Dolly Alderton/Pandora Sykes

Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.
New to Tattle Life? Click "Order Thread by Most Liked Posts" button below to get an idea of what the site is about:
Order Thread by Most Liked Posts
H

hyhy

Dolly has some interesting thoughts, seems quite sensitive to different issues and has a wide range of cultural references, which I appreciate.

Pandora seems quite dim. I have never heard her say anything perceptive or interesting. She mainly seems to just sum up or repeats things. The original takes she does offer are so obvious, I just find myself cringing. She has an authoritative way of talking, which masks her deficiencies somewhat.

I do find them both quite glamorous and stylish.
 
  • Like
  • Heart
Reactions: 7
C

Coffeetrampbiatch

Horatio said:
Not that my opinion is worth much but I’ll still give it. Americanah is worth the hype and everyone should check it out who hasn’t. Takes a small amount of commitment to get into but once you are, you’re hooked. That golden formula of a page turner with literary merit. The perspective on race in America still feels unique, even if there Is much more of a discussion on the wider topic then there was when this was written. It might even teach you something. Not said condescendingly, it taught me a hell of a lot.

The interestings is also a damn good read. It probably won’t teach you quite as much about society Etc but it’s a damn good story to get stuck into and also a page turner if you commit. Reminds me of Jonathan Franzen if anyone has read him.

A little life is controversial. People love it. I hated it. Two words : Misery porn.

oh what do you mean this isn’t the book thread ?
Click to expand...
Have to agree with you on Americannah! It’s brilliant. I read a lot and there are only a few books that I really remember the feeling of reading and that’s one of them!
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3
Love_hate_small_town

Love_hate_small_town

hyhy said:
Dolly has some interesting thoughts, seems quite sensitive to different issues and has a wide range of cultural references, which I appreciate.

Pandora seems quite dim. I have never heard her say anything perceptive or interesting. She mainly seems to just sum up or repeats things. The original takes she does offer are so obvious, I just find myself cringing. She has an authoritative way of talking, which masks her deficiencies somewhat.

I do find them both quite glamorous and stylish.
Click to expand...
Agree with everything. I think Pandora’s tone is why I subconsciously had her pegged as a talented writer but when I actually read her work I find it full of waffles and weird turns of phrase that don’t scan well.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Cloak

Cloak

Am I just imagining it or did Dolly’s mention on this week’s podcast of “maybe we really aren’t for the people” allude to this thread? 😅
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2
slugella

slugella

Mbella said:
The reviews on Waterstones for Pandora's book seem to be much more critical than elsewhere. I think I trust these ones most...

How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes | Waterstones

Buy How Do We Know We're Doing It Right? by Pandora Sykes from Waterstones today! Click and Collect from your local Waterstones or get FREE UK delivery on orders over £25.
www.waterstones.com www.waterstones.com
Click to expand...
Wow not great at all are they! Pandora clearly reads a lot, sounds like she's used this book as an opportunity to just shove together things she has learnt from others.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3
J

Jugglegirl

It doesn’t surprise me that reviews for Pandora’s essays are poor. It’s a highly demanding format and distilling complex cultural ideas and actions into readable esssys takes a huge intellect - and she is no intellectual- more a sub sub Naomi Woolf.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 4
O

Old fart

  • Like
  • Haha
Reactions: 5
D

dinosauring

Very grateful for having found this thread. I've listened to their podcast for a while and have noticed some things that have really started to irk me.

Dolly-- As others have mentioned a few pages back here, it seems she does have a drinking problem. Her drinking stories remind me a lot of my own, from when I was in my early twenties. I'm sober now. It's just not a sustainable lifestyle, but she romanticises it to a worrying degree. She seems so entrenched in her wild, party-girl persona; I wonder how difficult it will be for her to shake. Otherwise, I actually find her enjoyable to listen to-- articulate, funny and kind.

Pandora-- Try-hard boarding school pseudo-intellectual. The way she speaks and writes is so painfully forced and flowery. Her poor book reviews are reflecting this, I think. Moreover, she can be so bitchy towards Dolly...! Has anyone else picked up on this? It really makes me cringe because I think it shows just how insecure she is. I would never put down a close friend or colleague the way she does with Dolly. Shocked to read here that she's also a smoker, although actually, you can sort of tell by looking at her skin... Don't smoke, kids.

I have a friend who works in fashion who worked with Pandora a couple of times before the podcast came out. She says she came across as very cold and vain.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 14
Love_hate_small_town

Love_hate_small_town

dinosauring said:
Very grateful for having found this thread. I've listened to their podcast for a while and have noticed some things that have really started to irk me.

Dolly-- As others have mentioned a few pages back here, it seems she does have a drinking problem. Her drinking stories remind me a lot of my own, from when I was in my early twenties. I'm sober now. It's just not a sustainable lifestyle, but she romanticises it to a worrying degree. She seems so entrenched in her wild, party-girl persona; I wonder how difficult it will be for her to shake. Otherwise, I actually find her enjoyable to listen to-- articulate, funny and kind.

Pandora-- Try-hard boarding school pseudo-intellectual. The way she speaks and writes is so painfully forced and flowery. Her poor book reviews are reflecting this, I think. Moreover, she can be so bitchy towards Dolly...! Has anyone else picked up on this? It really makes me cringe because I think it shows just how insecure she is. I would never put down a close friend or colleague the way she does with Dolly. Shocked to read here that she's also a smoker, although actually, you can sort of tell by looking at her skin... Don't smoke, kids.

