What do you think?
Rate this book
Excursions in the Real World
These autobiographical tales are about people and places, personal fascinations and enthusiasms, that have remained snagged in William Trevor's memory over the years.
He writes here of childhood and youth, of his schools and university days, his early life in Dublin and London, o Ireland and of England. Most of the portraits are of people who have either been well known to him or casually met/ a few are drawn from the imagination, though the subjects are real. Some of the landscapes are equally familiar to him, while others are merely Persia in the early seventies, a Swiss valley, Country cork in the thirties, a Gloucestershire village, Venice in November, New York and San Francisco.
"Places do not die as people do," William Trevor writes in his introduction, "but they often changed so fundamentally that little is left of what once they were. The landscape of the Nire valley that spreads over a northern part of Country Waterford is timeless, but the Dublin remembered here is the Dublin of several pasts, and elsewhere among these impressions there is that same dichotomy."
Affectionate, poignant and often gently humorous, these essays are an expansion of a writer's notebook. Such excursions into memory convey the essence of William Trevor's world - read in conjunction with Lucy Willis's graceful illustrations, they illuminate unforgettably the background to this celebrated novels and short stories.
He writes here of childhood and youth, of his schools and university days, his early life in Dublin and London, o Ireland and of England. Most of the portraits are of people who have either been well known to him or casually met/ a few are drawn from the imagination, though the subjects are real. Some of the landscapes are equally familiar to him, while others are merely Persia in the early seventies, a Swiss valley, Country cork in the thirties, a Gloucestershire village, Venice in November, New York and San Francisco.
"Places do not die as people do," William Trevor writes in his introduction, "but they often changed so fundamentally that little is left of what once they were. The landscape of the Nire valley that spreads over a northern part of Country Waterford is timeless, but the Dublin remembered here is the Dublin of several pasts, and elsewhere among these impressions there is that same dichotomy."
Affectionate, poignant and often gently humorous, these essays are an expansion of a writer's notebook. Such excursions into memory convey the essence of William Trevor's world - read in conjunction with Lucy Willis's graceful illustrations, they illuminate unforgettably the background to this celebrated novels and short stories.
256 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1993
109 people want to read
About the author
William Trevor
186 books775 followersWilliam Trevor, KBE grew up in various provincial towns and attended a number of schools, graduating from Trinity College, in Dublin, with a degree in history. He first exercised his artistry as a sculptor, working as a teacher in Northern Ireland and then emigrated to England in search of work when the school went bankrupt. He could have returned to Ireland once he became a successful writer, he said, "but by then I had become a wanderer, and one way and another, I just stayed in England ... I hated leaving Ireland. I was very bitter at the time. But, had it not happened, I think I might never have written at all."
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
In 1958 Trevor published his first novel, A Standard of Behaviour, to little critical success. Two years later, he abandoned sculpting completely, feeling his work had become too abstract, and found a job writing copy for a London advertising agency. 'This was absurd,' he said. 'They would give me four lines or so to write and four or five days to write it in. It was so boring. But they had given me this typewriter to work on, so I just started writing stories. I sometimes think all the people who were missing in my sculpture gushed out into the stories.' He published several short stories, then his second and third novels, which both won the Hawthornden Prize (established in 1919 by Alice Warrender and named after William Drummond of Hawthornden, the Hawthornden Prize is one of the UK's oldest literary awards). A number of other prizes followed, and Trevor began working full-time as a writer in 1965.
