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richardms1967's review against another edition
5.0
A quite astonishing read. As heartbreaking a book as I have ever read.
marilynsaul's review against another edition
5.0
If you like incredible storytelling that weaves together an entire community, this is the book for you. I really did NOT want it to end. Despite the introduction of many characters, they were each made memorable by the Ianto's tales. I'll be keeping this one to pass along.
Re-read 3/14/22: This is a very introspective book, and half-way through, I'm finding it to be a slog. This is just not the book for me at this time of my life (caregiving for a dying husband). I need adventure, I need to be taken out of myself and away on whaling adventure. So, I'm setting it aside for now.
Re-read 3/14/22: This is a very introspective book, and half-way through, I'm finding it to be a slog. This is just not the book for me at this time of my life (caregiving for a dying husband). I need adventure, I need to be taken out of myself and away on whaling adventure. So, I'm setting it aside for now.
wynwicket's review against another edition
5.0
Beautifully written, uplifting, and a little bittersweet, this is the story of a small Welsh town and its people, still recovering from a terrible mining disaster several generations ago, as told by old Ianto Jenkins, beggar and storyteller. I got a bit teary-eyed in places, but the book was difficult to put down.
christynhoover's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
It's a bit like Under Milk Wood or Winesburg, Ohio where we meet the inhabitants of a town (and some of their parents and grandparents). But it's more than that. There's a plotline too.
Utimately it's full of compassion and the plotlines converge in the concluding pages. Overall, a satisfying read.
Utimately it's full of compassion and the plotlines converge in the concluding pages. Overall, a satisfying read.
acinthedc's review against another edition
3.0
This is more a collection of linked short stories than a novel. Gebbie reveals the history of a Welsh mining town through questions asked about current inhabitants that are answered by stories told by the town beggar about their parents and grandparents or generally connecting to a mining accident most of the town's inhabitants have long forgotten. The slow pacing made this a hard book to get into, but as I learned more about the town's residents the more I was drawn into the stories. A satisfactory read that digs into the forces the shape a person's character and revels in the power of storytelling.
frogggirl2's review
3.0
This is a series of vignettes about the inhabitants of a small Welsh town. It has the same weakness of any short story collection: some stories are better than others.
patrick_114's review
4.0
So very good. Different pacing & sentence structure with the dialect. Great story telling.
zog_the_frog's review against another edition
5.0
Recommended to me by a friend and it lived up to her description. Beautiful writing throughout.
lsantoski's review
2.0
I can't point to anything about this book that was bad, but I could not get into it at all. I mostly thought it was saccharine and contrived. The last scene was nice, though, so that's something...
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