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michelleful's review
5.0
I was reminded of this charming little set of humorous stories by Lawrence Durrell recently, featuring Antrobus, a British diplomat stationed in what I think were the Balkans. All of the stories are funny but some of them uproariously so. I will have to dig out a copy to read them again.
eely225's review
3.0
This is a case where perhaps the reader humor inspires an "ah yes, quite funny that" rather than a laugh proper. The fact that I'm not British, not a bureaucrat, and not born before the second world war also works against me. Still, the stories are brief and the characters are well drawn. There are a few passages that don't age too well, but the author mitigates that somewhat by his magnanimity toward the cast. Everyone has a moment to shine; everyone is the butt of the joke. Except Antrobus of course, so confident in his propriety that the reader can get some joy imagining how he comes off himself.
Ultimately, it's more interesting to this about the book and its characters than it is to read the stories themselves. But you've got to do one to get the other, so I'm ultimately glad I did.
Ultimately, it's more interesting to this about the book and its characters than it is to read the stories themselves. But you've got to do one to get the other, so I'm ultimately glad I did.
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