Since then, Trevor has published nearly 40 novels, short story collections, plays, and collections of nonfiction. He has won three Whitbread Awards, a PEN/Macmillan Silver Pen Award, and was shortlisted for the Booker Prize. In 1977 Trevor was appointed an honorary (he holds Irish, not British, citizenship) Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (CBE) for his services to literature and in 2002 he was elevated to honorary Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (KBE). Since he began writing, William Trevor regularly spends half the year in Italy or Switzerland, often visiting Ireland in the other half. He lived in Devon, in South West England, on an old mill surrounded by 40 acres of land.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
February 10, 2017
Excursions is a collection of short pieces, mainly autobiographical, by one of the great masters. Trevor's childhood experiences, not always happy, bring alive places such as Enniscorthy that we know so well from his wonderful fiction. He is so acutely observant and writes with such compassion of other people's lives as well as his own that every piece of writing is a perfect short story in itself, written in the gentle cadences of his Irish voice. I found his analysis of his parents' marriage particularly moving. It shows extraordinary insight as he looks back as an adult on their marital difficulties during his childhood. There are also short essays on his travels in Venice and Iran.
I bought this 1st edition for £1.75 in a Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of years ago. Who handed it in? I wonder because I'll never tire of reading it. I have limited bookshelf space but this one is a keeper.
I bought this 1st edition for £1.75 in a Sue Ryder charity shop a couple of years ago. Who handed it in? I wonder because I'll never tire of reading it. I have limited bookshelf space but this one is a keeper.
September 21, 2011
The foreknowledge that one is about to learn more about one’s favourite short story writer was exciting. Now having just put it down I must say while I have learned a lot about William Trevor this is one of the most unusual biographies I have ever read. Does it tell you about his life? The answer is a define Yes but it’s more than that. I felt I was reading another of his collection of short stories; each chapter is a story unto itself. The characters introduced are as interesting as any he has introduced to us in his work, in just a few lines he makes us interested in a character and leaves us wanting to know more. That is a special gift. I loved the early stories of his youth and education at Trinity College Dublin. His middle stories are prosaic and somewhat esoteric and we again are introduced to a set of characters that peak our interest. The conclusion is in Venice and as usual leaves me wanting more. It was only after completing the book that I discovered these were first written as essays and while they mesh together to give a view of a life I do look forward to reading his biography but maybe this is all he wants us to know. It’s biographical, a travelogue, reflections on other writers, musings and on misc., characters, its sad when he speaks of his parents and their struggles, its overall a great read and highly recommended!
November 16, 2020
One of the masters of the short story tries his hand at autobiography in a book composed of fragments from his past, descriptions of people and places who have stuck in his memory. The further he gets from Ireland (London, Switzerland, New York and Persia all get a look-in) the less interesting it gets, travel-writing most definitely not being his forte.
The early chapters are excellent, however, tremendously incisive and perceptive portraits of his parents, childhood friends and teachers, which combine to create a beautiful tapestry of an Irish childhood.
The early chapters are excellent, however, tremendously incisive and perceptive portraits of his parents, childhood friends and teachers, which combine to create a beautiful tapestry of an Irish childhood.
October 8, 2013
Trevor -- as always the most marvelous writer. I especially enjoyed his reflections on growing up in Ireland as a member of the (not so prosperous) Ascendancy. His memories of boarding school and Trinity are poignant and funny. He offers frank opinions, not the usual paeans of praise, on the personalities of some of the notables of Irish literature: Yeats, O'Casey and Beckett. Fascinating on a now obscure writer Gerhardie, well-respected for a time but later burned out. Wonderful description of his walk through the mountains near Tipperary and Clonmel. Didn't care as much for his musings on New York in the early 70's or on Venice.
May 24, 2014
Another fabulous writer. This autobiographical volume, written so well. Trevor's childhood in south-west Ireland, his unhappily married parents and his schoolmasters. He has a wonderful sense of humour but still with a serious side such as a Protestant in Catholic Ireland always have your wits about you, be aware of consequences. What a skill this novelist has in his writing of fiction and in true life you can picture what he is writing about, poverty raises its head once more. Recommend highly.
December 14, 2025
Absolutely breathtaking and what a gift to be offered a few glimpses into Trevor's own life in some of these stories. A master of observation. This one will be a reread for years to come.
"Going back sets nostalgia right; time-worn impressions are corrected." In County Cork, 1971.
"There is no nostalgia here, only remembered facts - and the point that passing time has made: the strand is stil the strand, taking change and another set of mores in its stride, as people and houses cannot. While you walk its length, there is something comforting in that." The Strand, 1992.
