Customer Reviews
Travelling in style - By: Adrenalin Streams, 15 Sep 2009 
What a genuinely nice book this is to read. No wasted words or excess padding & a lovely prose style. The story,in a nutshell, concerns a batchelorin his late 50's who meets his long lost aunt at his mother's funeral & sets off on adventures with her. The batchelor is old for his years & his aunt, althoughin her late 70's, is full of joie de vivre. The aunt's is a remarkable history & through her our batchelor learns what it is like to really live & be alive. Well recommended.
one of the best books ive read in years. - By: L. R. Doane, 23 May 2009 
I saw the film on TCM many years ago, late at night when I couldnt sleepin the early hours, I saw the titles come up & Maggie Smith wasin it, so pressed record, & had a VHS copy for years. Been searching the net for the DVD, but no luck, or silly Prices.
Its more of Maggies more unknown films, but hysterical from start to end, her performance as the 'eccentric aunt' is one of her bestin my opinion. Buy this book, & the film is true to the book.
a Great read, its the only 1 book I always carry with me.
Buy it & enjoy it, & get a copy of the film if you can & have never seen it. It takes prized place on my bookshelf.
It's never too late... - By: Gregory S. Buzwell, 15 Mar 2009 Humour is always presentin Greene's novels, it's just that usually the comedy is buried beneath a bleak pile of despair, guilt & angst. With Greene there is laughter but it's very much laughterin the dark: the gallows humour of the man who trips on his way to the scaffold. In Travels with My Aunt however the humour steps out of the shadows & takes centre stage with the result that this is, perhaps, the most likeable & purely enjoyable all the novels Greene wrote.
Henry Pulling, a retired bank manager who lives - if that's the word - an eye-wateringly dull life, meets his Aunt Augusta for the first timein fifty years at his mother's funeral. Henry is initially wary of his charismatic aunt but gradually he falls into step beside her & the pair travel to Brighton, Paris, Istanbul and, finally, South America. From his dry little life of dahlias & retired army majors Henry finds himself propelled into a world of CIA agents, hippies, dubious businessmen, elderly Casanovas, suspect priests & quaint old dears who read uncannily accurate forecasts about future events from tealeaves. After a dull suburban existence Henry finds himself finally engaging with the very stuff of life rather than merely watching from the sidelines as it passes him by. Henry is a brilliant comic character - wide-eyed & naive, continually surprised by his aunt's questionable friends & rather racy behaviour, but it is his aunt who steals the show: fabulously entertainingin a no-nonsense hands-on fashion, ready to engage with whatever life cares to pushin her path Aunt Augusta is a fesity force of nature. As a lesson on the need to make the most of one's opportunities the book can hardly be bettered. The world is out there - go & find it....
In truth there is littlein the way of plot, but that doesn't matter. Travels is a character-lead novel & the interest derives from the way Henry & his aunt extricate themselves from ever more curious & unlikely situations. Greene was excellent at making his characters interesting. Little telling details are sprinkled here & there with the result that, with seemingly effortless ease, his characters live & breath. Henry, for example, has a stilted correspondence with a lady whom he used to infrequently see for tea. Gradually it becomes apparent that marriage was - & perhaps still is - a possibility. But does he want to take that step? Does he dare, or would he merely be doing so out of pity or desperation? Having travelled with his aunt could he ever go back to a conventional existence? It's all beautifully portrayed.
Travels with My Aunt is beautifully written & great fun. If you've ever found youself slumpedin an armchair & not knowing what to do with your spare time get yourself a copy. It will give you some ideas & it may just change your life. It's never too late....
A Good Read - By: D. Glowacki, 30 Oct 2008 
A decent read.Green can't resist going back to his favourite south america themes.The book's narrator,the main character is an interesting person.He is settled,enjoys the routine & rhthym of each day.He contemplates a union with an equally routine woman client from his bank manger days.His Aunt is diametrically opposite,always on the fringes of the law & taking risks.The slight problem for me is that the aunt is actually a bit of a borein her unrelenting misbehaviour.She lacks a depth of emotions.As the story progresses her exploits become more extreme & she becomes a little unbelievable.His persona becomes a little lost & corrupted as the story continues.
Other characters are interesting during travels abroad.Somethingin the way green tells a story & brings colour into the narrative through his peripheral playersin the book,keeps you turning the page.
A good read,but would have been better if aunt had been writtenin a more vulnerable way at times to compliment the know it all attitude,and pompus demeanor
Brilliant writing - By: Sally Wilton, 23 Oct 2008 Travels with my aunt is a fabulous book that should encourage anyone embarking on the 2nd half of their life that many adventures, romance & travel can & will happen if you want it too & have the energy to carry it through.
Bank manager, dahlia enthusiast & all round dull & boring person Henry has his life turned upside down after meeting flamboyant Aunt Augusta at his mother's funeral. Fascinated by such an extraordinary lady he is ropedin to travel with her to a variety of places, always first class & on the edge of criminal activity Henry gradually opens his eyes to pleasures & scenes not previously known to him.
His naïve musings on new eventsin his life are quite hilarious. `I wondered what all the men here did for a living. It seems extraordinary that one could watch such a scene during banking hours.' Henry says to himself upon seeing a naked black woman dancing with a feather boain a club.
The real star of this book though must by Aunt Augusta, quite unlike the woman portrayed on the front of many of these publications she isin fact a racy woman of 75 years with a long colourful past involving a string of very virile men & she has no hang ups about continuing her slightly debauched life for as long as she can. Knocking back as much champagne as possible at every opportunity Aunt A then launches into stories about the men & adventures of her life.
Yes this book can seem a little dated but the writing is always brilliant. Grahame Greene was an excellent writer & the quality remains.
