I bought this as an e-book, unabridged. Probably an abridged edition or an assembly like Peculiar People would be better for a modern-day reader. It is at times screamingly funny and very sad -- Hare's childhood was Dickensian -- but large parts of the book are recitations of stately homes and sites in Europe that Hare visited, along with some rather tenuously stuck in stories. There's also a lot of untranslated French conversation. It's almost all worth it, though, just to run across gems like this:

"Her companion was a Mrs. Barbara, with whom Aunt Caroline was most furious at times. She had a large pension after her death. It used to be said that the reason why Mrs. Barbara had only one arm and part of another was that Aunt Caroline had eaten the rest."

and:

"It was very difficult to distinguish him from his twin brother Vernon; indeed, it would have been impossible to know them apart, if Vernon had not, fortunately for their friends, shot off some of his fingers."