Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins and it is excellently narrated by Barbara Rosenblat.

Listening time for Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins is 4 hours.

I first became acquainted with the 1971 movie version of 'Harold & Maude', starring Ruth Gordon as Maude, in the mid-1980s during a high school drama class. I never knew there was a novelization of the movie until very recently.

I haven't seen the movie version of 'Harold & Maude' in decades, but I remember liking this quirky, cult classic back in the day!! So, I knew I had to read the book when I discovered it earlier this month in audio format. 

I enjoyed the storyline, plot, characters, and writing very much for Harold & Maude. Harold, a 19 year old young man, is obsessed with death. His many attempts to shock his self-absorbed mother with his fake suicide attempts are something else! Harold loves to attend funerals and he even drives a hearse. Harold meets life-loving, free-spirit Maude at a funeral. Maude is a 79 years old woman and she and Harold form a deep bond. Maude imparts many important life lessons to Harold throughout the novel, which is the beauty of this novel.

Below is the publishers summary for Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins, which I discovered on Chirp's website:

Nineteen-year-old Harold Chasen is obsessed with death. He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers.

Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life. She liberates trees from city sidewalks and transplants them to the forest, paints smiles on the faces of church statues, and “borrows” cars to remind their owners that life is fleeting—here today, gone tomorrow!

A chance meeting between the two turns into a madcap, whirlwind romance, and Harold learns that life is worth living, and how to play the banjo.

Harold and Maude started as Colin Higgins’s master’s thesis at UCLA film school before being made into the 1971 film directed by Hal Ashby. The quirky, dark comedy gained a loyal cult following, and in 1997 it was selected for inclusion on the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Fans who have seen the movie dozens of times will find this a valuable companion, as it gives fresh elements to watch for and answers many of the film’s unresolved questions.

I am giving Harold & Maude by Colin Higgins a rating of 4 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!