As a book picked off my parents’ bookcase before their recent move I had no real introduction but high hopes for this memoir of a childhood spent on the Llyn peninsula, but however much I wanted to like this book it somehow never really lived up to those expectations.
One of the problems was the lack of any structure, there was a very loose chronological progress but there was also a perambulation around the Llyn which resulted in particular places only been seen at one moment rather than exploring the changing relationship to a place as he grew. Written having returned to Llyn in retirement the voice of the boy and or the ‘old’ man are not delineated, nor is there any reflection on what part the Llyn played in the duration of his working life spent else where. Large chunks of the book are not even in his own voice, extended quotes from local myths merely break up the already stuttering flow. The book ends (or perhaps peters out) with reflections on Bardsey which seem particularly hollow. They are included into to ensure all the Llyn is covered but lack any real lived experience, I felt I was getting nothing more authentic that I could have turned out after a morning with a decent guide book and a smattering of wiki facts.
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