A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.

A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.



Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters, 06 Apr 2008
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn, 10 Jan 2008
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable, 05 Sep 2007
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.

An interesting list..., 08 May 2007
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in its own right and not with any preconceived bias of the author. I will probably never get around to reading the Magna Carta, Principa Mathematica or the King James Bible for that matter, so the whistlestop tour given in this book along with some of the reasons why these books are so influential in society was quiet enlightening. I'm sure some of it will be useful in a table quiz some day!

Thought provoking snapshots, 13 Apr 2007
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.

A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.



Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters, 06 Apr 2008
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn, 10 Jan 2008
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable, 05 Sep 2007
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.

An interesting list..., 08 May 2007
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in its own right and not with any preconceived bias of the author. I will probably never get around to reading the Magna Carta, Principa Mathematica or the King James Bible for that matter, so the whistlestop tour given in this book along with some of the reasons why these books are so influential in society was quiet enlightening. I'm sure some of it will be useful in a table quiz some day!

Thought provoking snapshots, 13 Apr 2007
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.

An Intelligent Read, 03 Dec 2006

This is an excellent book. I found this by mistake and haven't read the others in the series but I'm very impressed and will certainly be reading the other two. In fact they are on my Christmas List this year.

For some it may be hard going to start but, if you hang on it will reward.
I just couldn't put it down, whenever I get the chance I read a few pages which went into a chapter then a couple of chapters. I was actually late for work a couple of times because of it.

If you like a well presented book and are interested in our history and social upbringing then this is for you.

I look forward to the next one.

Really struggled and gave up in the end..., 15 Mar 2006
I was given this book as a birthday present in January 2004, and only recently tried to read it.

I always try really hard to give a book a fair go, but this book, just no good. I hated the writing style - the author regularly uses very long sentences, with quite disjointed thoughts....

Very slow, tedious, boring. I almost got to page 200, but gave up in the end.

Save your dosh for something a bit more inspiring!

Ingrid

a modern classic, 11 Feb 2005
Crossing the Lines sees the central character of Joe - perhaps largely modelled on the young Bragg - undergo the rites of passage into adulthood before going to Oxford University. For those who grew up in the 1950s, it is an evocative reminder of those times and what it was to be young. Bragg is an excellent novelist and this trilogy is a significant contribution to contemporary British literature.

My partner and I have loved all the books in the trilogy. Perhaps the highest compliment we can pay is that they are books we hope to read again.

disappointing, 17 Jul 2004
This is the third book in the series and I have found that they have become increasingly dreary. The first was great but I have found myself struggling with this book. I found it very difficult to like the central character and consequently found it a struggle to get to the end.

Melvyn Bragg's A Son of War begins where A Soldier's Return ended. The previous novel--a moving account of the struggles, social and psychological, faced by a Burma veteran returning to Cumbrian hometown life with his wife and six-year-old son--picked up the WH Smith 1999 Literary Award. But whereas A Soldier's Return was largely Sam's story, Bragg here gives equal weight to Ellen, with her wide-eyed adoration for a long-lost brother and her high hopes of life on the new edge-of-town estate, cruelly foiled by Sam's dreams of owning a pub. But central is the "son of war", the endearing Joe, torn between being "Sam's lad" and "Ellen's boy", the fledgling boxer or the budding pianist.

Bragg evokes well the petty yet momentous discoveries of a young boy, equally fixated on Disney's Snow White and girls doing handstands. While this is very much the personal story of one family, with heavy hints of autobiography, it's also the picture of Britain emerging from the war, throwing off Glenn Miller and Bing Crosby--a new Britain of rationing, the Big Freeze and strikes, talk of nuclear war, socialism, Joe Louis versus Jersey Joe Walcott. Once again, Bragg has succeeded in conjuring an epoch of unprecedented change, and capturing both its joys and its miseries: a worthy successor to The Soldier's Return -- Alan Stewart

A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.



Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters, 06 Apr 2008
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn, 10 Jan 2008
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable, 05 Sep 2007
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.

An interesting list..., 08 May 2007
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in its own right and not with any preconceived bias of the author. I will probably never get around to reading the Magna Carta, Principa Mathematica or the King James Bible for that matter, so the whistlestop tour given in this book along with some of the reasons why these books are so influential in society was quiet enlightening. I'm sure some of it will be useful in a table quiz some day!

Thought provoking snapshots, 13 Apr 2007
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.

An Intelligent Read, 03 Dec 2006

This is an excellent book. I found this by mistake and haven't read the others in the series but I'm very impressed and will certainly be reading the other two. In fact they are on my Christmas List this year.

