Reviews

Stiff Upper Lip: Life Among the Diplomats by Lawrence Durrell

rupertowen's review against another edition

3.0

If you fancy a leisurely read for an hour or two, Durrell's Stiff Upper Lip could well do the trick. Durrell departs from his more florid accounts of diplomatic life found in his other books to provide a few anecdotes from a "dip" (diplomatic) perspective. These are ditties with no twists or turns, pretty much standard gag material but the language is where the strength lies, a character described as "overlooked washing-up", of Martinis that "fairly whistles through the rigging", describing a dip rabble as having that "dreadful rinsed-out look which comes from Conferences", asking someone to take that "beastly sensual smile" off their face, and so on. Usually, for me, Lawrence is a much more poised writer. Apart from, The Black Book, and including this one, is Lawrence gallivanting across the page to entertain through quips and turns of phrase.

gengelcox's review against another edition

1.0

A while back on rec.arts.books, someone asked for any recommendations of authors like [a:P. G. Wodehouse|7963|P.G. Wodehouse|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1198684105p2/7963.jpg]. In the ensuing responses, this thin little volume by Durrell was mentioned. I recognized Durrell’s name from my research into travel literature, and thought I’d give his humor a try. These are short stories, told to an unseen chronicler (and fellow diplomat) by an older collegue named Antrobus. The service is foreign, in a generic country name Vulgaria (a cute little dig at snobbish English diplomats). While the language is quite pleasant, and some of the situations quite amusing, what Durrell is missing is that sense of plot known as the conclusion (or, as a character says here, “the pay off”). Durrell tries, but never seems to get it right. I enjoyed it as a brief diversion (the book is less than 90 pages), but doubt I’ll be looking for more.