Narrow Dog to Carcassonne

February 25, 2008
As husband-and-wife pensioners, Brits Terry and Monica Darlington sail their barge down the English canal system, along the Thames, past London, to Paris on the Seine and down the Rhône to Carcassonne, France. Along the way, they introduce the folks who make their homes on the water. They avoid teenage vandals, fail to teach their beloved whippet, Jim, to hunt rabbits and sail across the English Channel after nearly every informed acquaintance advises otherwise. The mixture of British vernacular and boating terms in this book originally published in England will leave some readers adrift. Yet the style echoes the author's clear zest for living in the moment. Frequent flashes of wit and poetic prose capture poignant emotions. The addendum of French phrases entitled “French in Fifteen Minutes” nicely sums up differences in the French and British cultures and makes clear the author's own mistakes while navigating a foreign language and culture.

March 1, 2008
When they retired, Terry Darlington and his wife, Monica, decided to take a trip. The Welsh couple, along with their dog, a whippet called Jim, set out in a 60-foot narrow boat across the English Channel and down the Rhone River to the south of France. In this memoir of travel travail, and dubious wine, they describethe places they saw and the people they met. In a brief final chapter, they insist that the only way to learn to speak French is to go somewhere where you have to speak the language or starve and do without sex. This is followed by 18 phrases and a suggestion that at times of high excitement your action should be similar to a man standing beneath a tree catching plums. The book, which includes color maps and illustrations, no doubt is one of the most hilarious travel memoirs ever written.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)