This is a book to be read slowly and savoured. It reads like a translation from Welsh to English although it doesn't claim to be. The phrasing is rich in meaning. It flows over me as I read. I often go back and re-read sentences. A deep and picturesque story.
I have finished reading it. Those of you who are teachers will laugh at the mother's thoughts about math in chapter 16
I loved the beautiful metaphors the author used to describe people, places, things, feelings, etc. etc.
For word buffs: wain and trews
The depth of relationships in the era before life was motorized and computerized is something that I wonder if young people of today would understand are want. People were alive to each other. They had respect for each other.
The intelligence of Huw's father belied his occupation. He was well read and encouraged it in his family.
The subtle description of Huw's first sexual encounter was just as heady as the explicit writings in the books of today.
The people of the town and the valley, the working men, the women who took care of their homes, their was a oneness that brought them together in times of joy and sadness. The singing they participated in - I wish I could have been there to experience that. Just thinking of all those voices joining together as they walked the mountain and the valley brings chills to me.
This is a story of people who were proud of who they were and what they did.
I also read this book slowly. After the first 40 pages or so I thought I was going to struggle through the rest of it. In the beginning I was constantly waiting for "action." Then, suddenly I was at the end of the book, crying, thinking "there is beautiful, there is" and wishing for a few more chapters. There seems to be so much to comment on I can't think of a good place to start! O dammo!
It's hard not to compare this book with Germinal by Emile Zola, which is about the French coal miner's rebellion. Valley was much cheerier - in Germinal almost everyone died of starvation or mine collapses or murder - I think 40 characters were killed off, so this wasn't too back with 4 or 5. Also in Germinal everyone was dirty, filthy dirty, and in Valley at least they were always bathing.
I really loved the relationship between Huw's mom and dad. I especially liked them in chapter 20 during the strike, when she made brandy broth and joked about melting blocks of ice in his bed.
How about Mr. Jonas though? I was SO pleased when Dai went to school and gave him a taste of his own medicine! There was a lot of "Welsh law" dealt out in this book, and it made me think of the Brother Cadfael series. Set in such different times but still a few common themes, is it?
Which brings me to the phrasing and prose. I adored all of the Welsh bits like "is it?" and "there is" and "what, now?" and "right, you." Actually my boss, who is from Nottingham, says "right, you" all the time! I really started noticing it while reading this book, and now I listen for her to say it all the time. I did ind myself skimming some of the endless descriptions of the valley itself, even though the writing was superb.
I liked how Mr. Gruffydd explained the birds and the bees to Huw. It gave me a chuckle to think about a preacher saying, basically, "well it's all right there in the bible, boy, if you would just put your brain to it."
One thing I didn't like was the lack of closure for Huw. From the author's reference point we know that Huw was writing the book at about ate 60 or 70, right? And he was watching the slag heap slowly consume his boyhood home. But did he stay with Bronwen? Never marry? Have kids? I get that it was a coming of age novel, but to have those other snippets about the house, and nothing, not even a little bit, about his life as an adult was frustrating for me. Reminds me of "How I Met Your Mother" ugggh! annoying.
I could go on all night and probably have missed a million things and have to post again this week, but a parting question: Do you think in 50 years we may have the same feelings about this area and the gas wells? How green were our valleys?
The reason why I like to be the first to post? So that B and A don't say everything I want to say before I say it. :-)
Let's see, do I have anything left to contribute? First, I took a semester of Scottish Gaelic as an undergrad in Canada. I think it is the most difficult language because of the sentence structure and words for specific concepts. This book reminded me of that. It felt a little bit like relearning Gaelic (of which Welsh is a form).
It took me a while to get into this book as well. It took me as long to read the first two chapters as the last half because by the last half I was devouring it. I think it was that it took me that long to adjust to the cadence and interpret some of the cloudier passages.
I both enjoyed and got frustrated with the union segments. I enjoyed learning about the unionization of Wales, especially in the context of the little I know about Wales, but it also detracted from the personal stories being told. I wanted more about the people and less about the unions sometimes. There is in a bind, is it?
My favorite characters were Beth (Huw's mom) and Bronwen. What great female characters all, though. And were Dai and Cyfartha gay do you think?
To answer B's question: I think relationships were different then, but I don't think the change is bad. In some ways I think the lack of respect is a good thing. Many older people are not necessarily worthy of automatic respect solely because of age and some younger people are deserving of more respect, even though they are young.
