It was an interesting, gentle and happy story set in the years just after WWII. The story of a young lad from the Durham coalfields avoiding going down the mines like his Dad by walking through the countryside and of Dulcie a much older lady, living alone and avoiding the memories of something that happened eight years earlier.
When I got to the end I decided it was one worth recommending as I'd really enjoyed it ..............except for the little bits that made me frown.
There were some things that just jarred or am I being too picky?
For instance ............
Would a 16 year old from a Durham coal mining family have a sleeping bag in 1948?
The Rare Breeds Survival Trust didn't start until 1973, and back in 1948 no one would have mentioned "rare breed sheep", they would have just been sheep.
Would there really have been "long abandoned caravans" for him to sleep in during his travels in the countryside of 1948?
He took with him paper and a pen. As far as I know - and I'm willing to be told I'm wrong - the only pens then would have needed ink too, it's too early for ball-point pens. Surely it's more likely he would have carried a pencil?
That's just the few I remember.
Yes I'm probably being too picky............... I'll make allowances and recommend it.
***************
I know the weather in Cardiff yesterday was sunny because I saw some of the heroes running the half-marathon on TV but here in Suffolk - Oh My Goodness it was WET. ALL. DAY. We don't often have rain that lasts so long. It was horrible. No biking and no walking and saw no one. I spent some time transferring stuff from the blog and diary onto Word for a Penny Pincher Letter, although our group of letter writers - which started in 2000 - has ground to a halt I'm still doing a letter and printing out as a paper diary to keep for posterity - just for myself and history!
It was so gloomy I had lights and TV on nearly all day just to cheer things, and watched Rugby, Athletics - last day sadly, Songs of Praise, Strictly and the 2nd part of the new BBC drama -World on Fire, among other things.
Moving the bird feeder to right by the front window was a brainwave that I should have thought of earlier. It started off pushed in the ground but kept leaning so I moved the cast-iron parasol base round and wedged the feeder in with a bit of wood so keep it tight. During the wet/windy Sunday the visitors to it were non-stop and fun to watch much closer than before and it got even busier once I ventured out to fill everything up.
Back Tomorrow
Sue
I did wonder how you were faring in the rain. My daughter & Co spent the weekend just off the A47 near Norwich and the flooding meant they were stranded and unable to drive back to London in the afternoon. We had a glorious sunny day in Dorset, but have woken this morning to incessant rain. I hope East Anglia is better today and the family can have a safe journey home!
ReplyDeleteLike you, I get irked by little anachronisms in books & films. I think ballpoint pens were around in 1948, but relatively new and expensive. Agree about the 'rare breed' sheep. Not sure about sleeping bags. The army had them in ww2 so it could have been surplus kit? But surely nobody had empty caravans?
There was certainly a lot of rain yesterday, no flooding near me though.
DeleteThey seem like little niggles in an otherwise good story but I noticed them
Sorry you had rain yesterday we had a lovely day here and I even got the bulbs in and emptied 2 big pots. We had excitement here in the field at the back of my garden when the farmer put 24 sheep into the field.
ReplyDeleteI was born in 1938 and I remember my Mum making me a sleeping bag with 2 blankets when I went to camp with the brownies in 1948/49.
It looks like rain here to but I am food shopping with my daughter, I have started putting a few bits of extra food away in case I cannot get out.
Pleased you enjoyed the book.
Hazel c uk
When I started helping with Cub Scouts in 1973 the books about scouting gave instructions for making a sleeping bag with two blankets and safety pins so even then sleeping bags were not common
DeleteAs Angela, we had lovely weather here yesterday and my husband was able to paint another panel of the fence down the drive, but today we have the weather you had yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI was born at the end of 1947 and can't remember biros until I was much older. Pat (Weaver) may be able to help with the sheep question. Like you I am also picky especially with film and TV dramas. After I spot something not quite right it puts me off and can't take it seriously.
I really enjoyed the book, just little points that jarred
DeleteWe had a lot of rain in Essex between 4am and 10am then drizzle which dried up. But it came down heavy again at 5pm for a good hour. Thank heavens it was draining away. The book sounds interesting but agree with you niggles.
ReplyDeleteSo unusual to have so many hours of rain here, looks as if its all drained away this morning as everywhere was so dry
DeleteJust looked up the author - born 10th January 1976. Too young to remember but old enough to know better.
