Anyway, it helped that I’ve read some of the types of books Gibbons is parodying (such as Thomas Hardy’s rural novels, for example) though it’s probably not essential to be familiar with these books. I did think it was very clever, amusing and witty, but not hilarious. A sense of humour is such a personal, individual thing (and I do have one, honestly!) so who can say why a book works perfectly for one person and not so perfectly for another. Now, I’m going to be completely honest here and admit that I didn’t find it as funny as I’d expected. Not having read this book before or seen the adaptation, I didn’t know much about it before I started except that it was a parody of the British rural novel and supposed to be funny. Each of the farm’s inhabitants has their own set of problems that require Flora’s assistance, so armed with one of her favourite books, The Higher Common Sense by the Abbé Fausse-Maigre, she begins to ‘tidy up’ the lives of the Starkadders and help them adapt to modern life. As soon as she arrives she discovers that Cold Comfort Farm really is the typical farm she had imagined. Flora thinks she knows what to expect from life on a typical Sussex farm (it will be bleak, miserable and old-fashioned – and there’s sure to be a farmer called Amos and two young cousins called Seth and Reuben). After writing to various family members and dismissing their offers as being unsuitable, something in the reply she receives from her cousin Judith Starkadder at Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex appeals to Flora and her mind is made up. This is the story of Flora Poste, nineteen years old and recently orphaned, who decides to go and live with her relations. I did actually manage to read it before the end of June, as the rules stated, despite the fact that I’m posting my review in July! Cold Comfort Farm was the book the recent Classics Club Spin chose for me to read.

Cold comfort farm book review