Summer: Vintage Minis

by Laurie Lee

How do you remember the summers of your childhood? For Laurie Lee they were flower-crested, heady, endless days. Here is an evocation of summer like no other – a remote valley filled with the scent of hay, jazzing wasps, blackberries plucked and gobbled, and games played until the last drop of dusk. Lee’s joyful and stirring writing captures the very essence of England’s golden season.

Selected from the book Cider with Rosie by Laurie Lee

VINTAGE MINIS: GREAT MINDS. BIG IDEAS. LITTLE BOOKS.

A series of short books by the world’s greatest writers on the experiences that make us human

Also in the Vintage Minis series:
Liberty by Virginia Woolf
Eating by Nigella Lawson
Swimming by Roger Deakin
Drinking by John Cheever

Genres: Classics, Summer, Memoir, Nonfiction

Kindle Edition

First published June 8, 2017

About the author

Laurence Edward Alan "Laurie" Lee, MBE, was an English poet, novelist, and screenwriter. His most famous work was an autobiographical trilogy which consisted of Cider with Rosie (1959), As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning (1969) and A Moment of War (1991). While the first volume famously recounts his childhood in the idyllic Slad Valley, the second deals with his leaving home for London and his first visit to Spain in 1934, and the third with his return in December 1937 to join the Republican International Brigade.

Reviews

[Matthew Ted]

I'm reviewing this purely to pour scorn on it. Though, understandably nice for a taster into a writer, these books are simply extracts taken from actual books and sold at £3.50. This contains snippets from Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie; you are paying for nothing new or unseen, simply another book hammed in and renamed. The worst in the series is the "Psychedelics" by Huxley, which is simply his Doors of Perception essay renamed.

If you have read anything by the writer of the book, check what the book really is before purchasing, chances are you've already read everything it has to offer.

[Simona · Rating 5 out of 5]

This mini booklet is a collection of passages from the novel Cider with Rosie (the author's memories of childhood and country life) and is exclusively dedicated to summer. Descriptions of the nature (which are extremely picturesque, lush and enticing) and chronology of events are arranged so, that they can be read as a short story. It is a story without a story, about everything and nothing. Beautiful, charming ode to summer.

[Ana Júlia · Rating 3 out of 5]

2,5 ⭐️é um livro de rememoração autobiográfica da infância. acredito que se eu fosse inglesa me identificaria e simpatizaria mais com as experiências narradas, sem contar que entenderia melhor todas as expressões antigas usadas🤡 bonito, mas não me pegou muito por esses dois aspectos

[Liina · Rating 2 out of 5]

Somehow this "mini books" format just doesn't work for me at all.

[Helia Hafezi · Rating 5 out of 5]

ابتدا تنها فکر کردم که چقدر این کلمات را میخواهم و دوستشان دارم، بعد خیال کردم که اینها در کنارمند،بعد دیدم که چیزی شبیه به عطر نعنای وحشی و شبدر خیالی درونم خزید، و سپس تمام این ها من بودم.خودم.خودِ خودم.

[Kirsty · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer presents a series of extracts from Laurie Lee's Cider with Rosie, arranging them around the theme of summertime. It was the perfect choice to read whilst basking in the garden on a hot June afternoon. Just lovely.

[James Cooper · Rating 2 out of 5]

This little book is made up of passages from Laurie Lee’s first autobiographical work Cider with Rosie selected for their focus on summer. It can work as a short story but there is no plot, it’s more about nothing in particular except the author’s childhood and life growing up in a small Gloucestershire village. There are some nice passages with Lee painting his past in a pleasant light despite some challenges and this is why I didn’t entirely dislike the book. I guess my main issue was how I just couldn’t connect to the ‘characters’ (real life people) much at all and despite sounding strange… I didn’t like young Laurie all that much or his attitudes, sort of. There are parts where he talks about pretending to be ‘savages’ and makes other racist remarks which I know was more common in the time it was set and written (late 50s) which I couldn’t jam with. Overall, I think the lack of any real story and it being rather dull made this slim book quite difficult to get through, I wish I had DNFd it earlier but as I went on I just thought ‘why not finish it’ and I did. I doubt I’ll read anything else by Lee, possibly some of his poetry or prose but I’m definitely not interested in any more autobiographical works.

[brettlikesbooks · Rating 4 out of 5]

it’s the first day of...
SUMMER by laurie lee (memoir) vibrant descriptions, evoking vivid images of the golden days of childhood summers + ever so lovely
☀️
“Summer was also the time of these: of sudden plenty, of slow hours and actions, of diamond haze and dust on the eyes...of jazzing wasps and dragonflies...of lying naked in the hill-cold stream; begging pennies for bottles of pop; of girls’ bare arms and unripe cherries...of fights and falls and new-scabbed knees...All this, and the feeling that it would never end...All sights twice-brilliant and smells twice-sharp, all games twice as long. Double charged as we were, like the meadow ants, with the frenzy of the sun, we used up the light to its last violet drop, and even then couldn’t go to bed.”
☀️
instagram book reviews @brettlikesbooks

[Anila Majhi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Summer by Laurie Lee is one of the thought provoking books of the vintage mini series. If you have read the memoir of Laurie lee which is a trilogy, then you can recollect the chapters in this tiny book. The snippets of his 1st book Cider with Rosie is the main theme. Set in 1900’s, in a village of Britain, where little Laurie lives with his siblings and his mother; he intricately describes the seasons of his place stating summer was their favourite of all. The idyllic countryside context and perception of a 20th century boy are the souls this book. It has the capability to tickle your fancy. It feels like I had sojourned there. It’s quite immersive. My favourite parts are their moments with the old neighbours Granny Trill and Wallon , their parish outing ,their regional jamboree and Laurie’s infatuation for Rosie.

