Tales of Wales

"Cymru am byth"
"Wales for ever"

Let's talk about Wales.

I once spent about seven minutes in this country on a tour of Great Britain. The bus pulled in at what I remember to be little more than a rest stop, we all got out and said, "Wow! Wales!" We then proceeded to travel back across the border and on to Chester.

Book-wise, I have spent a bit more time in this country than I did on that one occasion.

In addition to recently reading The Cold Light of Mourning which takes place in North Wales, I recall three other books in which the country - land of rugby, two languages, and singer Sir Tom Jones - is a main character.

On my 2011 Books Read List is the delightful Castles in the Air by Judy Corbett. It tells the true story of her and husband Peter's restoration of a crumbling 16th century mansion, Gwydir Castle in Conwy, and their adventures in dealing with local workman, scurrying critters in the night, and even a ghost or two. They now offer the castle as a bed and breakfast.

Another non-fiction book is Jan Morris's A Writer's House in Wales in which she writes not only about her home, Trefyn Morys, which holds a sweet jumble of books and travel keepsakes, but also about the country - its culture, ways and, well, Welshness.

Finally, the wild and witty Framed by Frank Cottrell Boyce which I wrote a little bit about here. The action in this novel concerns what happens when the National Gallery in London is flooded and its paintings are moved to an abandoned slate quarry mine in Manod for safe keeping. The story is told by nine-year-old Dylan Hughes and will have you laughing out loud. Just writing about it makes me want to reread the book.

As far as I know, those four books are the only Wales tales that I have read. Do you have any that come to mind? 

Movies and Books

I don't watch too many movies, but the ones I enjoy the most are usually based on books. Sometimes I have read the book first, but other times the movie comes first and I find out that there is a book.

For example, this year, I went to see The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (basically because I adore Bill Nighy) and discovered that it was taken from a book originally titled These Foolish Things by Deborah Moggach. I enjoyed them both.

Also this year I came upon the books Millions and Framed written by Frank Cottrell Boyce. I read Millions first and then rented the movie version. On the other hand, I found Framed on Masterpiece Theatre and that led me to the book. 

I tackled The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas in July for the "Paris in July" blog challenge and managed to watch three versions of the movie all of which were very different. Each included and excluded different parts of the adventure told in the book. All of them were terrific. 

Others I have read and watched this year include All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren and Under the Tuscan Sun by Frances Mayes. In both cases the books were better although I don't really spin my wheels bothering with that argument. I try to take each book or movie on its own merits.

Two other movies I saw this year were Bell, Book, and Candle - for obvious reasons - and 84 Charing Cross Road. BB&C had many bookish aspects to it. It was originally a play and then was adapted for the big screen. Since I plan to read a play or two in 2013, perhaps it will find its way onto my TBR pile.

I own a copy of the book 84 Charing Cross Road and have slipped it into my Books to Be Re-read stack. Make that Re-Re-Re-read. I never grow tired of reading it.

Conversely, I rented The Hunger Games (star Jennifer Lawrence is from my hometown and I was curious to see her in action) but I have no desire to read the book.

What is your take on the book/movie idea? Do you enjoy seeing the characters On Screen as well as On Page? Any favorites?

Framed: Art, Family, and Community

Framed turned out to be about so much more than a book about a young boy growing up in Manod, Wales. As sometimes happens with children's books - this one is rated for grades 6 through 9 - as an adult one can see a bigger picture than just the plot.

I learned about art and people's reactions to art. I learned about family and how important team work is. I learned about community and how everything can change for the better in a short time. I learned about weather and slate mining and sheep and blindness and an awful lot about the Ninja Turtles.

I also learned how to pull off the perfect crime, how fast a BMW will go, and how important it is to carry an umbrella. That is a lot to garner from one book.

Now I can't wait to read Frank Cottrell Boyce's first book, Millions, a story about a young boy and his brother who find a big bag of cash. I am sure I will learn something from that book too.

Framed

I am already loving this book written by Frank Cottrell Boyce.  It is narrated by one Dylan Hughes, a young man who works at his family's petrol station-cum-repair shop-cum-coffeehouse. He is fascinated by Manod, his village in Wales, and his life. He adores cars, knows all about them, and when he mentions one in the story tells the reader how fast said car will go.

I don't care that this is catalogued as a J book in the library. I can hardly wait to see what Dylan, his brainy sister Minnie, his teenaged sister Marie, and baby Max will get up to in trying to make the family business more profitable.

A perfect bedtime story.