Rating: 
Summary: A great read for a book-club!
Review: "How Green Was My Valley", the story of a boy growing up at the turn of the century in a Welsh mining town, is a fabulousread. My book club read it because we had heard it was lyrical. Although we are a bunch of moms of young kids who hardly ever finish book-club books, not one of us could put it down. Compelling, beautiful, wistful. .. it gave occasion for our best attended book-club meeting yet.
Rating:
Summary: The Best Book Between the Wars
Review: "How Green Was My Valley" is one of those magical books that make you actualy feel like you are there. You can feel the coal dust on your arms. You can smell the food from the Morgan table. You can even see the encroaching slag heap. The characters in the book seem like old friends, indeed, I have friends like those from the book. It is truly a travesty that this book wasn't picked as one of the best books of the century, for it surely is. Honestly, good character, morality, Christianity, and honour are all promoted in it. Well, given the current moral climate, perhaps I can see why. None the less, it is still a favourite, and I recommend it heartily.
Rating: 
Summary: Draggy
Review: "How Green was My Valley" was a little over-sentimental and weepy, but served as an interesting insight into Welsh culture, society, and history. It deals with how modernisation threatens and annihilates traditional practices and occupation, which is relevant to all periods in history as we ask what we have to give up to progress. A tad depressing and overwrought, but sensitive account of a man's coming-of-age and the idea that Wales is a "nation of song" does make me wanna visit sometime.
Rating:
Summary: how green was my valley...a slightly sentimental flashback
Review: "How Green Was My Valley" was an interesting, slightly sentimental flashback of a man's comming of age. I found it not to be overly exciting and I would not claim it to be a book that I simply could not put down. This book's setting is in Wales in a small minning town, in a valley, as the title implies. However, also as the title implies, the valley in the present time was not as beautiful and green as it was in the narrator, Huw's, boyhood. As the valley turns black because of the slag (waste from coal minning), Huw seems to loose more of his innoscence. Huw must cope with many tragities, including the death of his brother and father, his brothers and girlfriend moving away forever, and problems dealing with the formation of a coal minning union. Despite these tragities, in the end, when Huw has finally decided to leave the valley, he misses many of the happy memories of his childhood (the memories of his brothers, father, friends, etc...).
Rating:
Summary: A great read for a book-club!
Review: "How Green Was My Valley", the story of a boy growing up at the turn of the century in a Welsh mining town, is a fabulous
read. My book club read it because we had heard it was lyrical.
Although we are a bunch of moms of young kids who hardly ever finish book-club books, not one of us could put it down.
Compelling, beautiful, wistful. .. it gave occasion for our best attended book-club meeting yet.
Rating:
Summary: A "must read"
Review: A moving tale of a boy growing up in a small,
remote Welsh mining town. The debries from the mine slowly consume the town -- and all that's
beautiful and important in a young boy's world. The words sing -- there is
really no other way to describe the beauty of
this work. I've read it several times, and it
never fails to bring a smile on my lips and tears to my eyes ....
Rating:
Summary: WOW - Did this one set the young James Herriot to writing?
Review: As engrossing and natural as Herriot, but a bit more dramatic, a bit more foreign feeling and much more beautifully written. Magnificent! There's even a character named "James Herriot", which might have been the source for the latter author's pen name! Who knows!
Rating:
Summary: Takes you to another time, but is relevant today.
Review: Everyone in our book group loved this one. The character development was evident in each individual. The cadence of the welsh language was causing our families to look at us in concern by the time we'd finished the book. The number and variety of themes (unionization, religion, environment, coming of age, family life, revenge) supplied an interest for each reader. This book is a "must read".
Rating:
Summary: Read the Whole Series
Review: For all those who loved How Green Was My Valley, you should definately read the sequel, Down Where the Moon Is Small and the other two books in the series: Up Into the Singing Mountain and Green, Green My Valley Now. Even though they are all out of print, they're worth tracking down. Many people are unaware that the story doesn't end with How Green Was My Valley. I recommend them all.
Rating:
Summary: How Green Was My Valley
Review: From the very first line of this book, I knew I was in for an interesting, unique experience. This novel was beautiful~ the flowing language, the flashes from present time to the past, the intricate detail of each character. The simplicity of the narrative of this story carries the plot line along. The descriptive use of words, especially adjectives, sets the reader right in the middle of all the action. Although the characters seem too "good" a lot of the time, I think the reason for this is because the society which they inhabit is so. They do have their bad qualities which they acknowledge and try to remedy. Llewellyn chose to write this book with simple Welsh language; a wise choice I heartily agree with it. The reader can feel the words coming straight from the heart, and can therefore connect well with the characters. This book had me captivated from beginning to end, and even when it ended, I found myself wishing for more. This book is definitely one that I count among my favorites~ and I do not think it gets the recognition it deserves a lot of the time, which is unfortunate because it is a true classic that is timeless...
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