A.A. Milne : His Life

Rating:
Summary: A Pity
Review: It is a great pity that books like this go out of print: a pity that goes hand-in-hand with the subject. Of A. A. Milne's hundred or so plays, books and poetry, only five books remain in print. Four of them we all know, the fifth is 'Toad of Toad Hall', and adaptation of Graham's 'Wind in the Willows'. Few people realise that, during his life, Milne was most valued as a playwright. Thwaite realsied this, and that is perhaps why the book is no longer available, despite its brilliance. Twaite concentrates on his wonderful plays and adult books (which can be found if 2nd hand bookshops are searched long enough) with a sensitive yet hard-hitting analysis of the reclusive author. Nobody should be allowed to read the Winnie the Pooh books (brilliant as they are) without reading this. Milne would have wanted it. Superb book. I hope Ann reads this review!

Rating:
Summary: The definitive biography of A.A. Milne
Review: It really is too bad that all the good books seem to be out of print. When I saw this one on sale, I knew I had to grab it -- good, bad or indifferent, a book of this size that would give me so much information on one of my favorite authors had to be mine.

Little did I know what a treasure trove I'd found. A.A. Milne had written an autobiography, of course (in which he kept much of himself "buttoned up", so to speak), and his son Christopher (Robin) Milne had added to that in his own autobiographical trilogy; but no one had done a definitive biography. Ann Thwaite got Christopher's permission to try, but Christopher himself felt he would be of little help; all the relevant information seemed to have been destroyed by his mother. Happily, that was far from the case; much had been sold to the University of Texas at Austin and Trinity College in England, and many other family members and acquaintances were able to assist.

The result of Ms. Thwaite's massive efforts is a very detailed, yet very readable biography of a complex man. If there is a great deal of background on Christopher and the Pooh Books along the way, so much the better; but Alan Alexander Milne was a highly regarded writer and editor for Punch and a highly successful playwright long before his short interlude as an author for children. Ironically, it was the Pooh Books that made his fame -- and added an unwelcome burden to his son's life. Yet his natural and acquired pacifism is no less evident in his adult writings, especially in his works pleading for the abolition of war.

If you are a lover of the Pooh Books and want to learn about the man behind them, this is the book to beg, borrow, or...well, maybe someone will permit you to photocopy it. Not I. ....