Cider with Rosie

By: Laurie Lee

Narrated by: Laurie Lee

Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins

Publisher's Summary

Cider with Rosie is a wonderfully vivid memoir of childhood in a remote Cotswold village, a village before electricity or cars, a timeless place on the verge of change. Growing up amongst the fields and woods and characters of the place, Laurie Lee depicts a world that is both immediate and real and belongs to a now-distant past.

©1989 Laurie Lee (P)2009 Random House Audio Books

Trigger Warning

Oh what a lovely description of growing up in a small Cotswold village after WWI, where times were simpler and--SCREECH--Hey lads, who wants to plan a gang rape!

When I started this I thought the worst thing I would have to say about it was that "authors shouldn't automatically be allowed to read their own works." And how. But eventually I got used to the gravelly old man voice and even if I didn't grow to like it, at least it didn't bother me as much.

I could then medium enjoy the vignettes contained within until...late in the book a group of boys plan to gang rape a local girl. Some people think this is kind of humorous because the girl simply slaps the boys and they all run away like big scaredy-cats. But the whole time they are plotting was just so unsettling for me to read because I read it from the perspective of the girl who goes walking along the same route, feeling perfectly safe, having no idea that the boys in her village are watching and plotting and think nothing about her. And while "nothing happens" from the author's perspective, what about the girl's? Did she still walk that path? Did she still feel safe going out alone? It breaks my heart to think about.

Just because the assault doesn't happen "to completion," the planning of it makes me feel like I just got a pair of special sunglasses à la "They Live," in which the protagonist can finally see things the way the actually are and suddenly I don't feel so nostalgic for the small Cotswold village.

A voice of the past

What made the experience of listening to Cider with Rosie the most enjoyable?

Listening to Laurie Lee read his memoir, Cider With Rosie, is like slipping into the early part of the last century. His voice, and his wide ranging use of metaphor, simile, and extensive vocabulary take one deep into the heart of an isolated Cotswold village, and it's tight knit (incestuous) community. A different time, and looked at from today, one that was far from perfect. Still, it is evocative and a world that is lost; and therefore worth recalling.

What about Laurie Lee’s performance did you like?

Hearing LL read his own work is like listening to Eliot read his. A treat.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

too long

Any additional comments?

Marvelous

It Grows on You

This memoir of a turn-of-the-century Welshman written and performed by the same person at an advanced age is rhythmically and melodiously performed but leaves one somewhat disatisfied. It's a first person glimpse into life in a poor family in the beginning of the 1900s through probably the beginning of World War II. For that reason it's edifying, but somewhat disturbing in it's frankness about sexuality of a young and growing male. This reader happens to be disappointed at the interjection of what sometimes seems unnecessarily gratuitous sexuality into everything nowadays. The character development was insightful, anyway.

Cider with Rosie

I'll admit, at first I didn't enjoy the author's voice. Soon however, without noticing when, it felt right. After all, this is his story. Who better to tell it?
He was reminiscing about a way of life that was vanishing even as he and his family lived it. Yet as the story progressed, something altogether more interesting began to emerge.
There is a darkness in this story that is partially hidden by his poetic writing. There is also light and hope. Most of all, there is an almost terrible yearning that runs from cover to cover.
It’s a surprisingly sad tale, not simply the story of a world now vanished but, more powerfully, a familiar cry for all childhoods, for what we misinterpret and what we fail to miss until it’s gone.

Terrific

A poem in prose, A story almost sung, A history of a time and place now gone; Ficas good as "A child s Christmas in Wales"__orbetter

Wonderful Book

A beautiful and gripping tale. And what a treat to hear it in the author's voice.

Marvelous storytelling

Beautiful portrait of a time and place … the words are poetic and Lee’s narration is marvelously soothing and soulful. A time capsule for the Cotswolds, and full of loving, sensitive portraits of the young author’s family, neighbors, and friends, most of all an ode to his mother, one of the most vivid characters you’ll ever come across in a book.

The writing is superb!

Reading Laurie Lee's book was a magical journey into a past before my time. And having the author read it - made it that much more special. A truly remarkable book.

