiders.

After Python, he began a new career as a travel writer. His journeys have taken him across the world, the North and South Poles, the Sahara desert, the Himalayas and most recently, Eastern Europe. In 2000 Palin became a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to television.

Reviews

[Annemarie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I always feel a bit weird rating or reviewing a book that deals with personal happenings. After all, I'm not in the position to judge or rate someones life.
But I do have to say that I enjoyed my reading experience of this book tremendously! This mostly, I think quite obviously, has to do with the fact that I'm a massive Monty Python fan, and Michael Palin is just one of my favorite human beings in general. So reading about the creation of pretty much EVERYTHING to do with the Python's was an absolute delight to me and very interesting.
Adding to that the fact that the years 1969 - 1979 are just a fascinating time period in my opinion (due to historical and cultural events, but also because my parents were born during that time, so it's fun to see what the world was like when they were growing up) made this a perfect piece of entertainment.

I'm someone who keeps their own diary - it's one of my most valuable items and the writing is one of my most important rituals. So I felt an instant connection to the entries in here, simply because I know what it's like to document your life in such a way.
You also get, I think, a very special kind of insight into someone's life this way, it feels more personal and authentic. This made the mentioned world events seem more tangible to me, way more "real" than a Wikipedia article (which is how I normally learn about stuff that happened 20+ years ago). It also gave me a whole new view on pretty much everything and anything that happened with Python - the creation of their show and movies, but also their relationships with each other. Seriously, I rewatched a lot of their stuff (professional work, but also interviews etc.) during and after reading and I suddenly felt a whole new connection to it, because now I had background information!

If you're a fan of Monty Python and want to find out more about their productions and lives, I highly recommend this wonderful collection. It can't get more intimate than this.
I'm very much looking forward to reading the other two volumes of Michael's diaries!

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

“I am very cautious of people who are absolutely right, especially when they are vehemently so.”
Despite this being over 600 pages of diary, it’s actually surprisingly readable. Palin is quite a genial and likeable companion. I always found him the most likeable of the Python team and this just confirmed it. This volume covers most of the Python years, The Holy Grail and the Life of Brian as well as Palin’s solo projects (Ripping Yarns, a novel, a few plays, occasional adverts and a good deal of script writing). We follow his fathers’ decline and death from Parkinson’s disease and family life, which was very important.
As this is Python there is a generous amount of bizarreness:
From 11th July 1969, “In the afternoon filmed some very bizarre pieces, including the death of Genghis Khan, and two men carrying a donkey past a Butlin’s redcoat, who later gets hit on the head with a raw chicken by a man from the previous sketch, who borrowed the chicken from a man in a suit of armour. All this we filmed in the eighty degree sunshine, with a small crowd of holidaymakers watching.”
It is easy to forget how famous the Python’s were in the 1970s and inevitably there is a very significant amount of name-dropping. I wasn’t aware that Monty Python and the Holy Grail got funding from two rock bands: Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd and so they pop up periodically, as does George Harrison, who helped with the funding of Life of Brian, when the major film studios got cold feet. Harrison comes across as a decent sort, as does another of Palin’s friends, Keith Moon: although he is clearly a lost soul.
I never realised Palin had guest hosted Saturday Night Live on three occasions, over in New York, working with Bill Murray, Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi. As ever he got on well with them all. The bizarre runs through it all (appearing live on stage on Saturday Night live with two cats down his trousers) and there is a description of a game of charades where Mick Jagger has to mime The Sex Pistols. Don’t go there!!
The last part of the volume deals with some of the backlash when The Life of Brian was released including the infamous debate involving John Cleese and Michael Palin. The other side being represented by Malcolm Muggeridge and the Bishop of Southwark, Mervyn Stockwood.
All in all it’s rather an entertaining read and captures the zeitgeist of the 70s well. Palin is rather likeable and funny.
“As I work in the afternoon on committing to paper some of my morning's thoughts, I find myself just about to close on the knotty question of whether or not I believe in God. In fact I am about to type, 'I do not believe in God', when the sky goes black as ink, there is a thunderclap and a huge crash of thunder and a downpour of epic proportions. I never do complete the sentence.”

