The Orton diaries by Orton, Joe. For me, 4 stars -- for people who couldn't care less about Joe Orton, 2 stars. Entertaining, bitchy, slightly prophetic, in hindsight of course, of the brutal death and destruction to come, the murder of playwright Joe Orton by his lover Kenneth Halliwell and Halliwell's suicide directly after. Skip to main content. During this brief period he shocked, outraged, and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies. Knowing this means allowing for some self aggrandizing however Orton died before he had a chance to edit it, though he may have edited as he went along. Not available in stores. Ultimately a very sad book but written well enough that even though I knew how it ended I found it very readable, a little uncomfortable at times but ultimately fascinating. That really comes across in these diaries. On the evidence of these diaries, the flight-recorder, the black box present in all writers, was particularly efficient in Joe Orton. If you can even call it a view, as Orton, charming and witty as he seems, was too self-centred to really see his relationship. It is Joe Orton's diary, annotated with letters and pertinent quotes from friends and family. It also analyzes reviews to verify trustworthiness. However, their common interests led to a lengthy romantic relationship. As well as it being one of the most honest Diaries I have ever read, it's also a great snapshot of the time and place - Swinging London in the mid-60's. Great Books to Give the Kids This Holiday. Highly recommend. It could've been a well-written novel rather than a. Publication date 1996 Topics Orton, Joe -- Diaries, Dramatists, English -- 20th century -- Diaries Publisher Da Capo Press Collection inlibrary; printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; china Digitizing sponsor Kahle/Austin Foundation Contributor Internet Archive Language English. To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. Instead, our system considers things like how recent a review is and if the reviewer bought the item on Amazon. Then again, I cou. But as a document, as a piece of writing, it is unusual, biting, funny. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 5, 2016. Very nice edition which arrived the next day with amazon prime. It did offer some insight into his plays and this is the only reason I gave it 2 stars. It's true that some of his sexual exploits are detailed quite graphically (and sometimes hilariously) here, but it's his unique perspective and insight which makes the diaries so compelling. But the journals document a remarkable final year starting in December 1966. No Kindle device required. When Joe Orton (1933–1967) wrote those words in his diary in May 1967, he was being hailed as the greatest comic playwright since Oscar Wilde for his darkly hilarious Entertaining Mr. Sloane and the farce hit Loot, and was completing What the Butler Saw; but less than The editor added some excuse that fell flat. It is Joe Orton's diary, annotated with letters and pertinent quotes from friends and family. A very intriguing set of diaries. I had to hide it from my parents because it was "subversive". Joe Orton in 1966 Credit: Hulton O n its initial three-week West End run in 1964, the play, a timeless study of man's capacity for cruelty, received mixed reviews. He is deliciously irreverent. An excellent book about a brilliant yet unpleasant character, Reviewed in the United Kingdom on August 6, 2017. Paperback | August 22, 1996. $19.76 online. Not only in their candid detail about his celebrity lifestyle but also his lust after young boys. Sexual activity dominates, within the relationship and with others, but that was a truth of their lives so informs about both of them as individuals and as lovers rather than there for shock value. I didn't realise how much. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. The varied extremes of their shared social life, from glamorous parties with famous names such as Rudolf Nureyev and Williams's good friend, the … John Kingsley Orton (1 January 1933 – 9 August 1967), known under the pen name of Joe Orton, was an English playwright, author and diarist. I like reading journals and this is a cracker, the descriptions of people, places is wonderful. The Orton Diaries by Joe Orton (2013-06-27): Books - Amazon.ca. Read Orton Diaries book reviews & author details and more at Amazon.in. Generally I love reading people's journels or diaries, and Joe Orton wrote a diary that is a masterpiece. I'd be weighed down and slit my wrists. To see what your friends thought of this book, "The trouble with Western Society today is the lack of, I was only just sixteen when I bought this book. You get the sense about a third of the way through the diaries that he's just writing them for future publication. The writing is of a caliber I rarely encounter anymore. Little did he know the circumstances under which they would be. Overall, this re-reading of The Orton Diaries opposes the narrative of tragic queerness that typically defines Orton’s life, casting new light on the Orton-Halliwell relationship and on the diary as a form of queer protest. Put simply, I found very little value in reading this book. I'll put it this way: if you believe sex is what happens in a Jennifer Aniston movie, then burn this