Edward Enfield (1) (1929–)

audio nonfiction (part 2 of 2, standalone; read by the author, 6.5+ hrs) - traveling along the west coast of Ireland by bicycle in (cold, rainy) June at the age of 64, shortly after retiring from his government job, and relying on bed and breakfast vacancies and an out-of-date travel guide rather than any extensive planning (2007).

charming travel diary, by a writer with great admiration for the country and its people. He even does a fair job of replicating the accent (as far as my untrained ears can tell) in the audio version, and overall it is a droll and lightly entertaining read.… (más)

(22 January 2012)

Sigh … it’s going to take me a while to work through January’s books, and here we are in August! Having enjoyed Enfield’s book on cycling in Greece, I was pleased to find this one about Ireland; in fact, Harry’s dad (for this is who he is) has now written quite a few travel books. Two separate trips but joined together nicely with reminiscences of other, less successful, visits to the country, and full of his self-effacing humour, firm opinions and great evocative descriptions of people, places and the art of travel, leavened with chunks of history and the inspired use of rather elderly guidebooks. Read mainly while riding on a static bike at the gym (sometimes with the Olympics cycling on the TV in the background!).… (más)

This wasn't really a planned read. I was in need of something to read and this happened to be at hand and didn't look too bad. I didn't realise the author was the father of comedian Harry Enfield but I wasn't sure if that was a good point or not. Either way, I tried not to let it put me off. Apart from the foreword which is written by Harry, there's no other mention of him and the book concentrates solely on the father.

The premise of the book is that it's a travel book, and follows the author's travels round two different parts of Greece on his pushbike. As the author happens to be a elderly gentleman in his 70s, it's quite an interesting - if not a little surprising - topic. I couldn't get over the fact that this elderly gentleman had thought that this was a good idea, especially as he is completely on his own and doesn't have anything like a mobile or any form of emergency backup.

I have been to Greece and did enjoy it a lot so I remembered some of the experiences I had had with the Greek people and their generosity, friendliness and general laidback approach. I didn't know anything much about the history of the country but there's no need for any kind of knowledge about Greece in order to enjoy this book. All that's really needed is a willingness to learn! It's certainly not like any other travel book I've ever read. It is a very interesting read. The author takes you along with him as he rides on a predetermined route and tells you details about the route such as the scenery, the road itself, the buildings, towns and cities, and also the relevant history. He also recommends various places to stay or to eat in the manner of 'if you go to this town, then eat at such-and-such restaurant which you'll find behind the town hall on the left'. As well as the history of Greece, I also learned more about Lord Byron than I had ever wanted to know! I couldn't understand why there were so many references to him, other than the fact that he had also travelled there but that didn't seem to warrant quite the amount of attention that he got. It wasn't until quite near the end of the book that I realised how Byron is connected with Greece and how highly he is regarded there so it was very interesting to learn all about that.

The writing style is casual and very much in the style of a grandfather or some other elderly relative's memoires. The language does come across as being a little dated in places, lots of use of 'jolly' and other such descriptions as well as a tendency to use full words such as telephone and bicycle. It all seems very quaint and amusing, but also ever so English. It's certainly a very easy read and although the constant excerpts of other writers' works, especially Byron's, gets a little irritating at times, it's not at all dull and is quite enjoyable. It's certainly one that would be recommended to those who are going to Greece, especially if you're travelling round it. I've since found out that the author has written several other books which all recount his travels by pushbike through other European countries.… (más)