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I recently read a David Attenborough book, and amused myself for far too long reading it in his voice. And of course, I did the same with this book by Rhys Darby.
Not sure whether I should assume people know who he is, but Rhys Darby is a Kiwi comedian and actor who is most famous for the character Murray Hewitt, who is the manager of the Flight of the Conchords (self proclaimed as New Zealand's 4th Most Popular Folk Parody Duo). Murray has a distinctive way of speaking and mannerisms. The character of Murray Hewitt never seems very far from Darby's natural character, and as such the whole book feels like Murray.
So the book. The pretext for the book is that, as we are all expected to know, the world is about to end, and those of us important enough have received our invites to the spaceships for our escape. What, you didn't get an invite? Well, Rhys will help you get onto that spaceship. Just read on...
So this pretext is introduced at the start and at a few points in the first 3/4 of the book is only softly alluded to. In reality, we get an autobiographic memoir, where Rhys tells us the story of his childhood. I found this pretty funny. A couple of times I even laughed out loud, which is a good sign. There was very little in this 3/4 that didn't make me want to read on and on, pushing the limits of my lunch breaks. Rhys clearly doesn't suffer from embarrassment, as evidenced by his sharing of humiliating experience after humiliating experience, but he is also proud of many of the things he has achieved. This makes for a good mixture of experiences to read about.
Towards the end, he gets himself back on task with his spaceship story, and it turns from bio/memoir to the absurd story. This was probably fine to read as that - an absurd story, but I was enjoying the bio so much it was an annoyance for me, and probably tainted the reading experience for me.
Accompanying the text are various sketches (by the author) and a number of photos, mostly from Darby's youth. Many could be considered embarrassing, but as noted above, Darby doesn't seem to feel embarrassment. The photos and sketches definitely add to the narrative.
Another plus is that Darby spent much of his youth in Christchurch, where I have lived most of my life. His recollections of terrible nightclubs (The Palladium (which he loved)), and other local landmarks made a connection with me.
Some quotes, in case you are interested.
I rode a sheep when I was ten years old in a rodeo show. It was basically the kids' version of a bucking broncho. I lasted 8 seconds and won a prize. Guess what the prize was? A leg of lamb.
Then the Sergeant major pointed me out and said something that has stuck with me until this day. He said:‘You are very silent aren't you Darby? There is something about the look in your eyes. You're either very smart of very stupid.'I smiled at this statement, trying hard not to give away which category I fitted into. In the many years that have followed since being questioned in that way I have often wondered myself whether I'd very smart or very stupid. Is it possible to be both?
The three golden rules of leadership1 Always do a roll call2 Always have meetings3 Always write things down4 Always have a spare rule up your sleeveM Hewitt
I brought light comic relief to the other soldiers who were finding it hard. During moments of spare time I would do impressions of the NCOs who were in charge of us - just on a whim, to bring joy to my fellow cadets. One day I was caught doing this by the NCO I was impersonating. He was not happy at all and decided to make an example of me.‘You think you're funny, Darby?'‘Yes, corporal.'‘Well, we'll see how funny you are when I get you to do your impressions directly in front of those who you mock!'‘...‘‘Nothing to say to that, Darby?'‘No, corporal. I'm just slightly excited about this opportunity.'
