Review of 'Bred Of Heaven One Mans Quest To Reclaim His Welsh Roots' on 'GoodReads'
3 stars
Quite a good read - on the whole Jasper Rees is a pleasant writer. The quest itself is close to my heart, as my Welsh lineage has always had a strong emphasis within my own inner connections. I thought Rees's recount was a little too lengthy for some of the subject matter, I found the initial rites of passage being language very good - however some of the "Welshness" Rees was searching for came across as stereotypical, and I kept on reading hoping that through-out the football, song, sheep and walking, there might be a chapter devoted more to the idiosyncratic nature of the Welsh temperament, perhaps abutting to the brythonic nature of the peoples of Wales. But this is Jasper's journey, and I can't argue with his perspective because it was through it that he was searching for his own association with what Welshness meant. It's a fair journey …
Quite a good read - on the whole Jasper Rees is a pleasant writer. The quest itself is close to my heart, as my Welsh lineage has always had a strong emphasis within my own inner connections. I thought Rees's recount was a little too lengthy for some of the subject matter, I found the initial rites of passage being language very good - however some of the "Welshness" Rees was searching for came across as stereotypical, and I kept on reading hoping that through-out the football, song, sheep and walking, there might be a chapter devoted more to the idiosyncratic nature of the Welsh temperament, perhaps abutting to the brythonic nature of the peoples of Wales. But this is Jasper's journey, and I can't argue with his perspective because it was through it that he was searching for his own association with what Welshness meant. It's a fair journey in any case, borderline novelisation of a Lonely Planet guide in parts but on the whole a welcome read.