Otherwise I agree with both B and A on their comments. Many of which I would also have made it they hadn't already. To respond to A: I think we will look back and reflect on how green were our valleys after fracking. You'd think after a history of making those mistakes the world over, lessons would be learned.
Quotes that I enjoyed:
Chapter two: "There is strange how things come back if you start to think of one thing and become tangled up in memory. Because sometimes you think of a thing and it reminds you of something else, but nearly always you forget why it should remind you, and you find you have forgotten the link between them."
Chapter 4: "It is strange how loud little sounds become when you are in the dark and doing something wrong." There is a truth.
Chapter 11: One of my favorite parts was the discussion between Huw and his father about Meillyn Lewis and why she is a "slut", but then Beth's response.
Chapter 21: Beth's response to Huw beating up Mr. Jonas: "Did you give him a good kick? ... I should have been there." While I do not condone violence, this was great. :-)
Chapter 23: The whole passage on what makes a kiss special. Perfect explanation.
Chapter 25: The description of the choir singing together made me want to join a choir...
Chapter 28: "I heard the blood in Mr. Gruffydd's voice, and searched libraries of words in hot seconds of emptiness only to give him comfort." A beautiful description of this. I am a bit torn about Mr. Gruffydd, though. In some sections I loved him, in others he just frustrated me. How can such a strong man be so weak in some ways?
I did enjoy this book, I felt like I was IN the time and the place and I guess that it the purpose of a book. I found myself reading with an Irish brogue, not fitting but the best I could summon.
My favorite part was when Huw fell in the water barrel, followed by his father’s response “go you and get a cloth”.
Most memorable was the map of all the places the children had travelled, it’s a star, no it’s a spider’s web. I could easily imagine how that mom felt with her children strung all over the planet and probably never seeing them again. So sad.
The school teacher Mr. Jonas-Sessions was just awful! I just about cried when he tied a board around the little girl’s neck “I must not speak Welsh in school.”
I did watch the movie after reading this book and was really surprised that there was little or NO mention of unionizing. And that seemed like a fairly important part of the book, but then including that bit in the movie probably would have made a “political statement”.
And the singing! Chapter 2 said it for the whole town not just the father "singing was in my father as sight is in the eye".
7 comments:
This is a book to be read slowly and savoured. It reads like a translation from Welsh to English although it doesn't claim to be. The phrasing is rich in meaning. It flows over me as I read. I often go back and re-read sentences. A deep and picturesque story.
I have finished reading it. Those of you who are teachers will laugh at the mother's thoughts about math in chapter 16
I loved the beautiful metaphors the author used to describe people, places, things, feelings, etc. etc.
For word buffs: wain and trews
The depth of relationships in the era before life was motorized and computerized is something that I wonder if young people of today would understand are want. People were alive to each other.
They had respect for each other.
The intelligence of Huw's father belied his occupation. He was well read and encouraged it in his family.
The subtle description of Huw's first sexual encounter was just as heady as the explicit writings in the books of today.
The people of the town and the valley, the working men, the women who took care of their homes, their was a oneness that brought them together in times of joy and sadness. The singing they participated in - I wish I could have been there to experience that. Just thinking of all those voices joining together as they walked the mountain and the valley brings chills to me.
This is a story of people who were proud of who they were and what they did.
I also read this book slowly. After the first 40 pages or so I thought I was going to struggle through the rest of it. In the beginning I was constantly waiting for "action." Then, suddenly I was at the end of the book, crying, thinking "there is beautiful, there is" and wishing for a few more chapters. There seems to be so much to comment on I can't think of a good place to start! O dammo!
It's hard not to compare this book with Germinal by Emile Zola, which is about the French coal miner's rebellion. Valley was much cheerier - in Germinal almost everyone died of starvation or mine collapses or murder - I think 40 characters were killed off, so this wasn't too back with 4 or 5. Also in Germinal everyone was dirty, filthy dirty, and in Valley at least they were always bathing.
I really loved the relationship between Huw's mom and dad. I especially liked them in chapter 20 during the strike, when she made brandy broth and joked about melting blocks of ice in his bed.
How about Mr. Jonas though? I was SO pleased when Dai went to school and gave him a taste of his own medicine! There was a lot of "Welsh law" dealt out in this book, and it made me think of the Brother Cadfael series. Set in such different times but still a few common themes, is it?