book. Orton and Halliwell used young boys for their own gratification little thinking of the damage they were inflicting on them. The diary, how it was written and why adds an extra element of both information about the relationship, and questions as to how it affected them both - or if it did at all given the writing relationship between the two men was so close that sharing the reading and writing of it would not be impossible to imagine. I'll have to read Prick Up Your Ears too. His humor is dark and unconventional and still fresh. His public career—from 1964 until his death in 1967—was short but highly influential. Joe Orton lived a wild, mad life, full of sex and violence, and it informed his plays. When I was six years old and my brother eight, we found in our house a copy of The Orton Diaries which had recently been published, two decades after his murder by his lover, Kenneth Halliwell. More interesting than most diaries, yet I beg to differ with the introduction in that they show Orton was "playing with fire", which is merely trying to be wise with the dubious benefit hindsight, or reading every aspect of his life as if it were somehow leading up to his untimely and gruesome death. I don't particularly want to moralize about Orton's promiscuity - which, in tandem with his burgeoning fame, led to his brutal murder by the "non-entity" who mentored and lived with him for years. Kenneth Halliwell, according to the background material provided, would have had access to it. Too many recent diaries by politicians (e.g. It was so different and raw from the happy go lucky books all around me. In a short but prolific career lasting from 1964 until his death in 1967, he shocked, outraged, and amused audiences with his scandalous black comedies. The introduction by John Lahr is well-written and the footnotes are informative. "To be young, good-looking, healthy, famous, comparatively rich, and happy is surely going against nature". The Orton Diaries. It seems like Orton was a bit of a shit, but I can't help but be captivated by his diaries. Of course, the irony is that Orton - highly intelligent and self-aware - did not see that the growing depression of his partner, Kenneth Halliwell, would lead to their deaths. Just from the sound of him, I liked him immensely. Not only in their candid detail about his celebrity lifestyle but also his lust after young boys. Amazon.in - Buy Orton Diaries book online at best prices in India on Amazon.in. Orton was gay, proud and promiscuous and this diary does not hide that. As a piece of writing this is pretty fascinating -- the diary of playwright Joe Orton from the six months or so leading up to his murder. the most interesting last six months of anyone's life. I was only just sixteen when I bought this book. Every detail is there, from the confines of the small London flat to the freedom of Tangier. Why were the Tangier diaries included? In his plays, the tapes are doctored and played at impossible speeds to produce situations which are heightened, undifferentiated and much less interesting – a scream, in fact. Tangiers in the 1960's was a paedophile's paradise and please God, it no longer exists as such. Edited with a superb introduction by John Lahr, The Orton Diaries is his crowning achievement. As a diary, there is a fair amount of the mundane -- which is rather enjoyable. Afterall, he wrote the diaries with the intent of publishing them. 1 Curtis: Those Awful Orton Diaries Published by DigitalCommons@SHU, 1987 Try Prime Hello, Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Returns & … I read this as a teenager mostly because it was naughty! Dr Emma Parker is Associate Professor of English at the University of Leicester, home of the Joe Orton archive. The writing is of a caliber I rarely encounter anymore. Among the best post-war diaries! He was known as one of Britain's most promising playwrights, but he had a dark, depraved and sinister side. It's kind of a one-sided view of an increasingly unhealthy relationship. His creation of Dame Edna who writes scathing reviews in letters-to-the-editors of Joe's plays (among other things) is hilarious. "To be young, good-looking, healthy, famous, comparatively rich. The Orton Diaries: Joe Orton: 9780060914981: Books - Amazon.ca. Hello Select your address Cyber Monday Best Sellers Gift Ideas New Releases Electronics Customer Service Home Books Coupons Computers Gift Cards Sell Registry Joe was a brilliant, creative, cutting-edge playwright who was just coming into his own when he was killed violently by his long-time partner. Joe Orton, the playwright, and Kenneth Halliwell, who shared his tiny flat in Islington for eight years until they were both found dead in it last week, left their estates to each other. Joe Orton, commonly thought of as a playwright of risqué farces in the 1960s, was a very present figure for a while in the gay community in the UK in the late 1980s and early 1990s (perhaps because his biography was published late in the 1970s, his diaries in 1986 and a film based on the diaries released 1987). This books is not for everyone. Be warned though - it is not for the faint hearted. It troubles me now, too much apparently to give this a proper review. were obviously written with an eye on future publication and have dated very quickly. The