I enjoyed his light hearted openness about his bad health and how he is coping in his last days.
I appreciated his frank assessment on the books he's reading. I feel his assessments are much more believable than the advertising hype we often read with book promotions.
There are so many good books for me still to read I need all the help I can get to steer me to worthwhile authors. ( )

Oh dear. There was a stab of disappointment early. Where was the parsing of ideas, so evident in Cultural Amnesia? Well, from the first page James notes that he's on his way out, dying from leukemia and myriad respiratory degradations. Finding his remaining time limited, he elected to reread some lifelong favorites and gauge any changes.

What results is a softened survey which belongs in a popular magazine. This precipitous decline left me unsettled. I struggle to imagine any aspect which I could recommend. ( )

Here’s a book, a slim volume of a book that hooked me right from the start. Oh how I wish they all did! What our Clive James doesn’t know about literature, reading and writing is probably not worth the bother. At times I was a little out of my depth but Clive managed to go easy with this novice and reeled me back in when I got lost, gently taught me new words and delighted me with many a perfectly structured turn of phrase. Mr. James spoke to me as an interested friend and amazed me with a commanding yet easy eloquence. For the first time ever in my reading life I’ve come across a book that I could happily re-read, immediately, and gain more for the doing of it…..I think I will. ( )

A delightful slim volume of essays, so full of life and the love of art, made poignant by our knowledge of the author’s mortality.
There is much to enjoy and learn from these very short essays , many revisiting the writer’s favourite authors, such as the novel sequences of Powell or Waugh, but also with new discoveries, such as Olivia Manning, or at a lighter level, O’Brien’s Jack Aubrey novels. As ever with literary essays, part of the pleasure is from affirmation that books that you have enjoyed are praised and part from the promise of new books you should enjoy, as your taste in books is similar (although nowhere near as erudite). There are short essays on Hollywood books, political biographies and the physical shelving problem arising from always needing to buy books (to which one can relate!).
There are also two series of essays scattered through the collection about the books & life of Hemingway and the books of Conrad which share the frustration with or appreciation of those works with us:
Conrad was the writer who reached political adulthood before any of the other writers of his time, and when they did, they only reached to his knee.
The author’s illness and adult family are mentioned, mainly in passing, throughout the book. This might be off-putting for those who have never read the author before, but works for me as someone who grew up listening to his BBC film reviews. I can hear the authorial voice too.
There is much to appreciate and so little time. This book is worth the time, sharing his appreciation to guide you on to make time for those works which are satisfying and enjoyable. ( )

James has always been able to make me laugh out loud, and he still can... the final third of the book here feels thin and not quite 'him' - is his strength as a writer finally leaving him as his physical state deteriorates? Nevertheless, James at 80% is still more of a pleasure than just about anyone else at the peak of their powers. A wonderful dash read. ( )