Which brings me to the phrasing and prose. I adored all of the Welsh bits like "is it?" and "there is" and "what, now?" and "right, you." Actually my boss, who is from Nottingham, says "right, you" all the time! I really started noticing it while reading this book, and now I listen for her to say it all the time. I did ind myself skimming some of the endless descriptions of the valley itself, even though the writing was superb.
I liked how Mr. Gruffydd explained the birds and the bees to Huw. It gave me a chuckle to think about a preacher saying, basically, "well it's all right there in the bible, boy, if you would just put your brain to it."
One thing I didn't like was the lack of closure for Huw. From the author's reference point we know that Huw was writing the book at about ate 60 or 70, right? And he was watching the slag heap slowly consume his boyhood home. But did he stay with Bronwen? Never marry? Have kids? I get that it was a coming of age novel, but to have those other snippets about the house, and nothing, not even a little bit, about his life as an adult was frustrating for me. Reminds me of "How I Met Your Mother" ugggh! annoying.
I could go on all night and probably have missed a million things and have to post again this week, but a parting question: Do you think in 50 years we may have the same feelings about this area and the gas wells? How green were our valleys?
The reason why I like to be the first to post? So that B and A don't say everything I want to say before I say it. :-)
Let's see, do I have anything left to contribute? First, I took a semester of Scottish Gaelic as an undergrad in Canada. I think it is the most difficult language because of the sentence structure and words for specific concepts. This book reminded me of that. It felt a little bit like relearning Gaelic (of which Welsh is a form).
It took me a while to get into this book as well. It took me as long to read the first two chapters as the last half because by the last half I was devouring it. I think it was that it took me that long to adjust to the cadence and interpret some of the cloudier passages.
I both enjoyed and got frustrated with the union segments. I enjoyed learning about the unionization of Wales, especially in the context of the little I know about Wales, but it also detracted from the personal stories being told. I wanted more about the people and less about the unions sometimes. There is in a bind, is it?
My favorite characters were Beth (Huw's mom) and Bronwen. What great female characters all, though. And were Dai and Cyfartha gay do you think?
To answer B's question: I think relationships were different then, but I don't think the change is bad. In some ways I think the lack of respect is a good thing. Many older people are not necessarily worthy of automatic respect solely because of age and some younger people are deserving of more respect, even though they are young.
Otherwise I agree with both B and A on their comments. Many of which I would also have made it they hadn't already. To respond to A: I think we will look back and reflect on how green were our valleys after fracking. You'd think after a history of making those mistakes the world over, lessons would be learned.
Quotes that I enjoyed:
Chapter two: "There is strange how things come back if you start to think of one thing and become tangled up in memory. Because sometimes you think of a thing and it reminds you of something else, but nearly always you forget why it should remind you, and you find you have forgotten the link between them."
Chapter 4: "It is strange how loud little sounds become when you are in the dark and doing something wrong." There is a truth.
Chapter 11: One of my favorite parts was the discussion between Huw and his father about Meillyn Lewis and why she is a "slut", but then Beth's response.
Chapter 21: Beth's response to Huw beating up Mr. Jonas: "Did you give him a good kick? ... I should have been there." While I do not condone violence, this was great. :-)
Chapter 23: The whole passage on what makes a kiss special. Perfect explanation.
Chapter 25: The description of the choir singing together made me want to join a choir...
Chapter 28: "I heard the blood in Mr. Gruffydd's voice, and searched libraries of words in hot seconds of emptiness only to give him comfort." A beautiful description of this. I am a bit torn about Mr. Gruffydd, though. In some sections I loved him, in others he just frustrated me. How can such a strong man be so weak in some ways?
I did enjoy this book, I felt like I was IN the time and the place and I guess that it the purpose of a book. I found myself reading with an Irish brogue, not fitting but the best I could summon.
My favorite part was when Huw fell in the water barrel, followed by his father’s response “go you and get a cloth”.
Most memorable was the map of all the places the children had travelled, it’s a star, no it’s a spider’s web. I could easily imagine how that mom felt with her children strung all over the planet and probably never seeing them again. So sad.
The school teacher Mr. Jonas-Sessions was just awful! I just about cried when he tied a board around the little girl’s neck “I must not speak Welsh in school.”
I did watch the movie after reading this book and was really surprised that there was little or NO mention of unionizing. And that seemed like a fairly important part of the book, but then including that bit in the movie probably would have made a “political statement”.
And the singing! Chapter 2 said it for the whole town not just the father "singing was in my father as sight is in the eye".
Good comment A on the gas wells and how green our own valleys WERE!
J, how was the movie? Worth watching or no?
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