[El · Rating 4 out of 5]

Michael Palin has always probably been my favorite Python. I didn't know, prior to finding this book at a book sale recently, that he was a diarist as well as comedic genius. This first volume covers the Python Years, 1969-1979 - basically the rise and fall of the Pythons during their glory years. I grew up watching their movies (collective and individual works) and shows and Fawlty Towers, and to be honest, I didn't really appreciate them until my teen years because my younger ears didn't understand the British dialect at all; they could all have been speaking Latin for all I knew, I couldn't make sense of it. As I got older and learned to understand the British accent, I finally understood what made so much of it funny. (Okay, I always really enjoyed Fawlty Towers.)

But it was probably A Fish Called Wanda that really turned it around for me. And that's not even actually a Python movie. But it's my review and my life, so that's how that goes.

I wasn't really sure what to expect from Palin's diaries. I always figured he was sort of the gentle soul of the Python collective, the heart of the group, and for that I felt a draw towards him. I still think that assessment was fairly accurate. There's a lot of heart here, even though these diaries were (for the most part) not written with intention originally of being read by the public. So parts are boring. Do we really need to hear about Palin's gingivectomy? It wouldn't be my first choice of reading material, but it was here, so sure, why not?

Aside from talk of Python stuff, we see how interested Palin was about current events. He was very interested in Nixon and the Watergate scandal, politics, space exploration, even some sports (that I didn't really understand because Brits have funny sports). We see the beginning of the Pythons, but also the beginning of his family: his marriage, each of his three children being born and beginning to grow into little interesting people (and sadly the passage of his father's deterioration from Parkinson's), his career outside the Pythons. And as far as Python affairs go, there's a lot involved as well: talking behind backs, insecurities, ego trips, power trips, he-said-he-saids, financial concerns, personal problems, woes, and issue... the list goes on.

This, of course, is the most interesting because, seriously, no one is picking this book up in hopes Palin talks about his extensive dental problems. There's so much gossip here, in very polite British terms, of course. Many of these Pythons (coughJohnCleesecough) got pretty big for their britches very early on and were clearly only in it for the money, while others were just trying to figure themselves out however they could. Eric Idle, for example, became vegetarian at one point. Back when being vegetarian was sort of a thing no one did. And then wanted personal chefs to come on set with them, but only prepare food for the Pythons.

What I like about diaries like these, while not terribly exciting outwardly, is that I get a glimpse into a time and place I am not familiar with. I was a whole year-and-a-half old at the end of this volume (he met Rowan Atkinson on my first birthday! while I was probably spitting up cake and pooping myself!); Palin was the age then that I am now - mind. blown! He was becoming a celebrity at a time that other exciting things were happening in the celebrity world, like getting to, um, hang with Shelley Duvall while she was filming The Shining (and he actually thought she was cool and not annoying at all which I call bullshit on but whatever), and Bill Murray was his biggest cheerleader evah. And stuff like this that no one else can do today:

The two heroes of Star Wars are also there - Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) and Harrison Ford.

Hamill is chirpy and is dressed like a delivery boy. Harrison Ford looks young and alienated. He would look over his glasses at us if he had any. As it is he moves broodingly around - like a famous man might do if he knew how famous he is.

(p 620, Saturday, June 16th, 1979)

A brooding Harrison Ford. I would totally write that moment in my diary too.

Throughout all of this, Palin would write about books he was reading or movies he had seen, and it all makes it feel very personable and warm and I just want to sit down and talk to him about stuff.

This was just a lot of fun to read. It's not over-the-top funny or even very Python in execution, but it is an interesting insight to my favorite Palin. I will look for the other two volumes of his published diaries and also plan on getting to those travelogues of his.

Note: I wasn't planning on reading this book so soon, but funny story. The title on the side of the book is printed rather small, as his first name. His last name, however, is written in ginormous red print: PALIN. On more than one occasion since buying this book last month, my boyfriend or I have started screaming "Who brought a Sarah-fucking-Palin book in this house??" before realizing it's totally fine because it's not her at all.

But we can't take it any more. We cannot have this name screaming at us from the bookshelf any longer. So we agreed that it would be one of the next books I read, just so I can move it to the To-Sell stack in a different part of the house.

(I'm pretty sure, after reading this book, that Michael Palin would appreciate that. And probably even agree with us.)