For some it may be hard going to start but, if you hang on it will reward.
I just couldn't put it down, whenever I get the chance I read a few pages which went into a chapter then a couple of chapters. I was actually late for work a couple of times because of it.

If you like a well presented book and are interested in our history and social upbringing then this is for you.

I look forward to the next one.

Really struggled and gave up in the end..., 15 Mar 2006
I was given this book as a birthday present in January 2004, and only recently tried to read it.

I always try really hard to give a book a fair go, but this book, just no good. I hated the writing style - the author regularly uses very long sentences, with quite disjointed thoughts....

Very slow, tedious, boring. I almost got to page 200, but gave up in the end.

Save your dosh for something a bit more inspiring!

Ingrid

a modern classic, 11 Feb 2005
Crossing the Lines sees the central character of Joe - perhaps largely modelled on the young Bragg - undergo the rites of passage into adulthood before going to Oxford University. For those who grew up in the 1950s, it is an evocative reminder of those times and what it was to be young. Bragg is an excellent novelist and this trilogy is a significant contribution to contemporary British literature.

My partner and I have loved all the books in the trilogy. Perhaps the highest compliment we can pay is that they are books we hope to read again.

disappointing, 17 Jul 2004
This is the third book in the series and I have found that they have become increasingly dreary. The first was great but I have found myself struggling with this book. I found it very difficult to like the central character and consequently found it a struggle to get to the end.

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 22 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled. Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at starting a business but recognize how hard the entire family must work. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man."

Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel, or one with an exciting plot, as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle. Mary Whipple

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 10 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers. Because his wife Ellen and small son Joe have spent their entire lives there, however, he chooses to remain, rather than go to Australia to start a new life, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled.

Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe. Sam is an Everyman--a man without an education who is dependent upon "the system" for his family's welfare, a man who must put up with slights and insults by his factory bosses if he wants to keep his job, a man for whom there is little or no opportunity for independent thought and action. Sam's big decision to set up his own business is a decision he makes alone, even though it will require enormous sacrifices by the whole family.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, a public housing development, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at having his business but recognize how hard the entire family works and how little privacy they have. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man." Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle.

A comparison between the paperback and the audiobook version, 29 May 2002
I bought The Soldier's Return and A Son of War paperbacks and the audiobook versions to take way with me for holiday reading and listening. I was very disappointed in the audiobook version of this book. My criticism is the same for both books. I really enjoyed having Melvyn Bragg narrating his own book, but oh dear, the abridgements were far too much. To cram such a good book into just 4 sides of tape resulted critical parts of the original being omitted. There were far too many examples of story lines being opened and not finished and endings of plots being there without knowing why. 4 tapes with 8 sides would have been much better.

If you read The Soldier's Return, you just can't miss this!, 03 Apr 2002
With this cracking sequel to the Soldier's Return, Bragg continues to breathe life into post-war Wigton. Based in his home town, the novel is a covincing read that does not disappoint. Local readers will recognise the landscape, while those from further afield will surely want to visit.

This is a book about the effects of war rather than war itself. The plot is steady rather than exciting and there are no gory battles or sensational action. Despite this, Bragg takes the reader to unwritten horrors and creates a sense of all-pervading trauma that he wrestles against the tentative rays of hope. These tensions and contradictions are explored through complex and compelling characters. You will feel pain for the one's you like and pity for those you don't.

Like it's predecessor, A Son of War left me wanting more. Bragg faces a challenge if he aims to match this. Let's hope he can!

Too much like the other, 12 Dec 2001
I read "The soldier's return" and enjoyed it very much. Therefore I was looking forward to the second book of a so-planned trilogy and I was very disappointed. "A son of war" drags, is repetitive and the story becomes just as boring as the characters. One may argue that life is often boring and that the story of a family doesn't always present new and exciting developments..... but during all the time I read it I felt the exact impression of an already read book. All the poetic slow mouvement of the first book gets lost in a repetitive, boring, déja vu story. I don't think I shall be reading the third one of the promised trilogy. ENOUGH!

A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.



Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters, 06 Apr 2008
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn, 10 Jan 2008
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable, 05 Sep 2007
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.

An interesting list..., 08 May 2007
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in its own right and not with any preconceived bias of the author. I will probably never get around to reading the Magna Carta, Principa Mathematica or the King James Bible for that matter, so the whistlestop tour given in this book along with some of the reasons why these books are so influential in society was quiet enlightening. I'm sure some of it will be useful in a table quiz some day!

Thought provoking snapshots, 13 Apr 2007
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.

