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Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Raymond Briggs has used his parents in his work before. They were the archetypes for the bemused elderly couple in his fable of nuclear war, When The Wind Blows, and in lighter vein his father has been the model for Father Christmas. But in this latest work Briggs takes it a step further in writing (and, of course, drawing) a cartoon strip biography of his parents marriage from courtship in the twenties to death in the seventies. This tribute to ordinary lives--no affairs, no illness before the end, no regrets--is inevitably a very personal work, but also serves as a fascinating social history. From when they meet as milkman and parlour maid, through the Depression, second world war, childbirth (Briggs himself gets a particularly good cameo role in the sixties, replete with magnificent sideburns), old age and death, we see a world in rapid flux while Ethel and Earnest's loving relationship remains resolutely stable. The drawings are characteristically tender--the scene when his dead mother lies on a hospital trolley is particularly moving--and the simple text gives more than a taste of these people and the times they lived through. Sentimental as well as engaging? Absolutely. But work like this gives sentimentality a good name. --Nick Wroe
Review
"A best seller in Britain, this winsome little book is one family's twentieth century, told as a comic strip that fast-forwards through the decades. Briggs's artful rendering of his parents' striving captures the English working class, and as the tale progresses, you find yourself slowly sucked into their daily patter, amused by their cooing voices, impressed by their bravery. At the end, you're hardly prepared for the emotional wallop." --"Time
"In the details of Briggs's sparkling cartoons, the characters become richly specific and endearing . . . both pathetic and heroic in the face of overwhelmingevents. [They are] what make you read through Ethel & Ernest over again." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "New York Times
"Ethel & Ernest works brilliantly and artfully as an archetype. It is the author's willingness to frame his love and anguish so piercingly that makes it such a singular piece of work. We should be grateful that Briggs is so brilliantly equipped to remind us of what we u sed to be, and why." --Nick Hornby, "New York Times Book Review
"In the details of Briggs's sparkling cartoons, the characters become richly specific and endearing . . . both pathetic and heroic in the face of overwhelmingevents. [They are] what make you read through Ethel & Ernest over again." --Christopher Lehmann-Haupt, "New York Times
"Ethel & Ernest works brilliantly and artfully as an archetype. It is the author's willingness to frame his love and anguish so piercingly that makes it such a singular piece of work. We should be grateful that Briggs is so brilliantly equipped to remind us of what we u sed to be, and why." --Nick Hornby, "New York Times Book Review
"From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
A beautiful moving story written by the well known author Raymond Briggs, author of the Snowman. The true story begins as Ethel and Ernest meet. Their love and life together unfolds through a series of beautifully illustrated cartoons. The reader is taken on a journey of life's pleasures and pains, through the war years and beyond.
As a nurse and a lecturer in hospice care I was drawn to the end of the book which portrays first Ethel's dying and death followed by the death of Ernest. The images are so powerful that few words are needed. The inevitability and the pain of death and loss are clearly and sensitively portrayed.
Ethel and Ernest should be available in every school, every church, and every library throughout the world. It must be on the reading list of all health care professionals.
Read this book. You will laugh and you will cry but most of all you will understand a little more of life.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This slim volume contains the love story of Ethel and Ernest, two simple folk. Raymond, their son, is the affectionate storyteller, painting in words and pictures the story of his parents' marriage, 'til death they do part. I was in tears at the end; read it and experience times long past.
Celia Crossley
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Ethel & Ernest
Wonderfully illustrated story of the life of Raymond Briggs' parents, Ethel & Ernest. Of particular interest to residents of Wimbledon Park and surrounding areas.
Published 2 months ago by wally
It's OK
This feels like a book that was probably ahead of its time when it was written, when using comics to tell a serious story was still a novelty, but it hasn't fully stood the test of... Read more
Published 5 months ago by A Reader
moving, honest, and simple.
This books format is simple to read being a cartoon strip narrative of an ordinary life. The book is moving and honest and i defy anyone not to be nearly in tears,or blubbering... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Anthony Goodwin
An intelligently composed life story
A very personal life story of the author's parents when he was growing up during the '39-'45 war. Beautifully illustrated and endearingly written, it is in part a social... Read more
Published 15 months ago by Jazzer John
Family History brought to life
What a beautifully crafted book this is. Through an expertly drawn series of comic strips, accompanied by touching annotation, Briggs re-tells the story of his parents who lived... Read more
Published 18 months ago by John Brain
Life in pictures
I liked Ethel and Ernest very much. Deceptively simple - all of life is here.
Published on 7 July 2009 by S. Coombes
simple and touching
Like "When the Wind Blows" Briggs has captured the life of a couple prefectly. Despite not having a plot as such, it is a fantastic potted history of the 20th century on a human... Read more
Published on 4 Jan 2008 by ossian
The Advantage of being Ernest...
...A nice house, new furniture, and a lovely wife! What more could anyone want? Although Ernest and his wife were the models for Jim and Hilda in "When the Wind Blows", they are... Read more
Published on 30 Oct 2005 by Louise Stanley
Minutes and Milestons
This story is so real and moving. It's read time measures in minutes not hours, and the childlike simplicity with which Briggs brings home the milestones in life hit home and stay... Read more
Published on 16 Dec 2003 by Robin
visual and emotional excellence
This is illustration at its highest. It tells the story of a couple in the manner of the Bayeux Tapestry, through drawings that capture the heart of the action. Read more
Published on 16 Sep 2000
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