Review: 3 stars
‘The King’s Speech’ tells me that appearances matter, more so – when it is the question of British Monarchy. An inspirational figurehead, the king is supposed to rally the support of his subjects around important issues of the day – for that a skill of oratory is must. And the job of the ruler becomes all the more difficult, if he is ruling half the world and has an awful stammer. ‘The King’s Speech’ is the story of how Lionel Logue, ‘a common colonial’, aids George VI in getting over his stammer to deliver perfectly acceptable speeches – always to the surprise of American media, and much to the adoration of the British people and its media. More than curing the stammer, Logue bypasses it by removing tricky words from the text, as well as create a psychological air where the king can feel confident about his abilities – throughout his life, he has always dreaded oratory.
Set against the background of World War 2, this is a tale of the relationship between two men and a hell lot of prejudices. When commenting over the preponderance of stammering in men rather than women, Logue has this to say, “One reason is that men go out into the world more, and conditions make them more self-conscious in thinking. Women will often chatter on to each other without either being concerned in what the other is saying.’ Also the affair between Mrs. Wallis Simpson & then king Edward VIII finds me this nugget:
Although there seemed little doubt that it was Wallis’s adultery with the King that precipitated her marital break-up, it was customary among gentlemen keen to spare their wives’ blushes that they should pose as the guilty party.
Hence Ernest Wallace had to be caught in flagrante with a Miss ‘Buttercup’ to save the dignity of her philandering wife – such a cute gentleman!
When I say British Monarch is all about appearances – I am not joking. When George V was on his deathbed, his doctor gave him a lethal dose of cocaine and morphine to accelerate his death so that it could be announced in the morning edition of The Times instead of the improper evening edition!
Though, this book is a delightful read. Quite engaging, I finished this one in a day. I was just mildly irritated by the fawning letters that Lionel Logue wrote to and about the king and the queen. But more than that this is an engaging tale of a boastful superhero, who pretended not to like the limelight & who seemingly saved the British Monarchy. Hoorah for the speeches!
Alienman 