Nostalgic

This book was a favorite of a dear loved one who has passed away. The poetic imagery of life in post World War 11 England is magical. It’s a young boy’s perfect description of how he views his younger years and his surroundings. It’s a book I’ll read over and over again.

Wonderful Narration

I read this book as a teenager and couldn't decide whether to buy it anew on my Kindle or go for the audio version. In the end I felt to have Laurie Lee read it to me would be a bit special...and it was! I have listened to the opening section of the book may times as it is one of my favourite passages from literature. A wonderful, evocative book brought to life by its author.

A very special experience

I read this many years ago and remember loving it, conjuring up a whole vivid lost world in wonderfully gentle prose. I wanted to re-read it, but to listen to it instead read by the author was pure magic. A classic, and my best audio book to date.

Yawwwwwn!!!

For many, many years I've had a great desire to read this book and never quite got around to it. With my new found love of audiobooks I am rapidly catching up on all those books. Unfortunately, this is one of my first big let downs. At the back of my mind I sense it may actually be that the drawling and heavy narration by Laurie Lee himself has let this version down. I purposefully bought this version as i thought narration by the authour would bring something special to the book but he must have narrated his tale a million times and this shows in his tone. I have managed a very sporadic couple of hours but now I have no desire to go back... this version is deleted and gone for good. All is not lost though, I would still like to listen to his story. There are a number of versions for me to preview, next time I will listen out for a younger and more enthused narrator who canbring this classic tale to life for me rather than putting me to sleep.

Treat yourself

Theres a reason Laurie Lee gets studied in English class. His writing is as close to poetry as you will find from any author, perfectly capturing and evoking every mood and scene with the fewest of words and often using those words in surprising combinations. Having this book read by the author himself adds extra interest. He is no polished speaker. But his sympathetic, gruff, rural accent is a delight.

Interesting peep at the past

Is there anything you would change about this book?

Yes, the narrator.

Would you recommend Cider with Rosie to your friends? Why or why not?

No, because of the narrator (even if he is the author).

How could the performance have been better?

Yes, it certainly could have been. The voice was bored, wheezing breath intake, at time phlegm gurgling sound

Was Cider with Rosie worth the listening time?

I could only bear to listen for maximum half an hour at a time, then the voice irritated me

Any additional comments?

A more interesting voice would make all the difference. Even my old dad told tales of his youth in early 1900s in a much more interesting way

From the Horse's Mouth

Any additional comments?

I was almost put off buying this book by one review which said that the narration, by Laurie Lee himself, let it down and by another review that said his voice was "bored". Well each to their own. Lee would have been quite an old man when he recorded his reading. He also has a slight Gloucestershire lilt to his voice. This gives the narration a gentle pace and a warmth that lulls you into a state of peacefulness. I, for one, loved the narration. Further, getting it from the horse's mouth, you could not get a more accurate representation of this book.

Whilst Lee uses some flowery language at times, this is a lovely, well told, memoir of a time 100 years ago when the old world and the new were moving from one to the other. His candid and observant telling of events around about him in a small village in the countryside kept me hooked from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

Recommended by a friend

I couldn't get into. I found the readers voice hard to listen to. so gave up early.

Pure magic!

Wonderful to hear the story narrated by the man Laurie himself in his later years. Adds a magical touch.

So completely right

This is a performance I return to regularly. Although the whole story is enchanting and conjures up time gone by, hearing it read in Laurie Lee’s own soft cotswold accent is incredibly soothing. If I’m awake in the night, this is my go to. I don’t need to listen to the story, so I can drift off and know that when I wake, I shall have slept well, and Laurie will still be gently burbling a bucolic love song to his lost world. ❤️❤️❤️

Recreated a world that has long since disappeared.

Where does Cider with Rosie rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Highly rated and really enjoyed the book

What did you like best about this story?

Loved the description of this world that has gone, especially from the point of view of a little boy. There was an added benefit of having Laurie Lee read it himself - I felt that this added to the book.

Any additional comments?

Lovely gently listen, full of lovely description and lovely people who just got on with the life they were born to without question.