[F.R. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t think it’s a surprise that Michael Palin would be warm, convivial, charming guide to his 1970s in his diaries, but it’s still amazing to find out how warm, convivial and charming guide he actually is. I would be stunned if anyone read these diaries and found that they now hated and despised Michael Palin. I’d actually be stunned if readers came away indifferent to him. There is so much warmth here, so much good feeling, so much that’s trying to be positive; that I actually came away wanting to be warmer and more positive person myself. I came away wanting to be more like Michael Palin.

Obviously the Python obsessives out there will already have charged into this, ripped open every page eagerly and digested it (there’s also some titbits for Beatles and Stones fans, if you’re interested). But the rest of the 1970s is in there as well: economic crises, Heath’s government falling apart, strikes, horrifically bad rail service (although we still have that one, to be fair). At one point Palin actually hears an IRA bomb exploding as he sits in his kitchen. But obviously the Python stuff is dominant, and it’s anthropologically fascinating (“This is how famous comedy troupes behave in their natural surroundings…”) to follow the tensions there, the arguments, the bickering – and how the team itself seems as addicted to these tensions as much as any comedy they actually do. It’s understated but it does mean there’s real drama here to add to all that warmth, conviviality and charm.

[Lena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was a big Monty Python fan as a teen-ager, so I was very excited when I learned founding member Michael Palin was publishing the diary he began keeping during the early days of the Monty Python show. The diary, however, is a tricky form in that it is rarely written with the interests of a reader in mind. Because of this, the book gets off to a surprisingly slow start. Palin’s early entries do contain some tidbits about the early days of Python, but, as he mentions, he had no idea at that time it would be anything more than a job he had on a BBC TV show, so many early seminal moments remain undocumented.

I kept reading, however, because Palin is a truly good-natured human being, and his commentary on the early days of his family, the decline of his father due to Parkinson’s, and various political events in Britain held my interest more than I expected. As the diaries progress, Python becomes bigger, his entries become lengthier, and I was rewarded with the kind of insider insight I was hoping to get when I started the book.

Palin records many truly fascinating moments as he recounts the troupe’s growing popularity in Britain and abroad. His shock at being fawned over by mega-star George Harrison at a chance meeting at the Apple Studios is one priceless example. Another is when he discusses the daily work of making comedy during an active IRA London bombing campaign.

Because Palin is writing about events as they happen from the perspective of someone for whom a life of writing outrageous comedy quite normal, there isn’t much meta-insight into the Python phenomenon. But I was more than content with his discussions of how the group dealt with various issues including creative contribution dynamics and political negotiations with BBC censors, as well as his entries on the evolution of his post-Python career and what it’s like to host Saturday Night Live with two live cats down your pants.

Though Palin’s diaries are ultimately about the mundane daily issues of his life, the circumstances around that life ensure his entries are rarely dull. As the following quote demonstrates, even his discussions of the weather take on a whole new twist: “A clear and sunny day. In the distance the sun picks out the snow on the mountains of the Austrian Alps. It’s a perfect day for throwing a dummy of John Cleese from the 100ft tower of the castle to the courtyard below.”

[Maricruz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A juzgar por sus diarios va a ser verdad que el así considerado hombre más majo de Reino Unido es realmente bastante majo (y John Cleese bastante gilipollas). En caso de querer ser puntillosos y aguafiestas quizás habría que recordar que no se trata de la totalidad de sus diarios, sino de lo que Palin escogió de ellos para su publicación. No obstante, no me extrañaría nada que la elección de los fragmentos se deba no tanto a querer presentar una versión depurada de sí mismo (algo bastante normal, porque ¿quién publicaría en vida sus diarios íntegros?) como de los demás. Precisamente porque da la impresión de que, a diferencia de los sapos y culebras que han salido por boca de algún otro miembro de Monty Python, Michael Palin es lo suficientemente elegante como para no bajar (demasiado) al barro en ese sentido. Otra cosa que hay que tener en cuenta es que se trata de eso, de diarios, y que por tanto tienen un ritmo y un contenido completamente distintos de los de un ensayo o unas memorias. Están llenos de asuntos mundanos como visitas al dentista, indigestiones o viajes al hospital para ver a su padre enfermo de Parkinson. Eso puede hacer que a algunas personas les resulten tediosos, pero estoy convencida de que la mayoría de seguidores de Monty Python encontrarán interesante lo que Palin cuenta sobre la génesis y el devenir del grupo, sus tira y afloja con la BBC (que emitió y produjo todas las temporadas de Flying Circus), cómo rodaron Los caballeros de la mesa cuadrada y La vida de Brian, y, cómo no, las no siempre fluidas relaciones entre cada uno de los Pythons. Pero ante todo, estos diarios permiten conocer de cerca a un hombre que parece sensible y reflexivo, amante de su mujer y sus hijos, que ha mantenido los pies en la tierra sin que el éxito se le suba a la cabeza, y que, hay que decirlo, escribe muy bien y de una manera tan amena como para que semejante tochazo de 600 páginas deje de ser agradable y entretenido en ningún momento. Como decía el cóndor del cronopio: «Mierda de tipo. No deja ni un claro donde sacudirle un picotazo».

