On the Black Hill

Rating:
Summary: In the final analysis, Chatwin¿s not provincial at all
Review: All Bruce Chatwin's books seem to have a provincial side to them. Set in outlandish places in all corners of the Earth, they all have a sort of question mark attached to them, perhaps asking: Now, what's going on here? "On the Black Hill," is, I maintain, set in as outlandish a spot as any of them. The Welsh countryside has bred just as odd examples of humanity as the green hills of Kentucky or the wide veldt of South Africa. Yet Chatwin sees through them all, down to some sort of common denominator, and what we have in this book is the most human story to issue from this pen. The story of the twins will not only delight for its old-fashioned setting and eccentric but somehow so British behaviour, it will also draw you into Chatwin's elegant prose with its remarkable tempo (you might almost call it metre) and ability to colour scenes with gouache-like softness and light. In fact, coming to Chatwin through "On the Black Hill" may not be such a good idea. Read "The Songlines" first, and failing that, read "Utz" either before or after. In any case, although this short-lived modern writer has not left us the overwhelming legacy we might normally have expected, there is sufficient material to keep you occupied and thinking about your own and Chatwin's world, for some time to come. And in the end you'll see that Bruce Chatwin's not provincial at all.

Rating:
Summary: Not one of his best books
Review: For me this lacks the spontaneity and originality of his other novels. By his standards it is quite a conventional narrative, seems a little too carefully planned and has too much detail. However it is a well written and often compelling book. If it had been written by an unknown I'd probably have liked it better, but from Chatwin I had hoped for a bit more. Perhaps I was spoilt by the genius of all his other fiction (and faction) and expected too much from this one. He draws some beautiful pictures of the landscape - which is an important character in the novel. As ever, he has a great sense of place.

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant characters, gripping story
Review: I had to read this book for a book report...well actually it was a art college project to read and illustrate it. The more I got into the book the more I saw the characters so easily come alive in my imagination. I felt sad, elated and almost annoyed at these characters...they were conveyed so well by the late Bruce Chatwin. I want to read more of his books, this has been the perfect introduction to the rest of his written work.

Rating:
Summary: An eloquent celebration of the quiet life.
Review: On the Black Hill is an elegantly written homage to the inelegant life of rural Wales, a life in which no one ever strays far from the farm--there are few opportunities and little motivation to do so. Spartan lives are enriched by stories and gossip, slights are never forgotten, feuds reach epic intensity, and bottled-up frustrations simmer till they explode. Through rich and vivid descriptions of the minutiae of daily existence, we come to know twin brothers Lewis and Ben Jones as they grow up and are shaped by their family and their small community. The townspeople become our own friends or enemies, depending on their behavior towards the twins, and we empathize with them as they use their limited resources to struggle with the Big Questions which concern us all--questions of life, love, spirituality, death, cruelty, justice, and ultimately, happiness. By paring life to the bone here, Chatwin gives us a classic example of the adage, "Less is more."

Rating:
Summary: An eloquent celebration of the quiet life.
Review: On the Black Hill is an elegantly written homage to the inelegant life of rural Wales, a life in which no one ever strays far from the farm--there are few opportunities and little motivation to do so. Spartan lives are enriched by stories and gossip, slights are never forgotten, feuds reach epic intensity, and bottled-up frustrations simmer till they explode. Through rich and vivid descriptions of the minutiae of daily existence, we come to know twin brothers Lewis and Ben Jones as they grow up and are shaped by their family and their small community. The townspeople become our own friends or enemies, depending on their behavior towards the twins, and we empathize with them as they use their limited resources to struggle with the Big Questions which concern us all--questions of life, love, spirituality, death, cruelty, justice, and ultimately, happiness. By paring life to the bone here, Chatwin gives us a classic example of the adage, "Less is more."

Rating:
Summary: Paradoxically, Chatwin at his best in rural Wales
Review: On the Black Hill is, on the face of it, a paradoxically British novel to emerge from the pen of a writer renowned for his curiousity for travel, the exotic and the fantastic. Following on from the Viceroy of Ouidah, a fantastical story set in 19th Century West Africa, 'On the Black Hill' tells the story of two twin boys, Benjamin and Lewis who they spend the entirety of their lives farming in rural Wales.
Chatwin masterfully captures the subtelties of the Welsh countryside - the roughshod agricultural basis to everyday life, the elitism and mannerisms of the gentry, the subtle changes in the weather, the dark, brooding landscapes and the eccentric and intriguing characters of the local community.
For my money, Chatwin is at his best when using his talent for descriptive prose to describe the everyday rather than the fantastic. His eye for detail and story telling enable him to bring the lives of insular rural types to life in a way that sets 'On the Black Hill' apart from the large body of books written about British country life. The plot develops gently and gradually, with events such as the First World War and the development of the motor car affecting the community in realistic and entertaining ways. One emphathises with the characters as their lives are shaped and developed and the 20th Century history of the area is bought to life in a manner that few other rural novels manage.
Chatwin the nomad actually excells when involved much closer to home than one might imagine.