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A review by anjana
Mr Finchley Discovers His England by Victor Canning
3.0
I am always up for trying a reprint of older books, preferably mysteries but I sometimes succumb to interesting-sounding books of other genres. This was one of those latter forays that turned out to be an interesting read.
In this first installment, we are introduced to Mr. Edgar Finchley, who has been forced to take the first vacation in his life. He decides to go the normal route and has a booking in a normal holidaying spot all set for him when the most absurd thing happens to him. He gets tangled up in one adventure that drags him farther and farther away from his ideal vacation. But his ideals are in the process of changing. A chance meeting with another traveler gives him yet another diversion to branch out on and off he goes. The man at the end of the book is no longer the 'ordinary' 45-year old who wanted to just take a holiday.
This has to be read leisurely because he meets so many random characters and such strange misfortunes seem to befall him. It gives a view into this time which straddled the time between the old and the world we know today with the lifestyles we have now. I was pleased to meet all the people and even more pleased with the last few chapters. Since I liked the next two books a little better than this one, I had to rate it three stars.
In this first installment, we are introduced to Mr. Edgar Finchley, who has been forced to take the first vacation in his life. He decides to go the normal route and has a booking in a normal holidaying spot all set for him when the most absurd thing happens to him. He gets tangled up in one adventure that drags him farther and farther away from his ideal vacation. But his ideals are in the process of changing. A chance meeting with another traveler gives him yet another diversion to branch out on and off he goes. The man at the end of the book is no longer the 'ordinary' 45-year old who wanted to just take a holiday.
This has to be read leisurely because he meets so many random characters and such strange misfortunes seem to befall him. It gives a view into this time which straddled the time between the old and the world we know today with the lifestyles we have now. I was pleased to meet all the people and even more pleased with the last few chapters. Since I liked the next two books a little better than this one, I had to rate it three stars.