[BAM doesn’t answer to her real name · Rating 3 out of 5]

Audiobook #237

[Phil Huff · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warning. This is not a scintillating tell-all of the Monty Python world...it is something far more entertaining and at times enlightening. Michael Palin (known as the 'nice' python) wrote diaries throughout his life, and he thoughtfully published ten years worth that start with life right before the creation of Monty Python, and end with the release of their most controversial work Life of Brian. This is a look into a successful balance of the creative process and domestic life. Palin is a devoted husband and father of three, his observations on family life are as honest as his experiences with the Python troupe. His candid observations are at times hysterical (he quickly regretted coming up with the idea of the "its" man) and poignant (through the diaries we experience his father's declining health and the effects on the family). After reading this I feel like I know the man, and am a little better for it.

[Tobie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Possibly the most enjoyable book I have ever read. Michael is so optimistic it can only rub off on the reader. I was very sad when I was finished. He shares books, movies and plays he's enoyed; I've started a list from his experiences. Also, if you're a huge Monty Python fan, as I am, the behind-the-scenes stories, personal impressions and emotions are priceless. Who knew John Cleese was so snooty, Idle such a hippy, Gilliam and Jones so emotional and Graham so depressed. It made me love and respect them all so much more. As Michael faces life's challenges he does it with a light heart, great wisdom and always a bit of humor. Thank you, Michael Palin, for letting me be your friend if only for one decade and several hundred pages.

[Isabel Ferreira · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was extremely interesting to learn how Monty Python formed, planned and carried out their projects. Also, I got to know more about that decade in terms of politics, arts, etc. A must for all Michael Palin and Monty Python fans!

[Darren · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite Python ❤️

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't buy the book when I saw him speak at the Free Library of Philadelphia. Sitting in the second row back from the stage and watching the Fan Circus was enough to write a short story. There is nothing like a room filled with old dorks. But even better, the new enthusiasm of a 20 something year old Chinese girl who had been recently introduced to the whole Python thing through her American boyfriend. Her gushing went from cute to hilarious as she exclaimed that more Python films and shows should be distributed internationally "because in China, you know, we have some people."
Some People? The roar from the crowd shook the 200 year old building off of its foundation!
Anyway, I didn't buy the book then to get autographed by Michael in a meet and greet cause I was broke. I am kicking myself now, but I feel that I would have reacted to him the same way that girl did...and he's probably used to that.
The book is cool. You get to read about him eating cereal. You get to read about him on the set of the Holy Grail. You get to read about him writing the Cheese Shop sketch and everything that was going on in his life at the time. You get to read about his relationships with the other members of the troupe and his impressions of them. At one point you can tell his is aggravated but compassionate about Graham Chapman's drinking problem, exclaiming that "this is a nice diary" and that he will hold his tongue. The best part is that unlike an autobiography, there is no hindsight or re-writing of history, so it serves as the best kind of autobiography.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's weird to be assigning a rating and reviewing works that were never originally intended to be published. There's also been entries removed, which I understand. There's stuff that you'd rather not the public see and most of it is with regard to family vacations, which don't fit so nicely into the narrative of Palin's career and the growing popularity of Monty Python. It's not as informative during the first bit of the book, quite honestly it drags quite a bit, but that's also not surprising. No one is expecting Python to last very long. Keep on reading though and things move allow at a fine clip. You read about all the problems in the group, the personality and professional conflicts, and the filming of Holy Grail and Life of Brian.

