Amazingly funny. Review on Travels With My Aunt - Graham Greene

I had been trying to discover new authors and somehow hit upon Graham Greene. Started with some books which made me feel that the author was unreasonably cynical. I felt I was too young to read something like this. But slowly I started to see the humour and was soon hooked. Then Travels With My Aunt happened. My god its a masterpiece and the humour is undeniably good. Its not just the funny parts that make for a great story but the way he has built the story along with so many different characters popping in and out. Yet the flow is never lost. The contrast between his personality and that of his aunt provides the entertaining moments. Here is a guy who has been content to watch life from the sidelines, living a measured and calculated life. While his aunt lives life on the wrong side of law and has companions who bring the roof down, age never really mattered.

This book clearly showed his repertoire of writing skills. Dry british humour peppered with descriptions of places and people that one can only imagine. What makes this book different from others is that the wittisms and the fact that an older woman is able to love and live passionately. One gets to travel to different places and meet differnet people. But never get bored. There is never a moment one feels that one cannot go any further. But I think the author uses the humour front to tell us about the serious things in life. Its upto us as readers as to how far we want to read into the unstated. This book reminds me of author Gerald Durrell's My Family and Other Animals. The difference is that gerald durrell is irreverent in a mild way while graham greene is definitely not hiding his irreverence. The book is UNPUTDOWNABLE if u enjoy traveling.