How Green Was My Valley Paperback – October 11, 2022

I first saw the movie which was made from this book many,many years ago in 1942 and I read the story when I was in elementary school. The story takes place is in the years near the end of Queen Victoria's reign. Both the film and the book were based on the verities of real life in that period in Wales when the wealthy mine owners controlled the lives of men who had to go down into unsafe and filthy coal mines for little pay and great hazard. At that time "union" was a dirty word. Involvement with a union brought instant dismissal. This story tells of the courage of the men who mined and the women who waited for them to come up from the mine and home. The Morgan family of boys who contributed by handing their paltry pay packet to their mother who in turn rationed it out for food and then saved a bit for "the box" of family savings, While this is a tough story about hard times it is also a heart-warming story of men and women of faith who drew strength both from their own upbringing, their family, and those whom they loved. It is also the story of a young and intelligent boy in the family who could compete favorably for a scholarship which would educate him and whose parents could see him out of the mines and into a professional position.There are also some despicable characters in the story: the sadistic teacher, Jason who although from a Welsh family in London, insisted on English spoken and merciless beat Huw, the young hero of the story. He got his own back when two professional boxers taught Huw (Roddy McDowell) to box and themselves gave the teacher a lesson; later Huw did the same thing; the despicable deacon (Barry Fitzgerald) who hounded a pathetic young girl who was pregnant without an acknowledged father; the snotty class-conscious owners and the son who nevertheless married the family's beautiful daughter (Maureen O'Hara. The good characters among whom were the minister new to the community (Walter Pidgeon) who was not so secretly in love with the Morgan daughter (played by Maureen O'Hara) who openly loved him. But this was not to be because he knew he could only offer her a life as the wife of religious poverty.While the movie necessarily omits some subplots it does not suffer from these elisions required for a compact screenplay. But what it does provide, which for technical reasons the book must be silent on, is glorious renditions of Welsh choral harmony.The final scene in both book and movie is guaranteed to move a heart of stone and wet every eye. This is probably one of the best books of its kind in the 20th Century, beautifully written with rich characterization and a plot that keeps on moving until the tragic ending. And the film was rich with Academy Award nominations and several Oscars.I suggest you might want to read the book first, then view the movie. It is a classic you won't forget.

This was one of the moats beautifully written books I have ever read. The author showed a deep understanding of human nature and was able to convey the subtlety of human emotions through the most nuanced observations of tone of voice, gestures , etc.. How did it take me so long to discover this masterpiece?!

Are you kidding? Surely the printer can make the font smaller. It's still discernible beneath my magnifying glass. Why not save even more paper by crowding forty words onto a line instead of thirty? The story is magnificent, but squinting at the page and stumbling over words that I have to go back to reread because I guessed at them wrong the first and second go-through, takes a bit of joy out of the story. Maybe this is a try for a world record, how small the font can get until no one can read it. Goofy.

I was 12 when I first read this book in 1961. The language was difficult for me and the author's poetic imagery was baffling, but I had the good sense to realize that whether I understood or not, this book was a treasure, true literature worth the work of discovering the author's message and intent.As I matured, each reading of How Green Was My Valley brought o deeper understanding, more appreciation of the book's lyrical language that captured the tone of the Welsh tongue, and most of all, a love of those characters who bring a noble story to life. All through my life I found myself remembering the names of even the most minor characters, rolling the strange syllables on my tongue, tearing up as I brought their piece of the story to mind.This book has lived its life inside my head as no other piece of literature has, teaching me in moments of clarity the author's clear message of human nature in its best and worst moments. This marvelous book is a necessary addition to the library of anyone who loves good literature, who loves language, who develops a bond with literary characters who jump off the page to live forever in a reader's heart. It is not for someone who wants something to skim while waiting for an appointment. This book is worth the attention and the work. It isn't work like diving into Moby Dick, don't get me wrong. However, the reader should be aware that the effort into entering this world, this culture, is challenging. And worth the challenge. In no time at all, a willing reader is submerged in this world that is both foreign and familiar, full of people and customs we want to know.I have been blessed with a friend, an 82 year old Welsh woman, a storyteller with a touch of Llewelyn in her soul. I have learned her family story as we have been writing partners over the last nearly 20 years. When she tells a story about her coal miner father or her formidable mother, she slips into the lilting, lyrical tones of the Welsh speaking English and the words of the book become even more wonderful, clear and musical in my mind. She sings the songs her father sang, songs the men in the book sang as they returned home from the mine, covered in sweat and coal dust and proud to bring home their pay to their wives. Eileen's family came from the valley of the book and were spared the worst of the unrest because her mother had the sense to see the disaster that was coming. My friend's family left the valley when she was 5. She grew up in London, survived the Blitz, became an American in the 1950's and turned up in Montana in time to become my friend. Yet even now, when she speaks of home, home is her valley in Wales, a real place steeped in an nostalgia that travels back through the years to a place and a time that now lives only in the pages of How Green Was My Valley and the minds of those who still remember..Join those of us who love this book in discovering a blue collar town filled with men and women of noble heart and soul. Welcome to our beautiful valley.KL

And a Masterpiece. It is truly hard for me to write this review because there don’t seem to be adequate words to describe such a wonderful book that has enriched my world. Yes, there are issues that have been written about before and since and will be again, but I am not sure that any would be as eloquent. So “little ones” take up this book again if you have already read it and if not, relish it and cherish it the first time.

Disappointed that there were no subtitles.

Das Buch ist zwar schon aälter, aber es ist das, was ich unter einer guten Lektüre verstehe.Spannend und anschaulich geschrieben, stellt es das Leben der Walliser Bergarbeiter vor hundert Jahren dar.

HISTORIA MARAVILLOSA, COMO LA PELÍCULA

Tutto bene

This book takes you back to the coal mining days in South Wales about a young man growing up in the good times and then the coal started to loose its price and times got very tough. Unions were being formed but without hardship and desperate times to keep food on the table and families together. A very well written story and one that will touch your heart because it was those men who fought for their rights for fair wages for which we now enjoy today. Not only in Wales but throughout most of the industrial world we live in today. It is definitely a book to read and reconnect and appreciate where we are today because of their actions. Highly recommended, you will not be disappointed.