As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning in Around the World in 80 Books

May 31, 2016 Judy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Laurie Lee was a teenager when he set out on that midsummer morning in 1934. But he waited 35 years before finally publishing an account of the long walk which took him through Spain in the run-up to the Civil War. This long gap of time gives the book its mood of intense nostalgia, with its sensuous descriptions of a vanished world. I loved reading this memoir and at times slowed down to make the enjoyment last longer.

Actually, Lee went on two separate walks. First of all he left the Cotswolds Laurie Lee was a teenager when he set out on that midsummer morning in 1934. But he waited 35 years before finally publishing an account of the long walk which took him through Spain in the run-up to the Civil War. This long gap of time gives the book its mood of intense nostalgia, with its sensuous descriptions of a vanished world. I loved reading this memoir and at times slowed down to make the enjoyment last longer.

Actually, Lee went on two separate walks. First of all he left the Cotswolds village of Cider With Rosie fame to walk to London, receiving much-needed advice from an experienced tramp on the way. Then, after losing his job as a building labourer, he decided to set off on another adventure, this time to Spain, taking his battered violin so that he could earn some money as a busker.

At times, his account is a little hard to believe - for instance, could he really have lived just on handfuls of dates for days on end, as he claims? I'm also envious of his speed in learning foreign languages, since he seems to jump from knowing almost no Spanish to being able to argue over politics and bargain with strangers within a matter of pages. However, none of this really matters.

The descriptions of the people he meets and the places he visits are compelling, putting across both the beauty of the Spanish towns and countryside and the extreme poverty of many of those living there, who invite him into their homes to share what little they have. The tastes, smells and most of all the relentless sun are all vivid and memorable, with his lifelong love for Spain informing every paragraph.

Lee meets up with a couple of famous eccentric poets on his travels, firstly Philip O'Connor in London and then Roy Campbell in Spain, being welcomed into his home. The section about Campbell and his family is especially memorable and reminded me of Hemingway's accounts of the famous people he knew in A Moveable Feast, another book written many years later.

At the end, the mood darkens as Lee witnesses the start of the Civil War. A ship arrives to take him and other stranded British travellers home, but he can't forget his adopted country and decides to return to join in the fight against Franco. He has to climb through the French Pyrenees in the snow before finally getting back to Spain. I now want to go on to read about what happened next in A Moment Of War, the last volume of his autobiographical trilogy.

The Penguin I read includes line drawings by Leonard Rosoman, which are taken from the first edition, so presumably Lee would have had some input into them. I liked the drawings, which remind me of the illustrations in children's books I read during the 60s. Rosoman was an official Second World War artist and his work has a haunting quality. However, it would be nice to have an edition of As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning with photographs of the areas described as well as the drawings. ...more

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Feb 21, 2022 Windy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Written as a memoir with almost no dialogue, Lee still captured my imagination with his descriptions of people, places and a time which is so alien to the way we live now

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Mar 17, 2016 Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: nonfiction, travel, adventure

As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is the sequel to Laurie Lee's first autobiography, Cider with Rosie. Lee takes off on a walking trip from his home in Gloucestershire to London in 1934, and off he goes on a series of adventures.

Slow passenger train ride...enjoyable. ...more

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Mar 14, 2024 Andrea rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: travel

In 1934, Laurie Lee left his parents and siblings and family home in the Cotswold and walked to London where he supported himself for a while working as a laborer on a building site and sometimes busking with his violin. Eventually, he heads off to Spain, traveling around on foot, playing his guitar for room and board in cities and villages, sleeping in rough inns and in the open. At the end of the year, the start f the Spanish civil war ends his sojourn. Poetic but not sappy, a real classic.

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