Customer Reviews: Read 1 more reviews...
 Up the creek without a poodle August 11, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Another humorous outing by Steve Haywood who ventures north this time in his trusty narrow boat, `Justice'. A road trip from Banbury to Yorkshire and back would take little time, even in Steve's old Triumph. However with various delays and the tribulations of shallow canals, rusty locks and scary tunnels it becomes an odyssey consuming most of a summer. Steve's style is self-deprecating and dry. He is clearly an expert in the field but is never too esoteric or supercilious in his narrative. Quite the opposite in fact. Reading the book you come to understand locks, lock-keys and dog-soiled towpaths like an old boatman. Not all the action is on the water. He describes a visit to an award winning Yorkshire pie shop in detail, with the local housewives observing that `Oo `e likes `is pies' as he gets carried away with his purchase. The trip becomes as much a search for himself as much as for the northern canals. He competes in a one boat race with himself to get to a certain bridge before impending repairs there close the canal. He becomes obsessed with acquiring a canine companion after an encounter with a canal dwelling couple and their dog. Steve also visits lots of towpath pubs. Does he end up with a dog? Does he get to the bridge on time? And does he get through all those pies without a coronary? Well I'll leave it up to you to find out, rest-assured it's a compelling and enjoyable read.
Narrowboat Laughs July 19, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
What a great read! This is a hilariously funny follow-up to Steve Haywood's earlier canal journey in "Fruit Flies Like a Banana...".
He has managed to capture that sense of "where do I belong?" that so many of us East Midlanders experience. As a Nottingham man, I can even forgive him coming from Leicester because he kept me smiling for 300 odd pages.
What I particularly like is the way he captures the singlemindedness of the lone adventurer as he lovingly describes the narrow world of canal life without ever losing the priorities of his sickly Mother and his partner Em.
Just read it.
Mind you, I bet you will never eat a cornetto with the same enthusiasm again.
Dream On July 19, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is a witty travelogue, full of amusing incident and witty comment.The narrator envelopes us in the quirkyness of his life, engaging with casually met characters, taking time to contemplate his own history and that of the world discovered on his journey. He is by turns intrepid and aware of his own limitations, susceptible to reverie and dreams then pulled up short by blunt reality. I found the book well paced and structured, lively and thoughtful. I recommend it highly.
Narrowboat Optional July 16, 2008
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
I loved this book, and you dont really need to be "au fait" with narrowboats and canals to enjoy it. It was very funny and as a midlander living in the south, I can see where he is coming from :-). Steve is a very amusing writer, this is the seond book that I have read from him, and it doesn't disappoint.
Well recommended read.
A boat, a bloke, a journey July 14, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
The story of one man's journey on the lesser-known canals of northern England told with humour and a keen eye for the idiosyncracies of the people and places he encounters en route. It is, amongst many other things, an exploration of the nature of northerness and the tribulations of growing older, as well as a wry commentary on the state of the world. This adds up to a fun read, with an undercurrent of seriousness. Thoughtful, well-researched and thoroughly enjoyable.
|
