Recension av Hello Darling, Are You Working - Rupert Everett

Svensk titel:

Tror inte denna bok har översatts till svenska.

Title:

Hello Darling, Are You Working? I don't believe this book has been translated to Swedish.

Anledning till att läsa boken:

Jag är med i en mycket aktiv och trevlig grupp på Yahoogroups, där temat är böcker. Vid något tillfälle rekommenderades Rupert Everetts självbiografi, med titeln Red Carpet and other Banana Skins, där. Jag kändes endast till Rupert Everett som skådespelare, men denna bok verkade så pass bra att jag blev intresserad av att läsa den och även andra böcker av Everett. Och sedan var det någon annan från den här gruppen som var så generös att hon gav mig den här boken, alltså Hello Darling Are You Working.

Reason for reading the book:

I'm in a very active and pleasant group on Yahoogroups, where the theme is literature and reading. At some point, someone there recommended Rupert Everett's autobiography, titled Red Carpet and other Banana Skins. I only knew of Rupert Everett as an actor, but I was intrigued and this book seemed so good that I wanted to read it, along with any other book I could find by Rupert Everett. And shortly after, another member of the group was generous enough to give me this book, Och sedan var det någon annan från den här gruppen som var så generös att hon gav mig den här boken, alltså Hello Darling Are You Working.

Sammandrag av handlingen:

Jag måste erkänna att det var ett litet tag sedan jag läste denna bok, har slarvat lite med mina recensioner... Så jag får kolla lite i Amazons refereat av boken för att komma ihåg detaljerna. Sorry...

Bisexuelle Rhys Waveral minns sina dagar som tonårig prostituerad och senare som skådespelare i en amerikansk tv-såpa. Han spelade en butler, och blir känd ett tag. Nu var det länge sedan han hade en roll, även om han fortfarande blir igenkänd på gatan då och då, och människor ropar hans lätt ekivoka standardreplik efter honom. Rhys bor på Hotell Leicester i Paris och lever jetset liv med sina vänner och sina droger. En dag ringer hans far, brigadgeneralen Dimbleby och dundrar om att Rhys ekonomiske rådgivare har spelat bort alla hans pengar i börskraschen 1987 (då detta utspelar sig). Rhys inser att han har dragit på sig en rejäl skuld i hotellräkningar och får lätt panik. Hans agent hittar ett jobb åt honom. Han får under en veckas tid återgå till sitt jobb som "boy for hire", han ska vara sällskap åt den hemske Rikki Lancaster i Tangiers i en vecka. Och det visar sig att alla han någonsing träffat på under hans karriär, plus dessutom hans föräldrar och hans sjuklige FRU Adrienne, dyker upp i Tangiers.

Summary of the story:

Well I have to admit it's been a while since I read this book, I have a huge backlog on my book reviews... I have to check the Amazon outline for help with rememebering some of the details. Sorry about that...

Bisexual Rhys Waveral remembers his days as a teenage prostitute in an American TV soap opera. He plays a butler, and is well-known for a while. Now it's been a long time, even though he's still recognized on the street from time to time, and people call his slightly erotic standard oneliner after him.

Rhys lives in Hotel Leicester in Paris and lives the jetset life with his friends and his drugs of choice. One day his father calls, the brigadier Dimbleby and thunders tghe announcement that Rhys's financial advisor has gambled all his money and lost them in the stock market crash of 1987 (when this story takes place). Rhys realizes that he has run up a significant hotel bill over the years, and panics. His agent finds him a job. For a week he's to return to his job as a "boy for hire", he's to be a companion for the horrid Rikki Lancaster in Tangiers for a week. And it turns out that during this week in Tangiers, he runs into not only everyone he has ever met during his career, but also his parents and his sickly wife Adrienne.

Omdöme och betyg:

Ingenting är på allvar, vare sig i Rhys liv eller i den här boken. Den försöker vara roligare än den lyckas vara. Här och där engagerar man sig, t.ex. när brigadgeneralen kommer till Paris för att rätta in Rhys i ledet och blir guidad runt i Paris nattliv av Rhys vän Peach. Först är den lite rolig för att brigadgeneralen har ju nämligen varit i Paris innan, under kriget, och kan utelivet där, eller åtminstone tror han det. Där finns också en väldigt rörande scen där pappan träffar Rhys och Peachs vän som är döende i AIDS. Men hela intrigen med Rikki Lancaster och co känns egentligen rätt så tråkig. Betyg: 3

Opinion and rating:

Nothing is really serious, neither in Rhys's life nor in this book. It tries to be more fun than it is. Off and on you are drawn into and absorbed by the story, e.g. when the Brigadier comes to Paris to straighten Rhys out and is guided around the nightlife in Paris by Peach, friend of Rhys. At first, this is a bit funny because the Brigadier has been in Paris before, during the war, so he knows his way around the night life in Paris, or so he thinks. There is also a very touching scene where the father meets a friend of Rhys and Peach who is dying of AIDS. As for the whole (supposedly naguthy) intrigue with Rikki Lancaster & co down in Tangiers, I found that pretty boring. Rating: 3

Ett citat eller referat från sidan 69:

Denna sida är början på ett kapitel och är i själva verket väldigt kort, så jag drar över lite på sidan 70.

A quotation or a review of page 69:

This page is beginning of a chapter and is really quite short, so I'll quote from page 69 and a little bit of page 70.

"CHAPTER NINE: In which Rhys lunches with Mrs Rikki Lancaster

The next day Rhys woke up early to the sun streaming through the windows. It was one of those early winter Paris days, very bright and cold. He dressed quickly and rushed out to St Clothilde to attend the 8:45 mass. He wondered if Mary Magdalene went on hooking after she became a saint. He suspected not. Feeling slightly uneasy, He decided to skip Communion. At least his face had gone down.

He talked to his agent in London who, as usual, was discouraging about the work front. 'At the first sign of disouragement you cave in.'
'But what about that thing in Alabama, Dumpling? Dumpling? Are you awake? '

Dumpling Hines. Rhys had been with him for years. Dear Dumpling. There was only one slight problem with him. He couldn't keep awake. He was permanently asleep at the wheel. He fell asleep in plays, at dinner parties, in the gym, in the bath, even on many occasions while talking on the phone. The only place he didn't fall asleep was the bed, where he loved watching television. As a result he was the only person in the world who had seen every single episode of Our Butler when they re-ran it at four in the morning."