"Going back sets nostalgia right; time-worn impressions are corrected." In County Cork, 1971.
"There is no nostalgia here, only remembered facts - and the point that passing time has made: the strand is stil the strand, taking change and another set of mores in its stride, as people and houses cannot. While you walk its length, there is something comforting in that." The Strand, 1992.
October 2, 2016
I love how this starts - the introduction is a wonderful sideways look at the question: what makes a writer? And then the essays about people - "the bits left behind" when Trevor was picking through his own experience to write fiction - are brilliant and, again sideways, give us insights into Trevor's life. It's when he talks about cities, I found the essays faltered. Or maybe it was just me.
October 31, 2020
What a delight it is to read William Trevor again; his prose has a unique rhythm and sound and provides constant pleasure. Excursions in the Real World is a collection of non-fiction pieces, mainly autobiographical but with some reviews and travel pieces as well. The recollections of early life, school days and working in a rather bohemian London advertising agency in the sixties are completely engaging, the other pieces are beautifully written (of course) but, to this reader at least, of less immediate interest. Among an embarrassment of autobiographical riches, the standout piece is a fascinating recollection of the tragic figure of Assia Wevill who Trevor worked with at Notley’s advertising agency in the 1960s.
October 24, 2018
Delightful. I don't know what I was expecting in a memoir from the writer of two wonderful, but deeply depressing novels ("Felicia's Journey" and "Two Lives") but this breezy collection of essays about his life was certainly not it. The collection sputters a bit towards the end when he turns to the lives of others for inspiration but it's a minor hiccup in this charming collection. Highly recommended.
October 24, 2018
A collection of essays ranging from childhood memoirs to international travel, Trevor's fans will find the personal memoirs the strongest material evoking, as they do, his short stories and demonstrating (if demonstration were needed) how much he drew on personal experience for his pinpoint accurate depictions of rural and small town life in mid 20th century Ireland. The travel essays were less to my taste, being less material, less grounded in reality, more abstract. The essay on New York, in particular, that most material of cities, labours under a miasma of subjective, barely coherent sense impressions that will shock any reader used to Trevor's almost tangible clarity. Perhaps the master of the particulars of country life was simply unable to grasp such a vast metropolis.
October 12, 2021
A mixture of some wonderful autobiographical essays and then a few miscellaneous travelogues. The biographical portion is warm and insightful. Unfortunately that only takes up half the book. The travel pieces are slight - at their best when he slips into short story mode.
September 13, 2020
Memoir in form of short stories about varied experiences and observations of author's life. As expected, writing is wonderful. Highly recommend.
August 24, 2021
I love all the short stories and novels of William Trevor. These non-fiction memoirs read like his best stories. What a pleasure it was to hear about Trevor’s life, what he thinks about, the places he’s been, and the part of Ireland for which he has a fondness, “that affectionately you remember where the patches of cropped grass are, the ferns, the gulches, the best approach when the going’s mushy, the way around the shale. It is affection, you are equally aware, that causes you to want to know what you never will: every single yard of this vast place intimately, in all weathers, at every time of day.”
Read
December 28, 2010A volume of essays from the Irish short story writer. The best are on growing up in remote Ireland and discovering the magic of Dublin. He writes well on the odd characters he met at Trinity College, working as an advertising copywriter and having to devise promotional campaigns for various foreign companies including Canadian Pacific; there is a short portrait of Ted Hughes' second tragic paramour Assia Wevil. Some travel pieces are included and I liked the one on New York City in 1973 the best of these.
February 10, 2010
The autobiographical essays - mostly about the author's upbringing in rural Ireland in the 1930s and 40s - are much better than the travel essays, which while well-written rarely rise above the level of competency.
December 4, 2013
Discover the sources of Trevor's spare fiction in this unadorned memoir.
May 1, 2017
Fascinating, funny, and gave me ideas about other books to read. Also, now I want barm brack with my tea.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews