Lee, Laurie - Ronald Blythe (review date 20 November 1975)

Ronald Blythe (review date 20 November 1975)

SOURCE: "All the Best Countrymen," in The Listener, Vol. 94, November 20, 1975, p. 680.

[Blythe is an English novelist, short story writer, and editor. In the following excerpt, he discusses I Can't Stay Long.]

When Laurie Lee was 17, he strolled out of his Cotswold village and tramped to Spain. The village for him was first base, a privately marked spot he could return to without feelings of betrayal. I Can't Stay Long is a group of essays, some about the marked spot but most about his restless forays from it.

On the whole, he takes wide-eyed journeys to touristy places, yet manages to avoid the results of their easy accessibility. 'Tourism is just creating a third world, one that is neither at home nor abroad.' For a natural wanderer like Mr Lee, this middle road is purgatory, and much of his best writing in this unusual collection is inspired by his determination to bring back...

[The entire page is 508 words long]

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