An Intelligent Read, 03 Dec 2006

This is an excellent book. I found this by mistake and haven't read the others in the series but I'm very impressed and will certainly be reading the other two. In fact they are on my Christmas List this year.

For some it may be hard going to start but, if you hang on it will reward.
I just couldn't put it down, whenever I get the chance I read a few pages which went into a chapter then a couple of chapters. I was actually late for work a couple of times because of it.

If you like a well presented book and are interested in our history and social upbringing then this is for you.

I look forward to the next one.

Really struggled and gave up in the end..., 15 Mar 2006
I was given this book as a birthday present in January 2004, and only recently tried to read it.

I always try really hard to give a book a fair go, but this book, just no good. I hated the writing style - the author regularly uses very long sentences, with quite disjointed thoughts....

Very slow, tedious, boring. I almost got to page 200, but gave up in the end.

Save your dosh for something a bit more inspiring!

Ingrid

a modern classic, 11 Feb 2005
Crossing the Lines sees the central character of Joe - perhaps largely modelled on the young Bragg - undergo the rites of passage into adulthood before going to Oxford University. For those who grew up in the 1950s, it is an evocative reminder of those times and what it was to be young. Bragg is an excellent novelist and this trilogy is a significant contribution to contemporary British literature.

My partner and I have loved all the books in the trilogy. Perhaps the highest compliment we can pay is that they are books we hope to read again.

disappointing, 17 Jul 2004
This is the third book in the series and I have found that they have become increasingly dreary. The first was great but I have found myself struggling with this book. I found it very difficult to like the central character and consequently found it a struggle to get to the end.

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 22 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled. Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at starting a business but recognize how hard the entire family must work. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man."

Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel, or one with an exciting plot, as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle. Mary Whipple

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 10 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers. Because his wife Ellen and small son Joe have spent their entire lives there, however, he chooses to remain, rather than go to Australia to start a new life, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled.

Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe. Sam is an Everyman--a man without an education who is dependent upon "the system" for his family's welfare, a man who must put up with slights and insults by his factory bosses if he wants to keep his job, a man for whom there is little or no opportunity for independent thought and action. Sam's big decision to set up his own business is a decision he makes alone, even though it will require enormous sacrifices by the whole family.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, a public housing development, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at having his business but recognize how hard the entire family works and how little privacy they have. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man." Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle.

A comparison between the paperback and the audiobook version, 29 May 2002
I bought The Soldier's Return and A Son of War paperbacks and the audiobook versions to take way with me for holiday reading and listening. I was very disappointed in the audiobook version of this book. My criticism is the same for both books. I really enjoyed having Melvyn Bragg narrating his own book, but oh dear, the abridgements were far too much. To cram such a good book into just 4 sides of tape resulted critical parts of the original being omitted. There were far too many examples of story lines being opened and not finished and endings of plots being there without knowing why. 4 tapes with 8 sides would have been much better.

If you read The Soldier's Return, you just can't miss this!, 03 Apr 2002
With this cracking sequel to the Soldier's Return, Bragg continues to breathe life into post-war Wigton. Based in his home town, the novel is a covincing read that does not disappoint. Local readers will recognise the landscape, while those from further afield will surely want to visit.

This is a book about the effects of war rather than war itself. The plot is steady rather than exciting and there are no gory battles or sensational action. Despite this, Bragg takes the reader to unwritten horrors and creates a sense of all-pervading trauma that he wrestles against the tentative rays of hope. These tensions and contradictions are explored through complex and compelling characters. You will feel pain for the one's you like and pity for those you don't.

Like it's predecessor, A Son of War left me wanting more. Bragg faces a challenge if he aims to match this. Let's hope he can!

Too much like the other, 12 Dec 2001
I read "The soldier's return" and enjoyed it very much. Therefore I was looking forward to the second book of a so-planned trilogy and I was very disappointed. "A son of war" drags, is repetitive and the story becomes just as boring as the characters. One may argue that life is often boring and that the story of a family doesn't always present new and exciting developments..... but during all the time I read it I felt the exact impression of an already read book. All the poetic slow mouvement of the first book gets lost in a repetitive, boring, déja vu story. I don't think I shall be reading the third one of the promised trilogy. ENOUGH!

Longer than the Dark Ages themselves, and not as interesting, 29 Oct 2008
Credo is a big book, about 900 pages, but after about 9 pages it rapidly becomes clear that this big fat book is going to be a long and rather dull experience. It becomes so fustrating that you actively want BAD THINGS to happen to the characters, and cheer on the malevolent fate that keeps them apart.

The book is about the rise of Christianity in Dark Age Britain. It has a cast of saints and heroes. Its writer is neither, he is the true villan of the piece. Its a potentially interesting story but Braggs lumpen prose turns it into an unbearably stodgy mess. It might have merited two stars if it had been half the length.

