Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes

By: Alan Bennett

Narrated by: Alan Bennett

Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

Two unexpected tales written and read by the best-selling author of The Uncommon Reader, Untold Stories and The History Boys.

"The Greening of Mrs Donaldson" - Mrs Donaldson is a conventional middle-class woman beached on the shores of widowhood after a marriage that had been much like many others: happy to begin with, then satisfactory and finally dull. But when she decides to take in two lodgers, her mundane life becomes much more stimulating…

"The Shielding of Mrs Forbes" - Graham Forbes is a disappointment to his mother, who thinks that if he must have a wife, he should have done better. True, her own husband isn’t all that satisfactory either. Still, this is Alan Bennett, so what is happening in the bedroom (and in lots of other places too) is altogether more startling, perhaps shocking, and ultimately more true to people’s predilections.

©2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd (P)2011 BBC Studios Distribution Ltd

Critic reviews

"Artfully entertaining…On one particular subject Bennett is incomparably brilliant: role-playing, which is the meat of both stories." (Simon Schama, Financial Times, London)

"Bennett’s humor consistently resides in the logic of the parenthetical aside, the comedy of the false appearances or misperceptions being challenged or disabused.…Mrs. Donaldson is not as unconventional as she thought herself, and no one around Mr. Forbes is where—or who—they pretend to be." ( The Guardian, London)

"Tender and comic…This is Bennett’s world, where repression is never far from the sexual act….Good, old-fashioned British humor with the lightest of subversive twists." ( The Independent, London)

Fabulous!

There is little doubt that the success of Bennett's audio works can be attributed to the skill of the reader, Bennett himself. This work is no exception, it is written and read with the same literary accomplishment that characterises all of Bennett's work. These two tales are at the same time hilarious, tragic and evocative - not of the reality - of the morality our times. I'll give them a rest but probably listen to them gin in a year or so. In the meantime, I'll just keep checking back here every month to see if there anything new by Bennett.

story seems dated, but narration amusing

Would you try another book from Alan Bennett and/or Alan Bennett?

yes, i think so

What do you think your next listen will be?

raylan by elmore leonard

Which character – as performed by Alan Bennett – was your favorite?

Mrs. Forbes

Was Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes worth the listening time?

yes

Any additional comments?

stories probably not as shocking as the title suggests

A fun British story about unmentionable subjects!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

If one enjoyes British humor this is a fun book on delicate subjects in story form.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes?

I was not expecting the second story to be as good as the first, and if anything it was better. The openous of what are usually non open subjects, told in a delightful manner.

What does Alan Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

His English accent that adds to this story

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

The book is short, but I feel it is better enjoyed taking each story seperately.

Any additional comments?

The story takes a tongue & cheek view in the British style that would be hard to be so open about told by an American author or reader.

Alan Bennett's sly and subversive tales

What made the experience of listening to Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes the most enjoyable?

Alan Bennett writes for the stage and is a veteran actor and comedian (Beyond the Fringe,) so when he reads his superficially decorous, decidedly unconventional tales of the various ways that love, desire, and received notions about what's age-appropriate mix and match, it is a treat. The delivery is so prim that you may have to listen twice to realize just exactly what it is he's saying.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes?

Mrs. Donaldson is one of a team of volunteers that enact various medical conditions for the benefit of trainee medical students--the students, their professor, the other

Wonderful

If you could sum up Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes in three words, what would they be?

This is my first run in with Alan (I'm from Mars) and it was delightful. This book covers the kind of smut you and your mum can chat easily about over tea in the morning. Rather, it is all about a master writer who has honed his skills of comedic understatement and in so doing brings the whole damn empire up a notch.

What did you like best about this story?

Just about everything.

What does Alan Bennett bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A really wonderful

Great fun, totally absorbing. A welcome diversion

Where does Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the best of any I have listened to so far.

What did you like best about this story?

The characters were so fully realized

If you could take any character from Smut: Two Unseemly Stories: The Greening of Mrs Donaldson & The Shielding of Mrs Forbes out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Mrs. Donaldson. What a vivid character!

The best is the humor; it's LOL funny.

The best is the humor; it's LOL funny. The slowdown is the thematic play on Brit manners, which I found yesteryear and tiresome. There's redemptive ingenuity in the stories' plotlines.