A Diary as a Documentation of One's Performance in One's private Life
             Alec Guinness writes My Name Escapes Me - The Diary of a Retiring Actor - in purpose of documentation of his performance to commit his story to the public record. In the diary, Alec Guinness, at 82, shows his wishes to spend his declining years as, "a retiring actor"; he has not done with acting; he is still performing; yet retiring. This time his performance is committed to words in the commissioned diary. I see a diary as documentation of one's life, especially when it is to be shown to public. By definition, a document is a "formal paper bearing important or official information". In the same sense, Alec Guinness's diary is a document of his "act" of writing as Paul Matthew Pierre called. In addition, the facts that it is commissioned and is admissionable to us, the public, that he is a public figure; and that it is commemorating his people suggest Guinness's intentions for his stories and his performances, in the diary to be for the public record.
             Writing is another way of acting for Alec Guinness. His desire to perform is reluctantly replaced by writing. Alec Guinness wishes to act again: "...if I am to retired, I am in inclined to assume a pained expression and deny it.... I doubt if any part, however small, would tempt me". *P 10* He openly shows his regrets toward his retirement forced by his senescent body: "I think the T.V unit has finished with me ...it came home to me, almost savagely, that age has withered memory, alertness had taken ...what talent was there." *p 41*: "...my granny will be thrilled."*p 41* Also in the quotation, "...almost unrecognizable in the film. I like the 'almost', " we see that he still wants to be remained as a public figure. His love for acting and plays are all-transparent in the book. He consistently refers back to the plays he has done and read. He often expresses strong opinions about the plays...