I paid just £1 for this book and I feel the price tag was unjustified. It should be pulped, and possibly its writer as well.

convincing and authentic, 16 Apr 2007
Credo tells the story of a young Irish princess named Bega, and the two loves of her life - her God and a young nobleman called Padric - a lifelong tug between this earth and the next, romance and faith. The story is set in seventh century Britain, and Melvyn Bragg has really done his homework, describing life in Anglo Saxon times in rich detail. Many of the characters are based on historical figures too, St Bega being the main one, and the story hinges around real events. I personally found it very convincing, and a real insight into a particular place and culture, the Kingdom of Northumbria and Celtic Christianity.
It's quite a fascinating period in English history, and an important one in the story of Christianity, and Credo hits a satisfying balance between love story, adventure, and historical exploration. These were savage times, and Bragg doesn't gloss over the brutality. He doesn't dwell on it either, but sensitive readers should be warned that there are some genuinely horrible moments. My only real caution though is the length - at some 780 pages it takes some commitment to reach the end. But if you're a fan of epic novels and are willing to take your time, its a rewarding read.

Well worth the effort!!, 19 Mar 2007
I started reading this book while staying with family - I didn't own it, but had borrowed it to fill some time. And I am so glad I did! Months later I finally finished it and I can't find any other word to describe it than 'epic'. 'Credo' is such a beautiful story of love, passion, faith, determination, courage, hope and eveything else that a truly great story should be about! The central characters become more alive with every page you read and have so much in them to be admired. There's no doubt that it is a long book and hard work at times, and it definately isn't something you can pick up and read in a few hours, but after months of sticking with it I can honestly say it is by far the most wonderful book I have ever read!

Epic scale, 16 Jul 2006
They say don't judge a book by the cover but I did with this one. I saw the cover, liked it, picked it up, read the back and thought I'd give it a go. I was probably in need of something meaty to read having just read something less than challenging (well, one has a tendency to romanticise) and I wasn't disappointed.

This epic work tells the fictionalised tale of Bega (latterly St Bega) and the torments she faced between choosing the man she loves and her calling to serve the Almighty. It's set during the Dark Ages in Ireland and England and Mr Bragg uses his superb talents to bring those brutal times vividly to life. The sights, smells and sounds of the events seem very real and I don't think I'll be the only person to find myself itching when reading the scenes set in Carlisle!

While the book does have some slow sections (especially where Bega is wrestling with her conscience) it has some superb moments where it fair rattles along. The battle scenes and times of conflict are brilliantly written if somewhat nerve-shredding. For example, there is a violent rape scene in the early chapters that, although brief, is one of the most jaw-dropping scenes I've ever read. Don't get me wrong, it's not there for gratuitous titilation but to highlight the brutality of the times and the status of women as possessions and will leave the reader feeling a bit rattled.

The finale is executed on a grand scale and provides a suitable climax to the action, while Bragg deftly ties up the loose ends with the other characters. The characters have depth and are flawed and virtuous at the same time, while the events of the times are brought magnificently to life.

I'd recommend this to anyone wanting a good read that will stretch you a bit. My only criticism is that it's a bit overlong in places but that doesn't happen too often.

A magical journey of faith, spiritualism and of miracles, 03 Jul 2006
This book is a magical journey of faith, spiritualism and of miracles that stands out like a beacon, in our clean world of science, technology and materialism. The story is absorbing and it's difficult to put it down. The locations and characters are richly described and wholly believable. This novel is thought provoking and invites the reader into a world transported away, where real life and death hinges on failure of the crops or if the plague sets in, something we in the developed world cannot fathom any more. I personally found this novel provided a catalyst for me to re-think my perspective on life, and for that I am eternally grateful.

A beautiful finale, 03 Sep 2008
I've been a fan of Melvyn Bragg for as long as I can remember - at least forty years and he never disappoints me. Remember me is no exception - beautifully written with (dare I say it?) resonances of the Hughes/Plath relationship. A beautiful and fitting conclusion to the story of Joe Richardson (Melvyn Bragg?) I didn't want it to end.


How disappointing, 01 Aug 2008
Having read the first three novels in the tetraology -- "The Soldiers Return, "A Son of War" and "Crossing the Lines", I was looking forward to this. What a disappointment. Unlike the freshness of the earlier books this was over written with clumsily constructed sentences. Th dialogue was stilted and the self indulgent navel gazing of the main characters became tiresome. Perhaps Lord Bragg intended that the style should reflect the increasing sophistication of Joe Richardson. I just wish he hadn't.

