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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
3.5. Gibbons’ wit and humour are masterful, the main reason this book scores only mid-range for me is simply because I prefer a healthy dose of melancholia in my stories!
3.5/5
I enjoyed this; it had some really funny, laugh-out-loud moments. It fell a little flat at some moments for me though.
An enjoyable read overall.
I enjoyed this; it had some really funny, laugh-out-loud moments. It fell a little flat at some moments for me though.
An enjoyable read overall.
A book that simply wasn’t for me. It didn’t hold my interest after the 30 pages, although I did finish it. I really didn’t care much for the characters, this book was like doing a chore! I had to force myself to read it.
There were lots of good lines throughout the book, but my favourite was right at the start: "so then she said, oh, well, didn't I think I could try to be a little less slack, because of Father, and I said no, I was afraid I couldn't"
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Oh what a glorious book and why did I not read it sooner? The refrain all bookworms wish they could sing after every book. Thankfully it was completely true this time.
Perhaps my reluctance was to do with the title, which brings to mind a tortuous Hardy-esque trudge through emotional turmoil and hard-done-by heroines. Then I read the blurb's "one of the best-loved comic novels of all time" and felt better. As I got into though I had doubts again as it then rang blaring Emma warning bells. However, Flora is not Emma. She is not irritating at all. I love Flora. She is clever without being obnoxious, subtly, charmingly cunning and endowed with an acute level of sensibility. She is calm and I would definitely trust her in a crisis.
The story itself is perfectly executed. From the unassuming introduction to Flora and her dubious choice of flinging herself on her unknown relatives after being orphaned. To the dark and dour Cold Comfort Farm and its oddball inhabitants who seem more like feral cats who pop up, utter strange incantations and slink off again.
The contrast of this ominous start of Flora's new residence to the end of the book left me with a warm, amused feeling that all the world was right.
I desperately want to know what Aunt Ada saw in the woodshed though.
Perhaps my reluctance was to do with the title, which brings to mind a tortuous Hardy-esque trudge through emotional turmoil and hard-done-by heroines. Then I read the blurb's "one of the best-loved comic novels of all time" and felt better. As I got into though I had doubts again as it then rang blaring Emma warning bells. However, Flora is not Emma. She is not irritating at all. I love Flora. She is clever without being obnoxious, subtly, charmingly cunning and endowed with an acute level of sensibility. She is calm and I would definitely trust her in a crisis.
The story itself is perfectly executed. From the unassuming introduction to Flora and her dubious choice of flinging herself on her unknown relatives after being orphaned. To the dark and dour Cold Comfort Farm and its oddball inhabitants who seem more like feral cats who pop up, utter strange incantations and slink off again.
The contrast of this ominous start of Flora's new residence to the end of the book left me with a warm, amused feeling that all the world was right.
I desperately want to know what Aunt Ada saw in the woodshed though.
funny
medium-paced
‘The education bestowed on Flora Poste by her parents had been expensive, athletic and prolonged: and when they died within a few weeks of each other during the annual epidemic of the influenza or Spanish Plague which occurred in her twentieth year, she was discovered to possess every art and grace save that of earning her own living.’
Published in 1932 and set in the near future, sometime after the ‘Anglo-Nicaraguan wars of ’46’, ‘Cold Comfort Farm’ is a witty and satirical look at contemporary life in both London and the country. Flora Poste, who does not wish to work, has decided to impose on her relatives. She writes to them and chooses to live with her relatives at Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex. She could, of course, have stayed with her good friend Mrs Smiling in London. Perhaps she didn’t share Mrs Smiling’s interest in the search for the perfect brassiere? Anyway, Flora Poste travels to Sussex, to Cold Comfort Farm where her relatives, the Starkadders, have always lived.
What does Flora find at Cold Comfort Farm?
The household at Cold Comfort Farm is ruled over by the matriarch, mad Aunt Ada Doom who saw something nasty in the woodshed as a child and must be humoured lest she become even madder. Her daughter Judith is sunk in gloom and Judith’s husband Amos spends his time preaching hellfire at the Church of the Quivering Brethren. Their elder son Reuben tries to keep the farm going and worries about how many feathers his chickens have lost while their younger son Seth lounges about with his shirt unbuttoned to the waist, seducing the housemaids. Their daughter Elfine writes terrible poetry, communes with Nature and is secretly in love. The ancient farmhand, Adam Lambsbreath, cares for his beloved cows ( Graceless, Pointless, Feckless and Aimless), and Mrs Beetle the housekeeper looks after Ada Doom (amongst her other responsibilities). There are others as well. The Starkadders feel obliged to take ‘Robert Poste’s daughter’ into their home because of some unspecified wrong committed against him.
It's a good thing that Flora enjoys a challenge. She sets out to improve the lives of her relatives: to conquer encrusted porridge, the erotic effects of sukebind, as well as enriching the lives of the cattle (including Big Business the bull).
I must make special mention of Mr Mybug, who is convinced that Branwell Brontë wrote Wuthering Heights:
‘You see, it’s obvious that it’s his book and not Emily’s. No woman could have written that. It’s male stuff...’
Snort.
Cold Comfort Farm is a parody of the doomy, tragic, close-to-the-earth gothic novels of writers like Thomas Hardy and DH Lawrence. While in Hardy’s novels (which, incidentally, I love) a misstep or sin inexorably predicts misery, Gibbons enters the tragic landscape and sorts it out. Brilliantly.
‘Tomorrow would be a beautiful day.’
I first read ‘Cold Comfort Farm’ over forty years ago, and was inspired to reread it after reading this review at The Australian Legend. Thank you, Bill, I am so glad I revisited ‘Cold Comfort Farm’.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
funny
lighthearted
So witty and enjoyable. The narrative style and the deadpan humour of it all was just so fun. I know it’s been said before but it gave me Wodehouse vibes, though with an obviously feminist slant. Absolutely love the way Flora deals with basically all men. The universal Mr. Mybug. This book just takes the piss in the best possible way.
I was a little confused about why everyone kept flying off in planes before I saw these reviews and realised it was set in a possible near future. Idk how I brushed off the reference to a video phone.
I was a little confused about why everyone kept flying off in planes before I saw these reviews and realised it was set in a possible near future. Idk how I brushed off the reference to a video phone.
Feel free to revile me, but I actually preferred the movie. The book was still good though.