Pop Larkin Chronicles

I'll take a line from Angela Snow here and say merely, "Scream!" You will not be sorry you read this trilogy.

These novels are sort of wonderful and very strange. Though I'm certainly not an expert in mid-20th century British popular fiction, I will say that Bates' Pop Larkin books are like nothing else I've encountered. They are a fascinating mixture of wit, broad humor, subtlety, narrative minimalism (i.e. sometimes not much "happens"), daring-for-the-time eroticism, offbeat sentimentality, and purple prose. Given the frankness and ahead-of-the-times "free love" attitudes, I'm surprised that they weren't banned when they appeared in 1958-1960. How nice that (as far as I gather) they weren't -- and thus they were able to provide a merry, titillating (if perhaps implausible) romp in the English countryside, with characters who almost always love life. In this magical, make-believe world, drinks flow endlessly with no ill effect, and nearly all in sight adjust their pace to the idiosyncratic idyllicism of Ma and Pop Larkin and their brood.

Within this book's 331 pages are the first three of five novels in H.E. Bates' "Pop Larkin" series: The Darling Buds of May, A Breath of French Air, and When the Green Woods Laugh. For anyone looking for a light, sunny, happy, warm-hearted, gently-humourous book, I just cannot recommend this one highly enough. In fact, it's one of the few books that can easily be read and reread again.The novels are set in rural England of the 1950s and centre around Pop and Ma Larkin (actually they're not married, but somehow it just never seems to matter) and their brood of six (make that seven) children. The world in which they live can only be described as a pastoral paradise. Although we get an inkling that the Larkin's farm is, in reality, rather like a junkyard, the novels are a testament to that old saying that life is 90% attitute and 10% circumstance. We see the farm and its surroundings and inhabitants largely through Pop's rose-coloured perspective. As a result, we escape into a world of fragrant golden buttercups and bluebells, into fields of plump, ripe strawberries, and into a kitchen that endlessly emits the heavenly, mouthwatering aromas of Ma's rich, delectable country meals. Pop is quite a character, and his sunny, carefree disposition and overwhelming generosity, together with his acute focus on the sensory delights of his surroundings, imbue the book with a sense of warmth and beauty that one seldom finds in novels. Pop and Ma take life as they find it and people as they find them, and they never seem to let anything rattle them. Though it's never spelled out, one gets the feeling that life is simply too short a journey to spend it focussing on the bumps one incurs along the way. I discovered this lovely series through watching the wonderful dramatisation starring David Jason (as Sidney "Pop" Larkin) and Catherine Zeta Jones (as his daughter Mariette), which I also highly recommend. Whether or not you've seen the dramatisation, if you're looking for a cheery, thoroughly relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable read, you'll enjoy this sweet book. In short, it's absolutely "perfick"!

Absurd and hilarious, H.E. Bates introduces you to the strangest family you're ever likely to meet. A tax officer is sent to their house to collect overdue taxes, only to find himself thrown into their somewhat chaotic, but extremely loving and fun life. Set up with the daughter, he throws away his old life to join theirs. Wonderfully written, humorous and kind, one to be read when you're feeling down, or if you're outside enjoying a summer day - best enjoyed with an iced drink and a picnic blanket. H.E. Bates is sure bet for an excellent read - I have read eight novels by Bates now, and have yet to be disppointed.

I first read The Darling Buds of May about thirty years ago. Recently BBC added some episodes and turned it into a series starring David Jason, which was acknowledged as the very best of British Comnedy. Incidentally, Catherine Zeta Jones got her big TV break in this series as the beautiful Larkin daughter.If you get a chance to get hold of a copy of H.E.Bates classic tale of Pop Larkin and his family, you should do so, just for the joy of reading something that is so funny it will split your sides.