Oh, what a book. As a "taff" I can hear the dialogue and see the sights. A wonderful, colourful story with characters to emphathise with. A must-read for old and young alike.
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I had read this book several years ago, but the horror and the humour of life under the tyrannical coal and iron masters is vividly illustrated by Alexander Cordell. It was an education to an english friend who borrowed the book from me, she was initially disbelieving but then scoured the internet and was horrified that the story, although itself fictitious, is founded in fact.
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An incredible book, Cordell's writing is enthrallingly beautiful, with some absolutely breathtaking sentences and paragraphs, which, when combined with the engrossing storyline of the trials and struggles of the 19th century working class make the novel an unquestionable classic of modern literature.
By turns, intensely moving, heart-rendingly tragic and deeply funny. It is stirringly patriotic without a hint of nationalism, deeply moving toward the plight of the working class, without idealising socialist revolution or regime. Meticulously researched, his description of the march on the Westgate is so phenomenally accurate that, as a native to the area, I could fully envisage that small square in the centre of Newport thronged with desperately naive and idealistic men, heading to the stories heartbreaking finish.
A book that transcends all genres and attempts at classification, and alone, reason enough to learn to read at all.
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I was given this book to read by my landlords during a fantastic year spent living in Gilwern near Abergavenny. The more pages I read, the more I fell in love with the area in which I was living. I'm not Welsh, but I feel such a connection to the land now through having read this book and having lived in and experienced the area in which this book was set.
Alexander Cordell writes with true poetry, his use of language is stunning and once you get used to the rhythm, it draws you in with ease and the characters imprint themselves within your very soul - one minute you're sitting on your sofa waiting for the microwave to ping and the next, you've completely forgotten about your meal and you're in a world a million miles away wrapped up in the ever-so-real lives of the miners, where fuel becomes something you have to share with your neighbours in order to have enough to boil water for a cup of tea.
This book taught me a lot. About human resilience and love. It gave me a taste of the reality of things I'd maybe heard mentioned whilst asleep in history class.
The story is harsh in places and he makes no attempt to hide the brutality of the conditions of the time. I cried several times. But I laughed and smiled many times too. I find it hard to explain this to my rational mind... but to this day, the Mortymer family lie in my heart the way my real family do. I love them, pure and simple. Everything they've been through. Their values, their fun, their acceptance of life and their determination to live it.
I love Wales with a passion now.... I understand so much more about the Valleys now.
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This is a marvellous yet harrowing story which I was unable to put down. The characters and their setting, based on fact, were so well described that their pain and suffering were almost tangible. It is a book which makes you feel better about yourself, because the problems encountered and the endurance with which the people dealt with them, are without comparison in modern life in this country. Although there is little to smile about in this book, it is totally captivating and not without humour - the part about the pig made me laugh out loud! I recommend this book without reservation.
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