There's also, of course, him dealing with the deterioration of his father from Parkinson's, the political atmosphere of Britain at the time, making friends with people like George Harrison and Led Zeppelin. Also the musings of a man on life, the universe and everything while fame goes on in the background. I don't usually read nonfiction but I found it quite nice.

[Sonia Almeida Dias (Peixinho de Prata) · Rating 4 out of 5]

One could think that reading someone else’s diary could be boring, especially one with more than 600 pages. However, when said diary was written by one of Monty Python’s finest writers the task becomes a pleasure. It was actually very interesting to see the growing of the Python phenomena and all the interaction between the group members, while at the same time the normal family life of Michael Palin was evolving, and the country was also going through some convolutions as well.

Michael gives us some hindsight into politics, art and culture through the books and newspapers he is reading at certain moments in time, and he is a person very much engaged with his time and his surroundings. That’s how we get to see through his eyes the Watergate scandal, the miners strikes in England, the first referendum about the UK staying or leaving the EU (how current that matter still is today).

At the same time we are thrown some names that later came to be very well known, and at the time were just starting, like Bill Murray and John Belushi, to name but a few.

Michael seems a very grounded person, and sometimes has the task to be the middle man in the disputes that arise between the different points of view that are bound to happen when 6 creative albeit rebel minds come together to create art and comedy.

It has some stand still moments, has I imagine his life does, and that just renders an even more realistic tone to the book. I really liked it, as a document of a time and a mind, and, despite have so many other books on my ever increasing to read list, I've merrily proceeded to the second volume of his diaries.

Recommended to all the die hard Monty Python fans.

https://peixinhodepratablog.wordpress...

[Addy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I know this book existed in my "currently reading" column for almost six months, but I promise I enjoyed it! But between the British slang I had to re-read several times to understand, and Michael Palin's heavily literary voice, my journey through this book was more of a leisurely stroll instead of a sprint.
Palin has had a hugely successful and influential career which we know about, but it's interesting to read about where that all began. 1970's Britain, as experienced by Palin, is tumultuous and glitzy. He is an insightful narrator, and his assessment of characters he comes into contact with painted a clear image in my mind.
Naturally, the characters I was most invested in were the other Pythons; Graham Chapman (the eccentric doctor), John Cleese (the restless, jaded one), Terry Gilliam (the zany, artistic creative), Terry Jones (the stubborn, dedicated director) and Eric Idle (the self-focused loner). It was highly entertaining to be privy to the rehearsals and planning sessions and filming, to get as close to witnessing the comedy troupe in action as I will ever be. Michael seemed to have an individual relationship with each Python, and it was fascinating to read about how each interaction was slightly different from person to person.
I'm sure we have all longed to be a fly-on-the-wall at some point in history. Thanks to Sir Michael Palin, we are able to be present for an in depth look at Python business, moments of terrorism from the IRA, the first man on the moon as experienced by a non-USA country, and all the other watershed events of the 70's, for the world and for Monty Python.

[Stephen Osborne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marvelous! Palin's style is engaging, making you feel like you actually know him. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.75

“WILL YOU SHUT THAT BLOODY BAZOUKI OFF!!”

[Frank Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

What must it have been like to make "Monty Python and the Holy Grail"? There are numerous tails and myths -- but in his wonderful first volume of diary entries, we find out: "John (Lancelot) and I (Galahad) driving up through Glencoe in a Budget Rent-a-Van full of chainmail." Not a line you will find in most books or memoirs. But you will in Michael Palin's first set of published diaries. Or how about this one? "A good day's filming at last... John Horton's rabbit effects are superb. A really vicious white rabbit, which bites Sir Bor's head off. Much of the ground lost over the week is made up. We listen to the Cup Final in between fighting the rabbit -- Liverpool beat Newcastle 3-0." Soccer and killer rabbits. Got it.

I recently read Palin's recently released second installment of diary entries and was delighted and dazzled. Which led me to find seek out his first installment of entries. His writing is a tad more primative -- ah, the sufferings of youth! - but you see how this brilliant mind grew at an astonishing rate and his talents exploded in film, writing, television, books, etc. All while juggling the challenges of being the father to little ones and the son (and grandson) to rapidly aging elders. A truely remarkable talent, Palin has really hooked me of late with his marvelous travel exploits ("Pole to Pole", "Around the World in 80 Days", etc.). The Python Years 1969-1979 was a delightful voyage back to the early years of Monty Python and how they first roared to stardom.