ReplyDeleteOr someone should have noticed I think
DeleteI read a book recently set in Bletchley Park during the war. It was extremely atmospheric and I was really enjoying it, right up to the point where the heroine examines a music box that she is given as a gift and is confused when she can't find a power source. Apparently it had neither quartz nor a battery! Errrr….. well perhaps it would be powered by clockwork? I looked up the author and she was born in the 1980's, but given the intense amount of research that she must have done and the various hands that the book must have passed through before it was published, I couldn't believe that such a basic mistake was allowed to appear in print. It completely ruined the book for me!
ReplyDeleteThat sounds annoying and a shame in a good book
DeleteWe have several feeders but the one I like the best is in the front garden and I can see it from my chair. I could watch the birds all day.
ReplyDeleteI do enjoy seeing them being so busy , would love to see something a bit more unusual
DeleteI have to admit I didn't know any of the answers to your questions so I started googling! Ballpoint pens were first used in the US in 1945 although it doesn't mention their cost. The British and Russian Armies bought "sleeping bags" made out of rugs by a Welshman in the late 19th century so although they don't fit our idea of one they were around. Don't know anything about sheep!
ReplyDeleteYes I googled too and found the same about pens. Sleeping bags were made with folded blankets for years so maybe I'd allow that one. I'm sure about the sheep!
DeleteBall-point pens were first invented in the late 19th century but Laszlo Biro took out a UK patent just before WW2, so it is possible that the boy in the story did have one, although they weren't that common until after the war. Apparently they were very useful to the RAF in the war. Similarly with the sleeping bag - these have been around for a couple of hundred years but not obviously as we know them now - earlier ones were made of sheepskin. I have seen some from the 1920's which were canvas with a blanket lining and leather straps.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean though when something in a story doesn't ring true though and will admit to being a bit pedantic and looking things up. On the other hand, if the story is really gripping I find I can ignore it enough to overlook it.
I really enjoyed the book so would recommend it despite the little niggles although altering just a few words would have made it better!
DeletePorbably would have used a pencil...however: "In the United States, the first successful, commercially produced ballpoint pen to replace the then-common fountain pen was introduced by Milton Reynolds in 1945.
ReplyDeleteHistory of the Ballpoint - How Ballpoint Pens Work | HowStuffWorks
https://home.howstuffworks.com › pen2
Sleeping bags for camping seem to have been invented by 1900; ''bedrolls'', as seen in US Western movies, prob date back to the 1800s. Solider may have had them during ww2, and would h ave been available as army surplus, perhaps?
No way to tell about the abandoned caravans, reminds me of that children's book series The Boxcar Childrens [farfetched!].
lizzy at gone to the beach.
In the 1950s we were not allowed to use ballpoints in class because it was "bad for our handwriting," and anyway the early ballpoints did not deliver a constant flow of ink. The lack of consumer goods of any sort in 1948 was intense so how would a boy from the mines possess a sleeping bag or a biro. Roderick
ReplyDeleteI noticed a couple of things like this at the start when Kevin Whatley was reading it and they grated but then I got over them because Whatley was so good with it.
ReplyDeleteThings like that in a book can really stand out and get on my nerves too. Luckily in a truly good book you can see beyond them. We have a bird feeder we can see outside our glass back door and I love watching them.
ReplyDeleteThat sort of thing you would think would have been picked up by the proof reader before publication wouldnt you?
ReplyDeleteI would like bird feeders but the trouble is that we have a lady nearby with seven cats (I love cats) and they do wander a lot through my garden and that troubles me as fas as bird feeders are concerned.
Things like the mistakes you spotted grate with me too. I recall being totally enthralled with Sebastian Faulks "Birdsong" about WW1 trench warfare. Towards the end the story jumps forward (to the 60's I think) and a modern style pregnancy test is described as being available. That simple lack of research really marred the story for me, as I then wondered how many other inaccuracies the book contained.
ReplyDeleteI think if you're writing a book that was supposed to be set in a certain time then the items used should be historically accurate. I can understand making up certain places but unless it's a fantasy book than accuracy should be checked during editing.
ReplyDeleteThe book sounds good, even if they did get some details wrong. I hadn't thought about how long sleeping bags have been around.
ReplyDelete