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findingfrancis's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.25
im0gen's review
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
thereaderintherye's review
challenging
funny
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
nthingrid's review against another edition
3.5
I missed a lot of cultural references but it still brought a wry smile sometimes. Descriptions and characters were original (to me, as I understand it was supposed to be satire), and I think I might be able to squeeze a bit more out when I can read slower and not be so concerned with where the surprisingly tidy plot is headed.
theveryslowreader's review against another edition
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
It was somewhat slow book in terms of plot, but it’s was very witty and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing and the characters. If there was one thing I truly loved it was the characters, especially Adam.
kmthomas06's review against another edition
4.0
A delightful novel about Flora Poste and her campaign to fix up Cold Comfort Farm and its residents. Melodramatic and humorous, the novel is continually poking fun at itself and its characters. Better than the film but the film is a very faithful representation of the novel as well. If you're looking for a fun , quick read, this is your book!
sienamystic's review against another edition
funny
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
bookhound's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was delightful. I loved seeing Flora intervene in the lives of her relatives in the best ways. It's ridiculous and unrealistic and so much fun. Flora seemed far ahead of her time (this was written in 1932).
mirandatamsin's review against another edition
4.0
The scene where Flora sits in the closed café with Mr Mybug is ridiculously funny. I saw the whole book in a new light from that point (up until then, I'd honestly not quite *got* it). It was absolutely gleeful to realise that pseudo-feminist misogynist sex-obsessed philosophy bros also existed in the 1930s.
The scene opens like this:
'[Flora – our main character – was sitting in a café] when she became conscious of a presence approaching her from behind, and before she could collect her faculties the voice of Mr Mybug [a man she'd met only once before, at a party] said:
"Hullo, Flora Poste. Do you believe that women have souls?" He looked down at her with a bold yet whimsical smile.'
And it only gets better and better as Mybug explains he's writing a biography of Branwell Brontë (brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne), based entirely on three letters he wrote to an old aunt in Ireland. An analysis of these very mundane letters are enough to prove that Branwell wrote all of his sisters' books (and also that all three sisters "were drunkards, but Anne was the worst of the lot"). Branwell apparently went to a lot of self-sacrificing heroics for the sake of covering up his sisters' drinking problem.
Later, Flora and Mybug go for a walk in which the latter goes on about trees that remind him of phallic objects, the nature of "women", and "true love".
The other genuinely hilarious part of the book, for me, was the introduction of Elfine (she's like a satirisation of the wild, pastoral proto-manic-pixie-dream-girl type). But in general, even when Cold Comfort Farm wasn't that funny, it was warm-hearted and cosy and a basically lovely read.
I'd recommend it!
The scene opens like this:
'[Flora – our main character – was sitting in a café] when she became conscious of a presence approaching her from behind, and before she could collect her faculties the voice of Mr Mybug [a man she'd met only once before, at a party] said:
"Hullo, Flora Poste. Do you believe that women have souls?" He looked down at her with a bold yet whimsical smile.'
And it only gets better and better as Mybug explains he's writing a biography of Branwell Brontë (brother of Charlotte, Emily and Anne), based entirely on three letters he wrote to an old aunt in Ireland. An analysis of these very mundane letters are enough to prove that Branwell wrote all of his sisters' books (and also that all three sisters "were drunkards, but Anne was the worst of the lot"). Branwell apparently went to a lot of self-sacrificing heroics for the sake of covering up his sisters' drinking problem.
Later, Flora and Mybug go for a walk in which the latter goes on about trees that remind him of phallic objects, the nature of "women", and "true love".
The other genuinely hilarious part of the book, for me, was the introduction of Elfine (she's like a satirisation of the wild, pastoral proto-manic-pixie-dream-girl type). But in general, even when Cold Comfort Farm wasn't that funny, it was warm-hearted and cosy and a basically lovely read.
I'd recommend it!