[Guy Clapperton · Rating 3 out of 5]

The difficulty with diaries is that they're always going to be incomplete unless someone has written them with the intention of publishing. Michael Palin isn't so vain and only later did he make the decision, so a load of the background to this book is assumed to be understood by the reader.

So for example, when Graham Chapman gives a poisonous interview to the press about the Pythons when he's drunk, we're not privy to the contents, just the reactions (I listened to Palin's reading on Audible.co.uk, this may be different in the printed version). Major stuff like the decision to change the focus of "Life of Brian" to Brian rather than the guy who misses all the historical stuff by looking the other way happens off the page - it might have been better if Palin had back-filled some of this by telling us what else happened between diary entries.

It's an interesting book for Python fans and don't get me wrong, there are some cracking stories. Palin's relating of his appearance on Saturday Night Live should be compulsory reading for every student of anecdote-telling. Palin himself comes across as you'd have guessed; confident that he can deliver good comedy but humble enough to realise his extraordinary good fortune in finding his colleagues and his audience with such propitious timing. It was a lovely light listen while I was doing a lot of driving. Nonetheless, if you want to get under the skin of the Pythons and find out what was really going on during the seventies in this massively influential group, this probably isn't the best place to start.

[Christine · Rating 2 out of 5]

OK, I updated this. I exaggerated, there are only 600 pages or so, and I felt guilty so I skimmed the rest of the book. There is a little more meat about the making of "Life of Brian", but not much more. Mostly we hear about Palin's trips to the dentist and the tax assessor....
----------------

There is a big difference between reading an unedited diary and reading a memoir. Palin comes across as a very nice guy (and John Cleese not) but if you want to know how Monty Python developed their sketches this is not going to help much. No real insight into the creative process. There are some entries like "well, we did the cheese shop sketch today, thought it went well, John sulked/complained/nitpicked...". But mostly they detailed a pretty ordinary life -- visiting Mum and Dad, going to homeowner association meetings, having dinner with friends (some famous, some not, but not many interesting anecdotes). And at 1000 or so pages, I regret to say that I am not going to read through till the end. Maybe Volume Two will be more interesting, when he starts traveling around the world.

[William · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great little book. Coming hard on the heels of the 6 part PBS documentary, these diary excerpts cover the Python Years (as the title suggests). The writing is remarkable, and if Palin writes this way in contemporary diary style, without the benefit of edits and rewrites (not suggesting anything, Michael), then the writing is even more remarkable. Fantastic behind the scenes look at the Pythons...especially surprised at how little Terry Jones is discussed, considering he and Palin wrote together. Graham gets a lot of attention, and is an especially interesting study. Cleese comes off as you would expect. I was especially intrigued by the George Harrison parts, which really increased my admiration for this quiet Beatle>
Anyone who is a Python fan will get much enjoyment, and not a little insight, from this well written book.

[S.D. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not since Pepys’ has a diary warranted such literary merit. And Palin’s is better, less a diary than a portrait of everyman’s artist. In crisp, witty prose Palin narrates and ruminates on the creative process, British politics, travel, television, sport, family, film, finances, fine dining, literature, public transportation, and, of course, the inner workings of Monty Python. But what’s unique in Palin’s process is his refined focus on a particular activity, event or thought in each entry. These are not broad abstractions, dependent upon Palin’s memory for context, but more like mined diamonds, each a compressed crystal of a day-in-the-life. Forget ancient inspirational texts! If it’s a good book and a life-affirming read you’re after, Michael Palin Diaries is the one.

[Andrea]

This was heavy going for me - extracts of diaries kept by Michael Palin during the years Python started and on to just after the release of The Life of Brian.

Some very interesting stuff happens in this book, but there's also a hell of a lot about the current weather/hotel/book/ailment/business deal and it was all just so turgid I ended up skimming a lot. Palin rarely seems to be enjoying himself (or at least can't express that enjoyment in his writing).

Highlights were the evolution of Brian, and also Margot Kidder on the subject of filming Superman. *ting*.

