The Darling Buds of May

The Darling Buds of May by H.E. Bates

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


*** Possible Spoilers ***

This wasn't a bad book but I had to DNF it. The characters from Inland Revenue was so utterly cringe I had to abandon the book. If, on the other hand, you can stomach that sort of thing the book might be well worth reading.

It's a satire, a very subtle one but a satire nonetheless. The chief target is conformity. Society in general is presented in the form of a tax collector his is thin, bland, easily influenced by a pretty face, and eats only eggs. This is contrasted with a family of totally free-spirited rule breakers. I can see how this wold work in the television series, perhaps something like Summer Wine, but in book form it was painful for me to read.

It happens Firefox provides a series of suggested links when I open a new page. I glanced over these 21. Two were ads and of the remaining 19, 11 were suggestions, basically of the form, 'what you SHOULD do to improve (this or that)'. This book pokes fun at proper nutrition, exercise, and keeping your weight down in order to be healthy. Here we have presented a family having a fine old time breaking all these 'should' rules and indulging themselves. In short, if you like satire and can tolerate the cringe portrayal of the man from Inland Revenue this book is for you, but if you hate cringe then stay away.



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