I have a friend who works in fashion who worked with Pandora a couple of times before the podcast came out. She says she came across as very cold and vain.
Click to expand...
oohh couldn’t agree with you more. While Dolly occasionally annoys me a little I genuinely like her and feel like she’s a little lost. I enjoyed her book and she is very sweet and caring and so giving. I also agree re drinking. I recognise my younger self in her. Wild in a way that seems fun while you’re in it but when you see it through sober eyes it’s scary and sad. I think back to what I used to put myself through with alcohol and just feel like it’s wasted years waking up every day in the horrors.
Also can attest to the smoker’s skin (sadly).

Pandora does make bitchy comments. I remember once she made reference to Dolly being younger (I think there’s only a couple of years in it) but then stuck a mean, ‘you look older though’ before back tracking. She also made a bitchy comment about the bits I’m Dolly’s book where she includes recipes. Dolly never rises to it and just stays silent which often leads to Pandora getting flustered. A delicious power play (albeit a potentially fabricated one).

I think it might be professional envy. Dolly is a much better writer. I also remember reading an interview with Panda where she states that she doesn’t have any journalism qualification as she doesn’t believe it’s valuable and it is a profession that can be learnt on the job. To an extent I can see where she’s coming from but the dismissal of the qualification pissed me off. I effing love good journalism and while there are some great journalists who have taken a non linear route, there is such value in completing a rigorous course in your field.

i feel like her book might have had a hope of substance if she’d learnt how to structure an argument somewhere along the way and. It out the pretentious meandering.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 8
J

Jugglegirl

When you consider that it was only what? Two years ago? That Pandora’s job was Wardrobe Mistress - yakking about what she was wearing this week - she has travelled a long was to intellectual essayist- now I’m not saying you can’t be interested in fashion and an intellectual but in order to be an intellectual you do need a trained mind. Musing in a podcast is a very long way from being able to construct an argument and follow it through ..
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5
Lanavalentine

Lanavalentine

Love_hate_small_town said:
I think it might be professional envy. Dolly is a much better writer. I also remember reading an interview with Panda where she states that she doesn’t have any journalism qualification as she doesn’t believe it’s valuable and it is a profession that can be learnt on the job. To an extent I can see where she’s coming from but the dismissal of the qualification pissed me off. I effing love good journalism and while there are some great journalists who have taken a non linear route, there is such value in completing a rigorous course in your field.
Click to expand...
Well, that really explains her writing! As others have mentioned, her work does often seem very ‘undergraduate rambling essay’ in style.

You can tell Pandora doesn’t have an appreciation for brevity; she’s a fan of flowery language and waffling prose, which is the opposite of what is usually taught on a journalism course.

I have a degree in journalism and although my posts on here are admittedly conversational and rambling, because I’m firing off my thoughts at speed from my phone, I always go back to my university days and lessons learnt when writing in a professional context.

Fascinating that she’s been so openly dismissive of training, but knowing her perfectionism, it’s probably an attempt to dismiss the issue before it can be used to criticise her.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 7
L

Libertine

dinosauring said:
I have a friend who works in fashion who worked with Pandora a couple of times before the podcast came out. She says she came across as very cold and vain.
Click to expand...
Pandora has always been incredibly vain.

In fact, I secretly admire her for not trying to disguise her immense vanity, instead her Instagram feed is a number of images of her eye bleeping the camera and loving herself sick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2
CoraSP

CoraSP

I've just finished reading Ghosts- an advanced PR copy and actually really enjoyed it, but only once I had forgotten who the author was. It's nicely written but its effectively a chick lit book with added meaningful themes and messaging. Definitely worth a read but for the first chapter I was hearing it on my head being written by Dolly (who I do like, she seems more open than Pandora)
I too found her 'memoir' very relatable like a previous poster, I've not met someone in person who didn't enjoy reading it
 
  • Like
Reactions: 5
C

catscradle

Jugglegirl said:
It doesn’t surprise me that reviews for Pandora’s essays are poor. It’s a highly demanding format and distilling complex cultural ideas and actions into readable esssys takes a huge intellect - and she is no intellectual- more a sub sub Naomi Woolf.
Click to expand...
The extract posted a few pages ago reads like a basic/budget version of Trick Mirror (which I loved).
 
  • Like
Reactions: 3
Mbella

Mbella

I'm so glad I didn't buy Pandora's book. Sounds like she wrote a bad book - no big deal in itself - but what I really dislike is the cynical marketing around it. Reviews in the mainstream press have read like PR puff pieces and I just don't trust them.

Also I think there's something genuinely harmful about marketing yourself as "this is how to do it right" and "aren't we all in it together, figuring out how to live life?" when you come from such insane levels of wealth. It creates the illusion that you can live like Pandora if you follow the same career path - and if you can't manage it, you're a failure.

To be fair to her, the writing advice on her website acknowledges that you need more strings to your bow than freelance writing to make a living, but as I mentioned before she seems to have omitted her unpaid internships from the way she talks about her career history.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 2
C

Chandlerbing95

I think Dolly’s book was a success and we enjoyed it because we couldn’t believe she was saying a lot of the stuff she did. It was embarrassing and it made us feel better about ourselves I think that’s where it struck a chord. The New York story, not being happy for Farleys engagement, being ghosted by the guru. We lapped up all these unfortunate things happening to her.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 1
Status
Thread locked. We start a new thread when they have over 1000 posts, click the blue button to see all threads for this topic and find the latest open thread.