Featured Reading Guide
Laurie Lee
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Laurie Lee was born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 1914, and was educated at Slad village school and Stroud Central School. At the age on nineteen he walked to London and then travelled on foot through Spain, where he was trapped by the outbreak of the Civil War. He later returned by crossing the Pyrenees, as described in his book As I Walked Out one Midsummer Morning . In 1950 he married Catherine Polge and they had one daughter. Laurie Lee died in May 1997. In its obituary the Guardian wrote, ‘He has a nightingale inside him, a capacity for sensuous, lyrical precisions’.
topAbout the Book
topLaurie Lee interview/review
An extract from his last radio interview with BBC Gloucestershire, with Mark Hurrell, on the novel:
“When I wrote it, I was writing it in order to set down things I remembered with pleasure about our small, local life in Slad.
But I remember towards the end thinking “why am I writing this in a world which is so threatened by the dark clouds and threats of cosmic destruction?” This is only a small story, it can only interest my family and a few neighbours.
What happened was unpredictable but it also reminded many readers of their beginnings and their family recollections.
I was getting letters saying ‘I’ve read your book and it’s just like what my grandmother used to tell me’ or ‘your mother does remind me of my mother’ and long pages about returning to their recollections of their beginnings in similar circumstances.
I was reminding them of their lives and I think that was why it was read so much, but this was quite unintentional and unpredictable.
It was the end of a semi-feudal life and it was also the beginning of one’s own life. And these I think were the reasons why so many people read it – of course it was beautifully written too!
Actually I take that back, it’s not beautifully written, it’s funny.”
topStarting Points for Discussion
- Consider the depiction of women in the book, and how this progresses from beginning to end as Lee grows up.
- At first glance the book appears to be idyllic and happy; full of pleasant, carefree images and anecdotes. Yet there are also many moments of darkness. Consider the dark side of the book, in reference to any disturbing episodes you can think of. On balance which feeling stays with you most by the end of the book?
- It might be said that the book is either about life or about death. What do you think – which does it concentrate on more?
- Consider Lee’s use of humour throughout the book. In what way does it occur and what purpose do you think it serves?
- To what extent was Lee’s mother a good mother, or role model for Lee?
- A major issue within the book is that of tradition, and the old country life, versus modernisation. Discuss Lee’s attitude to both, and where you think he falls in support of most by the end.
Other Books by Laurie Lee
A Rose For Winter
Andalusia is a passion – and fifteen years after his last visit Laurie Lee …
Suggested Further Reading
- Cider With Laurie: Laurie Lee Remembered ~ Barbara Hooper
- The Go-between ~ L.P. Hartley
- My Family and Other Animals ~ Gerald Durrell
- To Kill a Mockingbird ~ Harper Lee
- The Catcher in the Rye ~ J.D. Salinger