[Ecokid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Taken from Laurie Lee’s 'Cider With Rosie', this collection of extracts exudes summer in all its heady glory, reminding us of a time where Summer felt like a vast undiscovered continent. It is the perfect accompaniment for basking indulgently in the splendour of the season.

This was an impulse read for me, as I was looking for something quick for a journey, but Lee's rich description and wonderful insight into the quirkiness of West Country life has encouraged me to seek out the original novel.

[Suad Shamma · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nope. This book was definitely not for me. Way too descriptive and not enough actually happening. I should've known it would be like this - I mean, the book IS called Summer, and Laurie Lee sure goes into very detailed descriptions of his surroundings so you never forget that fact.

It reminded me too much of books we were forced to read in school to analyze all the beautiful imagery and metaphors and so on, and I honestly just wanted a nice book that has an interesting storyline with some wonderful character development.

I struggled to read this 75 page book. That's kind of sad.

[Tabi · Rating 2 out of 5]

این کتاب بعد از سال ها اولین کتابی بود که بودن اینکه هیچ آشنایی از قبل داشته باشم خوندم .
من به خاطر اسمش و این که فکر می‌کردم درباره تابستون هست خریدمش. اغلب کتاب حول محور تابستونه ولی بخش های دیگه هم دا ه وه راجع به فصل های دیگه‌س‌. داستان کتاب حدود ۱۰۰ سال پیش اتفاق می‌افته.
روند کتاب نسبتا خوبه ولی توصیف ها اغلب خیلی بیش از حد میشن و کلا خوندن رو سخت می‌کنه. داستان کتاب خیلی گیج کننده‌س و من تا آخر داستان ایده‌ای ازش نداشتم.
در کل بد نیست اما خوندنش بیشتر به درد موقعی می‌خوره که دلتنگ تابستونی نه خود تابستون.

دوباره میخونم؟ شاید یه زمستون تاریک که دلتنگ تابستونم.

پیشنهاد می‌دم؟ نه

[Ria · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was the first time that i have put my hands on the work of Laurie Lee. I feel embarrassed to admit that i did not know any of his work and in the beginning i was betting that the writer is a women.
Such picturesque and vivid images. In the first 5 pages i was ready to leave it unfinished because what of an interest will be for me to read a book for a family during summer time in the 20s? Well it captivate me and let my mind create and depict the atmosphere of the era.

[Bob Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a child, regularly sent to an aunt's farm for summer to be separated from my brother with whom I fought all the time and to give my mother some respite, this hits the nail on the head, albeit that my, recall able, childhood was in the mid to late sixties.
Reading this is like, for older British readers, watching Jack Hargreaves on 'Out of Town' (Still available on YouTube).
Fascinating, simple times without an electronic device in sight.

[StephenWoolf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Writing lush to the extreme.
1st page: "The June grass, amongst which I stood, was taller than I was, and I wept. I had never been so close to grass before. It towered above me and all around me, each blade tattoed with tiger-skins of sunlight. It was knife-edged, dark, and wicked green, thick as a forrest and alive with grasshoppers that chirped and chattered and leapt through the air like monkeys."

[Julia · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book gave me all the chills. The writing is beautiful and the author paints a picture of summer as if it was the first time they were experiencing the season. The story describes vivid memories of a childhood that is filled with family, joy and open fields. It is a short read but managed to get me lost between the lines. Very poetic, which makes it almost feel like a poem that just goes on and on.

[Dane Cobain · Rating 2 out of 5]

Jeez, welcome to Dullsville. The excerpts in this Vintage Mini Modern come from Cider with Rosie, and I’ve actually heard good things about that book. I doubt I’ll be reading it after this, though.

Sure, there were the occasional good lines in there and a few quotes that I thought about sharing, but that’s the only reason why this got a 2 out of 5 instead of a 1 out of 5. Yeah.

[Lauren · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nostalgia for a Britain I don't recognise, and I'm not interested in doing so. Gave me flashbacks to being forced to read Swallows & Amazons-type stuff, which made me nauseous as a child.
Not for me.

[Setareh Ebrahimi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautifully, perfectly written. Would love to read the whole thing!

[Jasmine Ringer · Rating 3 out of 5]

CUTE

[Nejra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nostalgični kratki inserti iz djetinjstva autra u ljetnim danima. Djeluje kao posmatranje fotografija tuđeg života.

[Victoria BM · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Julia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Since this was just a bunch of randomly selected fragments from the author's memoir loosely alluding to summer, it had no actual timeline or point of reference so it simply made no sense.

[Nesa · Rating 1 out of 5]

نیمه رها

[Hot Garbage · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good writing but it wears down with the lengthy sentences. Overall, I'm not a fan of summer anyway...

[Ania Hollinshead · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Laurie Lee. another lovely little collection of memories from 1910's cotswolds. a little repetitive, however, and I did notice stolen passages from Village Christmas And Other Notes on the English Year.

[Benjamin Karam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been looking for someone to read after I'm done with Proust, and Lauri Lee with his lush, incandescent prose is the perfect candidate.

[Istiningdyah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wrap up review

[Alecto Carrow]

Reminded me of summer vacations.