Customer Reviews:
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 Much more than a book about canals July 9, 2008
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
"Narrowboat Dreams" is a book in the well tried English tradition of combining a journey with social commentary. It is an enjoyable and thought-provoking read, not only for the canal enthusiast, but for the general reader, richly combining multiple narrative strands.Centred on the narrator's expedition into the world of recently reclaimed Pennine canals, the book takes a wry look at the north-south divide and the general state of contemporary British society. The narrative voice, which I take to be the author's own, is humorous, cantankerous and lyrical by turns - the voice of a man experiencing the changes in life and attitudes which mid-life brings. As such, it has a consistent authentic tone, which adds greatly to the reader's pleasure as he or she shares the ups and down of this strenuous single-handed voyage.
As the narrator says at the end of the book: "Journeys as I've said before, are in the mind, not on maps. They're about what's inside, not out. A personal CAT-scan, not a window on the world." It is this personal view, along with vivid evocations of varied English landscapes and townscapes, that makes the book much more than a travel guide.
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