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Letter or Diaries in Literature

edited October 2010 in - Writing Problems
I belong to a literary society in which members have to give a 20 minute book talk on the general topic nominated for the year. The topic for 2011 is Letters and Diaries and at the moment I can't think of a suitable book. I would appreciate it if anyone could come up with any suggestions for books which may fit into these categories.

Comments

  • Hi Jaycee, did Jane Austen or Charlotte Bronte use letters and diaries? That is if you want to got the classics route. I can't think of anything offhand.
  • If you're looking for a modern book, you've got 'The Guernsey Literary and Potato Pie Society' by Mary Ann Shaffer. I wasn't a great fan of the book but it seems to be a Marmite-type book! It's a letter-based book.
  • Anne Frank was my first thought although there are plenty of other famous diaries published. (or does it have to be fiction?)
    Adrian mole (Sue Townsend)
    Bridget Jones (Helen Fielding)
    Letters to a Portugese Nun (?)
    Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)
    Dracula (Bram Stoker)
    Carrie (Stephen King)
  • My favourite is

    84 Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff. It says on the back it is unmitigated delight from cover to cover and it fulfills those expectations for me. It is also quite short.
  • I was going to suggest 84 Charing Cross Road, even though I found it unreadable.
  • I enjoyed 84, Charing Cross Road, but found The Guernsey Literary Society, etc. somewhat over-rated. People think that 'show, don't tell' doesn't apply in letters, but I found there was much too much 'telling' by the letter writers themselves, and for that reason, the main character they focus on didn't come alive for me. But that would make a very good topic to talk about. Another book, which I read as a teenager, decades ago, was 'Daddylonglegs'. I loved it then.
  • a book which was in diary form about Guernsey during the war and was a brilliant read in my opinion is: The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Ann Shaffer and Annie Burrows. There were some really memorable characters in it.
  • If it was childrens there is diary of a wimpy kid!
  • Following on from Kateyanne's children theme, there's the Princess Diaries by Meg Cobat I think. I've got all the books, and read four of them, and they're in diary form and very funny in my opinion.
  • Thanks to everyone for your prompt help. I shall follow up your leads. I didn't know where to start but now I'm sure to find something suitable.
  • The Observations by Jane Harris. Brilliant, brilliant, brilliant.
  • what about 'The diary of an ordinary woman' it is actually a novel. Different!
  • 84 Charing Cross Road has to be a winner (I've see it performed as a play and I think it's been done on TV) lovely book. I didn't much enjoy the Geurnsy Potatoe Peel Pie Literary Society one (not sure if I have the title 100% correct but it's something about potato peel).

    Not too demanding would be The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady - point of interest is that the poor lady who wrote it (Edith Holden) fell into the river and drowned when collecting nature specimens in the interests of her hobby. Her illustrations in the diary are works of art.
  • Just thought of a fictional one and on telly recently - Ladies of Letters.

    There's a good book called '800 Years of Women's Letters' - containing a huge cross section of letter writers including such peoples as Elizabeth 1st Charlotte Bronte and those of lesser mortals.
  • The Color Purple, by Alice Walker, told as diaries and letters.
  • [quote=Betsie]There's a good book called '800 Years of Women's Letters' - containing a huge cross section of letter writers including such peoples as Elizabeth 1st Charlotte Bronte and those of lesser mortals. [/quote]

    I gave that to a friend as a gift. She said it was the first time she'd received a book that she'd have chosen herself. I thought it looked good and I knew she was interested in both history and literature.
  • if anyone remembers twin peaks, they brought a book out in the form of a dairy called who killed laura mars, may be something different to look at :)
  • The Mitfords: Letters Between Six sisters. (Pub. 2007, Paperback 2008)

    "compulsively readable...funny, sharp and stylish..." The Times.
  • Just catching up on last week's The Week and they've given their 'last word' to Parting Shots: The Undiplomatic Final Words of Our Departing Ambassadors by Matthew Parris and Andrew Bryson.

    Looks like our Ambassadors preferred to get their angst off their chests rather than spoiling guests with their nutty chocolates at parties.

    Perhaps of interest to anyone who's lived abroad.
  • [quote=shellw]they brought a book out in the form of a dairy[/quote]

    Holy cow, that's innovative!
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