Cold Comfort Farm Paperback – July 29, 2013

I read this book more than 50 years ago.When the recent bombardment of political ads on tv, in texts, and in emails became more depressing than I could handle, I decided to re-read the book and see if it was as funny and distracting as I remember. And it is.There is over-the-top purple prose in the narration that makes me chuckle. As Flora, the heroine, first sees the village of Howling, for instance: "Huddled in the hollow, like an exhausted brute, the frosted roofs of Howling, crisp and purple as broccoli leaves, were like beasts about to spring."The setting is England in the early 1930s. Flora is suddenly orphaned and looking for relatives to take her in. She finds distant cousins willing to take her: The Starkadder clan of Cold Comfort Farm in Sussex.Flora is delighted. The Starkadders are reputed to be a backward, uncouth bunch ruled by old Aunt Ada Doom, who has never been the same since a childhood incident when she saw "something nasty in the woodshed."Armed with her favorite book, "The Higher Common Sense," and her supreme self-confidence which only a 19-year-old can muster, Flora heads off from the city to reform her backwoods kin. I'd bet on Flora, if I were you.The characters are larger-than-life, unique while also stereotypes of the time. The ending manages to end without cheesy answers to mysterious questions. I was happy, since I hate plots that paint themselves into corners and make up something so highly improbable that the mystery is ruined.The book should divert you from just about anything.

The descriptions are amusing and witty. The storyline unbelievable, but cute, some unnecessary descriptions about the farm at the start which had no purpose. Otherwise an interesting read.

I really loved this story! Even though it was riddled with typos, I forgive it because it is so very charming. I loved the tongue in cheek critique of proper manners. In a very Austen tradition, everything is neatly tied up in the end. There were two things I especially loved. One is one of the main character's aquaintances, who insists that Wuthering Heights could not have been written by a woman. The other is a delightful scene where a banquet is carefully planned to serve each group what they expect to eat, with the high society eating country food and the country folk eating caviar sandwiches. Definitely choose this if you love Jane Austin!

Stella Gibbons book is a wonderful satire of the Jane Austen genre. However this edition of the book itself is pathetic. The print size is about 8 point. There is a two-inch margin at the top of each page. The print size could have been enlarged without increasing the size of the book. The ink is gray - not black. To read it most people will need a strong light and a page magnifier. I recommend the book strongly, but not this printing.

So i have just received this book in the mail....and the "book" looks more like a magazine. When i opened it, the print is quite small. The cover looks cheap and the way its laid out is awful. I must say that I am a bit disappointed. I know the story to be good and Im going to suck it up and read it but if you want an actual book in comparison to this horrible format, i would keep looking.

The intro is a stitch, but the actual story is really a period comedy, so it takes some getting used to. Still, the second half is pretty entertaining

Absolutely marvelous. File in a few gaps from the movie, as an added bonus. Be prepared to ignore a few outmoded bits of bigotry, but I expect that in a book written a century ago.

This was a fun read. Though the ending was almost to happy, it fit the farcical nature of the story. We should all be so lucky to have Flora interfere with our lives.