Snakes & Ladders

by Dirk Bogarde

This second volume of acting great Dirk Bogarde's six volumes of autobiography appeared in 1978, only a year after "A Postillion Struck By Lightning", his first book. Where that first one ended approximately at age 18, this one begins with his induction into the army in the late 1930's. He doesn't give a date for this induction - he jumps straight into overheard dialogue on the troop train, remembered apparently verbatim from 30 years earlier. This feel continues throughout the work. It's less anecdotal than an episodic retelling of events with as much detail as he can muster, which is lots. This level of detail places you there with him, in his past, suffering fright and boredom, looking toward an unknown, enviable future.