Tuesday 8 July 2014

Cider With Rosie


What with having visted Slad a couple of weeks ago (it's just up the road, the other side of Stroud) and it being Laurie Lee's centenary year, I decided to read Cider With Rosie this week, and what a wonderful book it is. I can heartily recommend it to anyone who appreciates good writing and wonderfully crafted allegories, which seem to come to him in abundance and are so incisive.

It's funny, witty, sad and wistful. How Laurie Lee became such a good wordsmith is a mystery to me, but I've rarely had so much pleasure in reading just for the words, let alone the story.

I liked it so much I've just bought the 1971 film adaptation, to which Laurie Lee himself contributed and is by all accounts far superior to the 1998 BBC version. The only problem is that the 1971 version is on VHS, but I managed to find someone on eBay selling a DVD backup of the VHS tape. I do believe it's being re-released on DVD in September by Amazon, but I couldn't wait.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Totally agree...one of my favourite books. Introduced to it by a teacher called Bamber..you may remember!?

Chairman Bill said...

Taught me to so somersaults over the wooden horse, which I never thought physically possible.

Chairman Bill said...

Do somersaults....

Alan Burnett said...

Not read it for decades. Spurred on by your recommendation I will re-read it.

Chairman Bill said...

Alan - I'm so impressed with my recommendation that I'll buy the rest of his books!

Chairman Bill said...

PS - up your neck of the woods this coming weekend. Showing her indoors Carnforth (The Refreshment Room at the railway station), White Scar Caves, Clapham, Settle, Barnoldswick and then calling on on my daughter in Huncoat.