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As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (Penguin Modern Classics) Paperback – 15 May 2014

by Laurie Lee (Author), Robert MacFarlane (Introduction)

4.5 3,043 ratings

Book 2 of 3: The Autobiographical Trilogy

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As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning is the moving follow-up to Laurie Lee's acclaimed Cider with Rosie

Abandoning the Cotswolds village that raised him, the young Laurie Lee walks to London. There he makes a living labouring and playing the violin. But, deciding to travel further a field and knowing only the Spanish phrase for 'Will you please give me a glass of water?', he heads for Spain. With just a blanket to sleep under and his trusty violin, he spends a year crossing Spain, from Vigo in the north to the southern coast. Only the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War puts an end to his extraordinary peregrinations . . .

'He writes like an angel and conveys the pride and vitality of the humblest Spanish life with unfailing sharpness, zest and humour' Sunday Times

'There's a formidable, instant charm in the writing that genuinely makes it difficult to put the book down' New Statesman

'A beautiful piece of writing' Observer

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Book 2 of 3

The Autobiographical Trilogy
Print length

194 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Penguin Classics
Publication date

15 May 2014
Dimensions

19.8 x 13.1 x 1.37 cm
ISBN-10

0241953286
ISBN-13

978-0241953280
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Popular highlights in this book

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The borders of consciousness are anxious enough, raw and desperate places; we shouldn’t be dragged across them like struggling thieves as if sleep was a felony.
Highlighted by 196 Kindle readers
For the first time I was learning how much easier it was to leave than to stay behind and love.
Highlighted by 136 Kindle readers
Most of the old roads have gone, and the motor car, since then, has begun to cut the landscape to pieces, through which the hunched-up traveller races at gutter height, seeing less than a dog in a ditch.
Highlighted by 109 Kindle readers

Product description

Review

A beautiful piece of writing ― Observer

The vivid sensitive, irresistibly readable story of what happened after he left home ― Daily Mail

A poet's book ― Sunday Times

He writes like an angel and conveys the pride and vitality of the humblest Spanish life with unfailing sharpness, zest and humour ― Sunday Times

There's a formidable, instant charm in the writing that genuinely makes it difficult to put the book down ― New Statesman

About the Author

Laurie Lee has written some of the best-loved travel books in the English language. Born in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 1914, he was educated at Slad village school and Stroud Central School. At the age of nineteen he walked to London and then travelled on foot through Spain, where he was trapped by the outbreak of the Civil War. He later returned by crossing the Pyrenees, as he recounted in A Moment of War.

Laurie Lee published four collections of poems: The Sun My Monument (1944), The Bloom of Candles (1947), My Many-Coated Man (1955) and Pocket Poets (1960). His other works include The Voyage of Magellan (1948), The Firstborn (1964), I Can't Stay Long (1975), and Two Women (1983). He also wrote three bestselling volumes of autobiography: Cider with Rosie (1959), which has sold over six million copies worldwide, As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and A Moment of War (1991).

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Penguin Classics (15 May 2014)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 194 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0241953286
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0241953280
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 19.8 x 13.1 x 1.37 cm

Best Sellers Rank: 10,243 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- 61 in Biographies on Novelist & Playwrights
- 786 in Travel & Tourism (Books)
- 4,015 in Children's Books

Customer reviews:
4.5 3,043 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

3,043 global ratings

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cassa

Good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 March 2024

Enjoyed it

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 14 January 2024

Verified Purchase

Beautifully written, evocative prose.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 19 April 2020

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OK I have lived in Spain for the last fifteen years so maybe I’m biased because I love the country, but this is an excellent book which captures the essence of the country over eighty years ago just before it was ripped apart by a terrible civil war. Also, it has to be said, leaving a comfy, country home at nineteen with just a violin to explore London and then walk across the whole of Spain I’d quite adventurous! Having visited nearly all the areas and towns of Spain he talks about makes it even more interesting, and the descriptions and prose are second to none. There is some excellent writing here. I was a bit suspicious of the fact that from only known in one phrase, “Can I have a glass of water” Lee becomes fluent in Spanish within a few weeks....but perhaps he was a better student than me. I haven’t yet the books on either side of the trilogy yet but I will do after this.

