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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
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Posted by Quintal on April 2, 2007, at 12:51:06
"Cider With Rosie" by Laurie Lee
I've had this book for a while so I thought I'd get round to reading it while I was blocked. On the whole it was very good, it gave me an idea of what my parents and grandparents' childhood were like here in small rural English villages. I found some parts a little uncomfortable, particularly the lack of empathy and remorse over the rape of a mentally retarded girl he participated in, and the murder. I started wondering if he was a psychopath, or is this normal for heterosexual men? Strange that there's little attention paid to this and despite it being a GSCE exam text.
On the whole a very entertaining and enlightening read, especially the parts of early sexual exploration - it goes to show there's nothing new under the sun.
Q
Posted by FredPotter on April 2, 2007, at 18:54:36
In reply to Cider With Rosie, posted by Quintal on April 2, 2007, at 12:51:06
> "Cider With Rosie" by Laurie Lee
>
Quintal I grew up in Stroud in the Cotswolds and knew Laurie Lee well. He was our most famous son. I love the book more than any other, perhaps partly because of nostalgia, but, no, he was a poet, he had a nightingale inside him. The rape event fizzled out and it was just an embarrassing scuffle in fact, and I'm not sure what the boys wanted to do. Not rape I don't think.The murder cover-up was typical of those times. Laurie had nothing to do with either the murder or the cover-up. He was too young. He was just stating it like it was.
The Winter and Summer chapter makes me cry throughout. We used to go carol-singing in the same places as he did. I only have to think about it and the tears well up.
There was a lot lost to us over that period, but the "thees" and "thous" are still alive and well. I have a brother in law to prove it. They're greatly contracted but they're still there. But we've gained a lot more than we've lost I'd say.
There are two films of Cider with Rosie. One of which I have on video, with my Dad and Mum as extras! I've got a spare copy which you can have if you want it. It's not as good as the book of course and she recites the following in far too jolly a fashion:
I REMEMBER, I remember
The house where I was born,
The little window where the sun
Came peeping in at morn;
He never came a wink too soon, 5
Nor brought too long a day:
But now, I often wish the night
Had borne my breath away.
I remember, I remember
The roses, red and white, 10
The violets, and the lily-cups—
Those flowers made of light!
The lilacs where the robin built,
And where my brother set
The laburnum on his birthday,— 15
The tree is living yet!
I remember, I remember
Where I was used to swing,
And thought the air must rush as fresh
To swallows on the wing; 20
My spirit flew in feathers then
That is so heavy now,
And summer pools could hardly cool
The fever on my brow.
I remember, I remember 25
The fir trees dark and high;
I used to think their slender tops
Were close against the sky:
It was a childish ignorance;
But now 'tis little joy 30
To know I'm farther off from heaven
Than when I was a boy.Thomas Hood
I'll stop in a minute. Laurie had epilepsy, which he hints at in the book and his description of a fever and delirium is un-matched I think. He even mentions "exultation and panic . . ."
Sadly I have to say he might have been a little less than honest. In all probability he didn't fight in the Spanish Civil War, he just liked the idea of it. But I may be wrong
Fred
Posted by FredPotter on April 3, 2007, at 4:57:59
In reply to Cider With Rosie, posted by Quintal on April 2, 2007, at 12:51:06
Joke . . . what is it about that Thomas Hood poem? Instant broken heart and tears in my case. If he said I remember once it wouldn't work. Strange
Fred
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