Customer Reviews

Narrow Dog to Carcassonne - An Improbably Journey by Narrowboat to the France Nobody Knows

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I must admit that I have been to the UK and have been on a narrow boat. This book is hilarious, warm, endearing and I cannot wait to get the new book. Anyone who has ever traveled, either with a dog or children to someplace completely unfamiliar will appreciate the author's experiences. If you have been on one of the uniquely British narrowboats you are even more enraptured with the book. If you have been on a motorhome for a long trip, especially with children, you will appreciate Jim (the narrow dog). I must admit that Americans will have trouble with some of the English usage but it is well worth it. Wonderful book, wonderful story, wonderful people.
WH

If you like travel and/or boats and/or dogs and/or a writer with humor and quotes from classics to films, this book will be right up your...canal. Funny and disarming, showing the downside moments as well as the champagne highs of taking a narrowboat across the Channel and, even more scaringly, down through France, not a dull page in the lot.

I can't wait to see what happens when Terry and Monica and Jim the Narrow Dog come to my home country in the US.

I read it in two sittings.
BarbV

Narrow Dog is a keeper...and while I read a LOT, I don't keep many.

Things that help to enjoy Narrow Dog to its fullest:

A basic understanding of British terms, and a respect for British humor...Terry Darlington is a master of smart, and silly, wit, but if you don't like how the Brits turn a funny phrase, then don't bother (and that'll free up another copy for me to gift to less myopic folks, thanks!).

Access to Google Maps.
I found myself referring to the book's hand-drawn maps frequently...which only spurred me to Google maps for a better sense of the geography of the trip. Darlington made me curious about places and people not yet on my radar. He's wrecked my perfectly set holiday plans for the next 2 years. Well played, Terry!

Cool liquids, paper towels, wipeable surfaces.
I live in a comic world and so have a high threshhold for outright laughter. This book, at points, had me choking on hot coffee, dribbling tea, and spitting soup. Please learn from my trials and drink only cool liquids while reading this book. Perhaps you can save your good wood desk's surface from ruin by soup with some towels kept nearby.

Access to Wikipedia.
This book is layered. One layer is quite literary, and although I was an English major, I found myself drawn in to the quotes and references in Narrow Dog, and used Wikipedia as a starting point for learning more.

Narrow Dog seems like a light snack of a book, but in reality is a delicious, hearty stew of ingredients and flavors.

Excellent, excellent, excellent!

I WILL be reading the 2nd travelogue, "Narrow Dog to Indian River." Often, it's the tourists/visitors who more completely see a place. I can't wait to know what Terry's eyes make of my home state, Florida.

Darlington is trying his hand at a mystery next...Narrowboat to Death, perhaps???

I read a lot of travel books and especially a lot of books about travel or living in France. This is, hands-down, one of the top 3 I've ever read, and I can't remember what the other two are! This is funny! It's honest. It's sometimes exciting. The writing is much better than that of most travel tales, by far!

Mr. Darlington is a poet, and he's obviously had that wonderful sort of British education that sends one off into life with a head full of poetry as well as facts. This book is sometimes a poem, without a spare word. He makes his adventures come alive. He makes us want to be friends with him and his wife, Monica, and even with Jim the "narrow dog."

I am really looking forward to the publication next year of his book about traveling the the southern U.S. Mr. Darlington, I hope you keep writing for a long time!

It takes a few pages to catch on to the authors style and sense of humor but is well worth the effort because you will be taken on an unusual journey with the author, his wife and their dog and treated to his unique sense of the world and the people he encounters. The book is overflowing with humor, charm, wit and pathos. I finished it too quickly and now I am eagerly waiting for the next one.

I became interested in this book after reading an ad for the current book by this author. I ordered this book so that I could read the two books in order but was very disappointed. The author writes in a stream-of-consciousness manner and even though I found some of it humorous, I was not engaged enough to struggle with the writing.

As an American Couple who spent 6 weeks in a "hire-narrowboat" on the canals of England in the mid-'80's, Jim Whippet and his owner's, the Darlington's account of such living is "spot-on". Yes, you'll need to love dogs, english slang, have some expertise with Franglaise (french-enmeshed-with-english) but the book's factual travelogue with associational memories and whippet understandings is a wonderful read.
Of course if you expect a plot, a mystery, logical sequencing or the inanities of FOX TV soundbites: Please save yourself the trouble. IF on the other hand, you delight in conversations with real foreigners (British, French and Canine), as well random bits of philosophy, poetry, and fantasies, then BUY THIS BOOK IT'S FUN!

We've driven a barge to Carcassonne and the auther captures the experience. However, it was his sense if humor that kept us helpless.

I'd just returned from a trip down the Rhone in France and thought this would be something I would so love...reliving the experience and all. Well, yes and no. This Darlington fellow obviously can write, and has a wonderful sense of humor. Trouble is, I think I don't much GET British humor...I WANT to, but it didn't always happen in this book! It is a great book for the right reader. For me, not enough description of what he loved about what he saw. And I am not convinced he did see anything he very much enjoyed. He kind of likes seeing the inside of drinking establishments and interacting with undesirables and dogs. Some folks will love it, but it wasn't for me. I shared with a friend who I hope GETS Brits!

What a delightful book for those who like to travel, live with dogs or have a vicarious spirit for adventure! The comments of Jim the Whippet are always right on! Not everybody enjoys anthropomorphisms but, as one who converses regularly with dogs, I found the dialogs quite charming.

Darlington has a very individual voice that some may find difficult to follow but I found most refreshing. I eagerly await the next journey when it comes out in 2009.