Narrow Dog To Carcassonne

Review by Philip Blazdell

On his retirement Terry Darlington observes to wife, Monica, "We could bore ourselves to death, drink ourselves to death or have a bit of an adventure..." and so, with tongue firmly in cheek they set off for Carcassonne, England on their twee little narrow boat. Between the covers of this quirky, humorous and sometimes profoundly moving book, you will follow the intrepid travelers as they go rabbiting in Oxfordshire, tie up among the bankers in the City of London, live among history in Flanders, drift through Champagne, throw a rope around the Eiffel Tower, struggle with hostile life forms in Burgundy, float down the Saone from vineyard to vineyard, get swept along by the terrible Rhone from Lyon to Avignon, dip their toes in the Mediterranean, and sail across inland seas among the flamingos of the Camargue. Breakdowns, floods, accidents, hangovers, vandals, dicks, trolls, aliens, gongoozlers, killer fish and the walking dead stand between our intrepid crew and their goal - many-towered Carcassonne.

Despite the author's polished prose and his eye for detail, this isn't an easy book to get into and many people will find the quirky, sometimes surreal prose a little difficult to enjoy. However, if you can wade through the first few chapters, the writing style becomes easier on the eye and the sheer beauty of this work begins to emerge. A few more chapters in and you will begin to believe that the author's humor and charm is not contrived but genuine and engaging. By the time I had read two-thrids of this book, I already wanted it to be much longer and found myself returning to the initial chapters to re-read them. Like drinking scotch, this is something which can not be enjoyed immediately. But for those prepared to invest time, it will reap great rewards.

One of the biggest enjoyments that the reader will get from this book is the luxury of the author's descriptions. Taking a poet's eye and applying it to the landscape of France produces some beguiling descriptions which almost make one want to travel to France (only the sheer number of French people there stops me doing this.) The author also shows a light comic touch which will probably lead him to being compared to Bryson:

'When I woke up the next morning, and I wished that I had not woken up the next morning, I realized that I had promised to sail an inland boat across the English Channel, roped up to a madman.'

Overall, there is something deeply enjoyable about this book. At heart, the author is searching for some meaning to his life and builds this, most noble of quests, around a moving and ultimately uplifting story. Readers should not be put off by the difficulty of the writing style and those who preserve will be guaranteed a great read.

• Narrow Dog To Carcassonne by Terry Darlington