[Michael Legge · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shame he dies in the end.

[Colin Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the first volume of Michael Palin's diaries covering the 10 years from 1969 to 1979. He started writing his diaries as an aid to help him to stop smoking after a suggestion from Terry Jones.  Palin is always an entertaining read and his diaries are no exception. As the title suggests it covers the formation of Monty Pythons Flying Circus a show that at the time was truly groundbreaking as well as the Pyhon films Now For Something Completely Different, Monty Python and the Holy Grail and The Life Of Brian.

It's interesting looking behind the scenes of what went on and as time goes by inevitably I suppose the Pyton meetings became more business meetings than anything else. We also see some of the tensions that occurred between the Pythons.its interesting that when the BBC were concerned with some of the content of Python that John Cleese at one  was the one who was most willing to compromise considering his more recent criticism of the BBC.

As this is a diary rather than an autobiography it differs in that it's not someone looking back at their life with maybe clouded memories but it's extracts from his diaries that he wrote at the time. Because of this format it's something if a snapshot of the times they were written in. We hear about the day to day goings on. The political landscape of the time even the mundane everyday things which actually make it in many ways much more fascinating that an autobiography.

A fascinating first volume of diaries.

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by diaries - I tried a few times in my much younger days to keep one myself, but never did take to it enough. I'm also fascinated by the creative process, and I also like learning about celebrities performing mundane everyday life. Oh, and I pretty much dig Monty Python. So, yeah, this book was a blast to get through. Palin did a great job editing things down to a manageable 600 page distillation of the first ten years of Python-hood. There isn't a great deal about the actual writing of the early TV shows, but the Holy Grail and Life of Brian films are covered extensively. There is also a lot about the work Palin did away from Python, on a TV series called Ripping Yarns, or as three-time guest host of Saturday Night Live. At the end, he's starting to work on writing with Terry Gilliam a little flick called Time Bandits, though this is because he thinks that's a better idea than Gilliam's early concepts for Brazil. In the course of the book, Palin has three children, and his father slowly deteriorates from Parkinson's Disease until he passes away. Palin starts to make big money about half way through the book, and meets an enormous number of celebrities, which lead to some of my fave passages. I particularly love how thrilled Palin is when George Harrison calls him for the first time.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredibly interesting and long

Very interesting...i learned so much about daily British life in general during the 70s, obviously from a single lens.
I enjoyed it, capturing a little of both the Grail (only a little) and Brian (quite a lot) with Michael's day to day...even a bit of his SNL hostings. I went back and watched the ones mentioned, very interesting.
Finally the Index is very thorough. I read this on a kindle and the index is 10% of the book lol
And now Finally (please ignore the prevous Finally as Finally)
The footnotes on my kindle version went wonky about halfway through, with them being one off..ie the footnote viewed was for the previous footnote. Worth a mention. But takes nothing away from the book itself

[Dave Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant but sparse
These actually appear to be Michael Palin's Diary entries from that time. That means when he was most busy he wrote less, and had no foreknowledge of what would be of historic relevance to future readers. There is an unintentionally funny moment when he predicts the imminent death of Keith Richards while John Belushi and Keith Moon were both still alive. (LOL, hindsight)
There are a few insights here an there about Pyhon that a dedicated fan might not have heard before but very few as this material has all been thoroughly picked over.


What is charming is how much he writes about home & family, friends and sunsets and how much he loves his wife and children.

[William Connelly · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy contemporary accounts such as this. The diaries begin just as Python is about to start and isn’t yet a ‘thing’. We read about its birth, the genesis of the films (the entries where they discuss a film about Jesus Christ is very interesting) and even other cultural landmarks - the start of Saturday Night Live and the launch of HBO.

On the flip side, Palin does sometimes come across as a snob. He does concede his own contradictions and hypocrisies. Lamenting the state of the environment, for example, he then goes on a three month holiday in America - a trip he repeats several times, on Concorde, throughout the 1970s. He is, though, this aside, very likeable and honest and it’s amusing that he is as awestruck at meeting a Beatle (George Harrison) as any of us.

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing in parts and interesting to see the dynamic between the different Python members but it was too long and took me an age to finish. Might still read the later volumes though as intrigued to find out how things developed later.