introduction, footnotes, photographs, etc are very interesting and informative. Boy oh boy. And then, he goes to Tangiers. I still look back on Joe Orton and this book with fondness. This diary is a record by Joe Orton of the days leading up to his death at the hands of long time lover Kenneth Halliwell. He would have crashed and burned with his own nihilistic hedonism at some point (perhaps when his career was turning down?). When the book ended, I was left wondering if perhaps Kenneth Halliwell hadn't saved London from an eventual predator. Skip to main content. But for a fan, this diary IS fascinating, and knowing the end of Orton's life in advance does give even the most mundane details an eerie cast. When he goes to meet Brian Epstein, or Paul McCartney, or goes to accept his Evening Standard award for Loot as best play of 1966, it's like we're in his head with him. I could have done without the explicit details about his sexual romps with teenage boys. By contrast, Joe Orton's diaries were written by an exceptionally talented young writer - working class, gay - at the absolute height of his powers. You get the sense about a third of the way through the diaries tha. His diary was written in the last eight months (January-August 1967) of his short life and is spontaneous and very funny, and at the same time that he wrote two highly successful plays, as well as revising others. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2017. Well i had wanted to read this book for ages! Joe Orton - once dubbed "the Oscar Wilde of the welfare state generation" - is here revealed as one of the great diarists of the 20th century. Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 27, 2015. His assessments of American society were amazingly still apt all these decades later. Outrageous behavior. I knew Orton was murdered yet I didn't realise the circumstances until this dramatic account came to a spectacular conclusion. In the end, I decided the Tangier diaries weren't fantasy, but an accounting of months of seeking and attaining the sexual services of children. This book captures a vivid flash of 1960s London and its culture. Tami Charles is a former teacher and the author of picture books, middle grade and young adult novels, and nonfiction. After viewing product detail pages, look here to find an easy way to navigate back to pages that interest you. Be the first to ask a question about The Orton Diaries. Orton's diaries are full of his hedonistic pursuits and talented as a playwrite he may have been, for the sake of those children he abused, the publishers of The Orton Diaries, Methuen, should be banned from ever publishing further copies of his diary. It was so different and raw from the happy go lucky books all around me. I'm not sure how long he could have gone on, denying his own need for and others' need for love. Unalloyed joy. Unable to add item to Wish List. Free shipping for many products! This account is irreverent, caustic and, at times, quite hilarious. This diary is a record by Joe Orton of the days leading up to his death at the hands of long time lover Kenneth Halliwell. Live hard, die young? A fascinating insight to a fascinating man whose life and career were cut too short. Joe Orton gives us one last masterpiece in his diaries. Alistair Campbell, Robin Cook etc.) Boy oh boy. The adjective Ortonesque is now used to refer to something characterised by a dark but farcical cynicism. I guess in future I just need to keep partaking of their works but refrain from reading about their personal lives. I loved it. I've read this three times over the years. The images also tell the story of Orton's life in a way that enrich the text. You're listening to a sample of the Audible audio edition. For gay readers, the Tangier section gives a wonderfully intricate portrait of a lost gay refuge. Kenneth Williams features quite a bit in Orton's diaries, as Orton does in Williams' diaries, and it's quite fascinating to cross reference the same events recounted in very different ways by the two men. These diaries did not make for pleasant reading. Joe Orton was a pedo, arrogant, conceited, racist and nasty. Just a moment while we sign you in to your Goodreads account. Joe Orton died 46 years ago today. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2014-09-17 12:59:14.680393 Bookplateleaf … It's been noted countless times that a lot of the great artists of our time were messed up in some way. On the other hand, if you think sex is ugly and gritty, you are halfway to loving this diary. Paired with The Orton Diaries, is the first-ever radio production of Loot - his hilarious, black masterpiece - first broadcast by Radio 3 for the 30th anniversary of his death. It isn't scandalous, it's horrifying. These items are shipped from and sold by different sellers. Plot. Then again, I couldn't read 500 of these type of books every year. Please try again. Loot is a black comedy and a satire on arbitrary authority in which Orton blisteringly turns the police, death and religion into ironic farce. I knew little of Orton, his plays or his life apart from the fact he was gay and the diaries were notoriously explicit. The Orton Diaries, written during his last eight months, chronicle in a remarkably candid style his outrageously unfettered life: his