Mr Finchley Discovers His England (Classic Canning Book 1)

Edgar Finchley has spent his adult life in London toiling as a clerk for Mr. Bardwell, a solicitor who considered vacations unnecessary, but after Bardwell’s death, his replacement, Mr. Sprake, insists that Mr. Finchley take three weeks off — “Can’t expect my staff to do their jobs if they ain’t fit! Must have holidays, eh?”So Mr. Finchley decides to holiday in Margate, but before he can catch his train, he’s kidnapped by a car thief, which begins his travels through his native land. He escapes from criminals, steals a car, dives into a roadside lake, fights off a raging gypsy, works as a petrol attendant for a day, spends the night in a homeless men’s lockup, and generally encounters adventures not on offer in Margate or London. As he rambles across the countryside, Mr. Finchley comes to view himself very differently— no longer just a mere solicitor’s clerk trapped in the dirty hustle and bustle of the capitol city, he’s now a man who “belong[s]in this land and … was glad of it.”Victor Canning’s delightful novel, originally published in 1934, returns readers to an England long past, when a bachelor could take his adventures as they came. It’s a marvelous journey and one readers will embark upon many times.

I read this book during COVID lockdown. It was just what the doctor ordered. The story is enjoyable, the hero lovable, and the writing is good.

Mr. Finchley Discovers His England by Victor Canning. If you like to laugh I happily recommend this book. Each chapter deals with a different unlikely adventure Mr. Finchley has on his vacation. Finchley is a mild mannered clerk in London, rather round in appearance and bald, and a bachelor. Written and set in the 1930s, Finchley is so naïve he gets innocently caught up in wild improbable situations, whether helping a smuggler, spending time in a caravan with a Traveler, even meeting a lady he finds attractive, and in one encounter he desperately escapes from police who arrested him believing him to be a homicidal maniac. I immediately bought the next book in the series, Mr. Fincley Goes to Paris. This novel was a fun reading experience.

Well written timeless appeal. The author was a brilliant man and this was his 1st book. As a youngster he was offered a place at Oxford as a Classics Scholar but his family was unable to afford the tuition so he goes to work and writes this book and never looks back. The author Victor Canning would later become an officer in WW2 fighting the Nazis in North Africa rising to the rank of Major and would continue a wildly successful career as a writer of mysterys and espionage novels after the war. Getting back to Mr. Finchley, a nice, quiet retiring man who has his 1st holiday (vacation in the USA) at 45 or so and meets all kinds of interesting people as he is sidetracked and roams around pre-war rural England. Bentley Motors, crooks, wily women, garagemen, scamps, cycling, eccentrics. JUST READ THIS BOOK for a look at a lost world that was not all that long ago. Cheers.

This is the story of a naive and innocent middle aged man who gets swept up in a series of adventures and lets himself be carried along by fate. It's charming in its innocence, and I enjoyed the descriptions of the various characters Mr. Finchley met on his travels. I suspect this sort of book doesn't have a wide appeal these days, but I enjoyed a visit to a more peaceful era.

It is a pleasant enough book, but rather naive. Not only does the book guarantee a happy ending but every chapter does too. But actually there was no ending. No lessons learned, no happy reintegration with his normal lifestyle after having had all these experiences. The adventure just stopped. It is kind of like a child's primer to a hippie/ wanderer's philosophical lifestyle.

A very humorous story of a British clerk who has had a boring life until he is forced by a new boss to take a vacation. Unanticipated events happen to him, and he finds inner resources he never knew he had to deal with them. The ending left me hanging, but there are more books to follow.

I'm so glad I discovered this 3-book series! Truthfully, the old adage of not judging a book by its cover does not apply here, as I purchased this book BECAUSE of its cover! Mr. Finchley is a charming, lovable, and reluctant hero who steps, stumbles and, more often than not, falls into one misadventure after another. Some of the scenarious are a bit forced, however, the writing is crisp, clean and humorous enough that one cannot help but to an endearment to this most hapless of heroes. Greatly looking forward to reading the other two books which complete and compliment this magical series.

Enid Blyton meets John Buchan! Free from violence, overt sexual activity and serious criminality, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read. It's light-hearted and cheerful. it's a well crafted story, despite its basic improbability, mixing Mr F's scrapes and escapades with appealing descriptions of the wildlife he meets, without overdoing it. Mr F. is such a decent man who accepts things as they are and without due concern while he does his best to make the most of it.

I normally enjoy books from this era but this one was difficult to pick up again each time I'd put it down. Mr Finchley goes on a holiday which is disrupted when he meets some thieves. Then he moves on and meets someone else, then moves on and meets someone else, then moves on. At the end, the book ends. I double-checked to make sure there wasn't a missing final chapter, but no, the end had come, not with a bang, nor even a whimper, it just ended. That said, I am only one person with one opinion, others may love it. I didn't.

This is a picaresque novel from 1930s in which our hero, an unassuming clerk from London goes on frolic through the West Country and Cornwall. He meets gypsies , other road men, showmen, spends a night in the workhouse, plays cricket and so on. He ends up up a happier and a changed man. An amusing light read. I wondered whether the book had started out as a series of magazine stories. It presents a rather picturesque view of the countryside albeit with occasional shadows. It also struck me as an alternative to George Orwell’s rather different view of England. One omission is that there is no mention of the Great War which makes me think that although published in the Thirties was emotionally set in a pre-war Edwardian world.Nonetheless recommended.

Solicitor's clerk Edgar Finchley has slipped into a boring middle age life without ever doing anything adventurous. When his boss Mr Sprake insists he takes a holiday, Mr Finchley predictably heads for Margate unknowingly embarking on the adventure of a life time. After falling a sleep in the back on his car he finds himself unwitting guest of bank robber, Wally Beck. After being held for several days he finally freed by the beautiful Jane Myers who drives him to the countryside before skipping off in to the night. Instead of fear, Mr Finchley is invigorated and takes to the road living the life off an hobo and making for his new final destination Exeter. Author Victor Canning captures a side of Britain that no longer exists and war still in the future. Mr Finchley's wide eye innocence and unexpected anger at wrong doings is real joy to read

A good read from a bygone age. Conjures up images of more innocent times when real men were 'Gentlemen'. Mr Finchley is the archetypal city clerk from between the wars whose life and habits are humdrum until a series of events change the way he sees the people and world around him and how he reacts to it all.Would have made a great Boulting Brothers comedy with John Mills in his Mr Polly mode. Even though this would mean great physical changes to the main character it would not distract from the charm or adventure this story has.