2 people found this helpful

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Mrs. Berit M. Floyd

great book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 December 2023

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This book is sooooo good you feel as if you are there in person with Lorenzo
I will now look forward to reading the next one

One person found this helpful

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Mr. F. A. Driver

A beautiful and fascinating snapshot of a 1930's Europe on the brink of great change

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 2 October 2021

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I loved this book. I've read an awful lot of books in my time and this is undoubtedly one of the best. A literary classic that I have been aware of for years but never got round to until inspired by the recent TV program Write around the world. Laurie Lee is best known for his novel Cider with Rosie. I haven't read that yet but if it's half as good as this it will be worth reading. This book recounts the story of his solo journey from his childhood home in the Cotswolds to the southern tip of Spain, at the age of 19. Laurie does this all on foot, with the exception of the boat crossing from London to Vigo on the north west Spanish coast. The first forty pages recount his journey across the home counties into London, and the six months he spent there. Some of the detail here and the quality of Lee's writing, reveals a fascinating view of England in the mid 1930's, but ultimately leaves you wanting more. He teases with his memories and countless tantalising observations, that hint at so much more. Forty pages is clearly not enough, but understandable as this was written 35 years after the event. Little is revealed of his crossing and Laurie is soon setting out to cross Spain, with not much more than an old violin which he uses to earn a meagre living. The next 140 pages are a beautifully written love letter to a country that was on the verge of irreversible change. Lee spent a year crossing Spain, with much adventure along the way. The way he writes, and the things he describes take the reader back to a place and time that is long gone. Evocative just doesn't quite capture the magic of this 'travelogue'. The quality of writing is superb and, though it is said of so many books, this genuinely is 'a page turner'. Leaves you wanting more.

3 people found this helpful

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Anon

An absolute jewel of a book.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 5 August 2020

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This is a jewel of a book and my all time favourite, I have re-read it over and over again over many years. Reading prose written by a poet is a wonderful experience, every line is a carefully crafted work of art and "as I walked out" is one of the most beautifully and perfectly written books you will ever read. Laurie Lee had a poet's sensibilities for light, colour, nature and human traits, and he had a musician's ear for the spoken word. He joins all this magic together through some alchemy that only he could do and describes his long walk through pre-civil war Spain with great affection despite its grinding poverty . He captures the soul of that country in a way that probably only a poet/musician could, and he provides a description of its people which has somehow stood the test of time despite all the political and economic change in the intervening years. In many ways he is the antithesis of the other great writer on Spain, Hemmingway, whereas Hemmingway describes Spain and its people with the minimum of adjectives ,Laurie Lee adorns every noun with one, sometimes two. If this were architecture, Hemmingway would be great and imposing but unadorned Romanesque and Lee would be flowery gold leafed Baroque. I would recommend this book to any hispanophile or indeed to anyone intending to walk the Camino. When he died, his obituary in the Gaurdian newspaper said "he had a nightingale inside him", this book is that nightingale's song.

4 people found this helpful

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Jules

Beautifully written

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2022

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I love the way Laurie Lee writes .. Poetic, easy and flowing and the journeys through his books are always filled with a certain kind of magic. His way of describing the simplest of things is beautiful
I am reading the trilogy and very much look forward to reading the final book in series

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Amazon Customer

Laurie Lee the author

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 22 July 2023

Verified Purchase

Cider with Rosie only book familiar with so getting to know the others

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Lmana

Visión histórica

Reviewed in Spain on 12 March 2023

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Una interesante visión histórica de España en los años 30.

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Sabrina

Top Reisebericht

Reviewed in Germany on 21 January 2021

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Eins meiner Lieblingsbücher! Lebendig und kraftvoll geschrieben, ohne Romantisierung der damaligen Verhältnisse.

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Cornelia McWilliams

Great travel/hiking book

Reviewed in Canada on 8 September 2018

Verified Purchase

A great read for people who are interested in hiking long distances in foreign countries or at home. Well written by a great travel writer.

One person found this helpful

gussie_fink_nottle

A classic that has aged well. For anyone interested ...

Reviewed in India on 22 September 2017

Verified Purchase

A classic that has aged well. For anyone interested in Spanish Civil War history, this, along with its sequel A Moment of War are superbly written and entertaining companion pieces to Orwell's Homage to Catalonia and Ken Loach's film Land and Freedom. Travel writing of the highest order.

One person found this helpful

Lee W

Good Read

Reviewed in Australia on 26 April 2017

Verified Purchase

Beautifully written - poetically written and brings to life an era long gone. Highly recommended.

One person found this helpful

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