literary success, capped by an Evening Standard Award and overtures from the Beatles; his sexual escapades - at his mother's funeral, with a dwarf in Brighton, and, extensively, in Tangiers; and the breakdown of his sixteen-year "marriage" to Halliwell, the relationship that transformed and destroyed him. Download one of the Free Kindle apps to start reading Kindle books on your smartphone, tablet, and computer. I watched a lot of documentaries on the 1960s when I was younger, and came across many stories of Joe Orton. Please try your request again later. Alan Ben­nett wrote the screen­play. Not a book for everyone, I found it very interesting. He emerges however as a hauntingly lonely and tragic figure, and Orton as someone oblivious to the pain his lover was suffering and his, Orton's, own contribution to it. Nearly lost bladder control while reading some of the episodes featuring Kenneth Williams. I'm so ambivalent on this book. Orton is quite at ease with himself and I found this very appealing at first but as things progress it began to trouble me. I don't particularly want to moralize about Orton's promiscuity - which, in tandem with his burgeoning fame, led to his brutal murder by the "non-entity" who mentored and lived with him for years. in the second section (written in Tangier), sexual activity of the insatiable reads as tedious. Exasperating though it is, we will never know the contents of Joe’s final diary entries. Joe Orton - once dubbed "the Oscar Wilde of the welfare state generation" - is here revealed as one of the great diarists of the 20th century. One of my heroes, so cannot rate it high enough. The film stars Gary Oldman as Orton, Alfred Molina as Halliwell, Wallace Shawn as Lahr, and Vanessa Redgrave as Peggy Ramsay. In fact, as slavishly documented (esp.) THE ORTON DIARIES: 1 OF 2 Orton kept diaries over two different periods of his life. It's kind of a one-sided view of an increasingly unhealthy relationship. Read honest and unbiased product reviews from our users. I knew little of Orton, his plays or his life apart from the fact he was gay and the diaries were notoriously explicit. He enjoyed scandalizing society with unconventionality. It captures London theater culture as well as pop culture of that period and time - meaning the 60's. Orton wasn't a very nice person but he was fascinating. Also an incredible inside look in Gay culture as well. $22.99 list price. Just from the sound of him, I liked him immensely. Ironic that he died the year homosexuality was made legal in England. It was written by Orton with a view to publication. Finally, if you are something in between, approach Orton with an open mind. This is a well presented book. Refresh and try again. It was definitely not your normal material for a sixteen year old. His fame, skyrocketing. A gay man in 1960's London, when it was not fashionable to "come out," Orton was always true to himself and to his desires (as awful as they were). August 22nd 1996 Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of, Published Something went wrong. There are many comments and opinions by friends and fellow artists and most of them are negative re Halliwell. Di­rected by Stephen Frears, it stars Gary Old­man as Orton, Al­fred Molina as Hal­li­well and Vanessa Red­grave as Peggy Ramsay. ONE DAY in November 1985 Kenneth Williams was invited to read excerpts from the soon-to-be-published diary of his friend Joe Orton. There are flashes of great insight and the diaries are often laugh out loud funny. I highly recommend it, together with "Prick up Your Ears," the biography also by John Lahr. save 14 % In stock online. The Edna Welthorpe letters at the end are hysterical. It's true that some of his sexual exploits are detailed quite graphically (and sometimes hilariously) here, but it's his unique perspective and insight which makes the diaries so compelling. When Joe Orton (1933-1967) wrote those words in his diary in May 1967, he was being hailed as the greatest comic playwright since Oscar Wilde for his darkly hilarious Entertaining Mr. Sloane and the farce hit Loot, and was completing What the Butler Saw; but less than three months later, his longtime companion, Kenneth Halliwell, smashed Orton's skull in with a hammer before killing himself. Try Prime Hello, Sign in Account & Lists Sign in Account & Lists Orders Try Prime Cart. I knew Orton was murdered yet I didn't realise the circumstances until this dramatic account came to a spectacular conclusion. Outrage greeted Joe Orton's plays while he was alive and his diaries after he was dead. I had to hide it from my parents because it was "subversive". John Kingsley ("Joe") Orton was an English playwright. One of my friends recommended it to me. It is brutally honest, sexually graphic, shocking and uncomfortable to read at times but is also a rivetting record of the two men's relationship and their social and private lives. In 1951, he met Joe Orton, a fellow RADA student. His short life involved hit plays of outrageous farce, work with the Beatles, and inumerous actors, producers, and directors. © 2008-2020, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates, The Complete Plays: The Ruffian on the Stair, Entertaining Mr. Sloan, the Good and Faithful Servant…. 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