- Unknown Binding: 316 pages
- Publisher: Pan Books (1961)
- Language English
- ASIN: B000WUEL5I
- Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
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.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
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.
29 of 31 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
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.
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.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Brilliant read
What a wonderful book. As I was born in the welsh valleys and my grandfather worked the mines I found this so interesting. Read more
Published 22 days ago by jwoodward
rape of the fair country.
I have read this book a few times over the years, as I live in the area where this book is set.
I am not going to add to what other reviewers have said about the plot of the... Read more
I am not going to add to what other reviewers have said about the plot of the... Read more
Published 4 months ago by road nomad
Enter a new character. What disaster will befall him/her?
This was in my Christmas stocking, and I finished it in a couple of days. Very readable, though I did find the constant attempts to write in a Welsh style somewhat intrusive and a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mrs. M. Connolly
An engrossing, heart-rending, and savagely beautiful book
Written from the perspective of a young boy growing to adulthood in early nineteenth century industrial Wales, the story leaps at you from the very first page and holds you utterly... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Mike Williams
20th Century classic
I don't usually read historical novels but Rape of the Fair Country was recommended by my history teacher years ago and I was blown away by it. Read more
Published 16 months ago by T. Bently
Rape of the Fair Country
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.
Published 22 months ago by Cherrie
Excellent illustration of life under the heel of the English
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. Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by Tenerife John
A story of the industrial revolution in Wales
A novel of the industrial revolution - or rather, a polemic against it. The story is set in a Welsh valley, and begins in 1826. Read more
Published on 17 April 2007 by Marshall Lord
A book that you can't put down, forget your preferences
Cordell could write about paint drying and captivate you. Instead he writes tumultuous tales about the passionate lives of the communities of farmers turned coal miners who have... Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2002 by Some Bloke
A brilliant book by a brilliant writer
This book is funny moving and heart wrenching he really pulls you into the lives of the Mortimer family and all the hardships that the family has to contend with. Read more
Published on 28 Sep 2001 by eleyne81@hotmail.com
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