Talk:How Green Was My Valley

Untitled
It was revealed (sometime in the late 90s) that the author wasn't in fact Welsh, and didn't really know the area portrayed. This shocked fans of the book, who had previously believed that the book was partly autobiographic.

It was a good story and not much else - it did not at all acurately portray a 'typical' Welsh mining village/people in that time period.

Is it worth mentioning that this hideous tripe (well...don't say that) won at the Oscars over Citizen Kane?


 * It is an excellent novel (and made an excellent film) whether autobiographical or not. -- Derek Ross | Talk 03:16, 12 December 2007 (UTC)


 * Since it is fiction, it may not make any difference, but the article says "Victorian times," yet I'm pretty sure the book reviles Winston Churchill who was a responsible government official in 1926, much later than "Victorian." Student7 (talk) 01:58, 22 June 2008 (UTC)
 * The Tondypandy riots occurred in 1910, when Edward VII was King, and Churchill was indeed the one who called out the English soldiers. Cwilsyn (talk) 02:24, 15 July 2024 (UTC)

Plot summary
Is this sentence correct?

'Huw's father is later killed in a mine explosion. After everyone Huw has known either dies or moves away, he decides to leave as well, and tells us the story of his life just before he does.'

It seems like it should be, '... just before he dies' — Preceding unsigned comment added by 85.216.38.77 (talk) 12:56, 19 November 2012 (UTC)
 * No, I think "does" is correct i.e. ...just before he does [leave]. Maybe could be worded better though? --Grievous Angel (talk) 19:43, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Sources needed for claims about author's life
The article mentions that the author was only of Welsh descent and not Welsh raised. There is also the statement that the novel (set in Victorian times) does not represent actual miners/families of that era. I have only seen the movie but wish that references could be added to back up these comments.

Hoping that this novel is not demeaned simply because the fictional point of view is not a lightly fictionalized portrayal of the writer's life. Let the novel stand (or fall) on its own merits. Lindisfarnelibrary (talk) 15:55, 24 September 2013 (UTC)
 * It is not important, if Llewellyn was Welsh or "English" as it is written in this article. The author gives a portrait of the Rhonda Valleys and the coal mines in South Wales which is near to the reality. An important part of the novel is about

the Welsh coal strike of 1898, I have no doubt about this. (but the message of the novel is very depressing: if the workers begin to fight for their rights, they will always loose.) But the strike is not even mentioned in this article. The father of Huw dies because of his fight against vandals who try to destruct the mine during this long and ferocious strike! And it is not even mentioned here. May be, that the novel is not very good, but this article here is just a poor one. Sorry for my poor English too. --Cabanero (talk) 20:51, 30 June 2022 (UTC)

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