Oh dear....., 01 Jul 2008
How I finished this book I just don't know. It has to be one of the most boring books I have ever read.
It maybe semi autobiographical, but if it is, I wouldn't want to be part of Melvyn Bragg's self obsessed, navel gazing circle. You very quickly lose all sympathy for the main protagonists, who have money, and so on, but instead of enjoying life to the full, spend their lives seeing therapists, while their marriage goes down the pan. Maybe it's trying to say something about lack of communication between couples, but by the end of this VERY LONG book I really didn't give a flying one.
Melvyn Bragg is a great tv and radio presenter, but I won't be reading another of his books.

I'd Rather Forget, 09 Jun 2008
Firstly, let me admit, I have only got to half way through this dreary semi autobiographical account before giving up. In all my years as an avid reader, this is only the second book I have ever not finished. I would liken reading it as worse than having teth pulled with out pain relief of any kind.

I have read the other previous books written by this authour where he writes about himself as the fictional character 'Joe', and although not the greatest books in the world, they were not too bad. I had expected more from this author than the 'Aga Sagas' that the others had been, but they were enjoyable enough for me to also buy this book with an anticipation of picking up the journey with some familiar characters.

I was sorely disappointed. This book, if written by an unknown author, in my opinion, would never have been published. One knows pretty soon the main character's wife is going to commit suicide at some point. One can understand why if life was as depicted in the book up until the point I gave up - I felt like doing the same.

What a disappointment- I would certainly NOT recommend this author to any other reader.

A Memorable Work, 18 May 2008
Over the past twenty years or so I have read virtually all of Melvyn Bragg's works of fiction, up through his three autobiographical novels, each published about two years apart. Early in 2007, when Amazon.co.uk offered "Remember Me..." as a preorder for April, I didn't hesitate. Only after I clicked the button did I notice that it was due not in April 2007, but 2008! I let the order stand (probably setting an Amazon.co.uk preorder record) and waited. When it finally arrived last month, I knew instantly that this was not a quick study, and as I read, I saw why #4 had not come as easily as #1, 2 and 3.

There are certain elements of Bragg's writing that I've come to expect, and all of them were present in this book: savory phrases ("...playing Blind Man's Bluff, bumping into the furniture of our old lives"); skillful evocations of time and place (Oxford and London of the '60s); clever literary devices (such as using the era itself as an unseen character in the story, a force powerful enough to jerk the other two primary characters around inside the plot).

But this time there was something I had not seen before: deep emotion; the author himself. This is the fourth in an ongoing autobiographical series about his own life. Yet up to now we have been presented with a sort of family album. Snapshots of "Joe" as a boy against the backdrop of an England at that time, looking back at a child wrestling with issues we presume he later overcame.

In "Remember Me..." there is such raw immediacy that, although it is 40 years past, it feels like now. The sense is that, as he was writing, a chunk of the writer was still back there, and he was bringing it forth for us to see, wounds still open and bleeding. As such, I see "Remember Me..." as not only the finest piece of fiction Bragg has written to date, but also the bravest, given his vulnerability as a public figure. I have been impressed by his writing skills in the past, but never much emotionally moved. I choked up toward the end of this one, something no book has inspired me to do in many years. I strongly recommend it for all the reasons noted above, and for its insight into the chasms and pitfalls of mental illness.



Don't feel guilty about skipping chapters, 06 Apr 2008
I like this book, but I've only rated it 3. If I could I'd rate half of it 5 and half of it 1. Its not all great but you don't have to read the bits you don't like. Each chapter stands apart, giving an overview, context and commentary on one of Bragg's chosen 12 most important pieces of English Literature.

If they made history and literature this accessible and interesting at school then our society would be better for it. I wasn't on the planet while the women's rights movement was in full swing and it was too recent history for me to learn at school - so Bragg's inclusion of Mary Wollstonecraft's 'A Vindication of the Rights of Woman' was welcome and interesting.

The Magna Carta is more relevant today than ever since the Human Rights Act entered English law and we unquestioningly use its fundamental principles in our judgement of contemporary issues like Guatemala Bay and house-bound Chinese activists. Yet who would get a copy out of the local library?

Dip in and out of this book at will, you'll be better for it and don't feel guilty about skipping chapters.

Shawn, 10 Jan 2008
This is a really nice book and easy to read. The writer in no way in attempting to exhaust the the topics he is writing about. He does, however, stimulate the reader into wanting to investigate further into the subject matter contained in the book. Any book that makes me want to read more is a great book.

Highly readable, 05 Sep 2007
I'm not a fan of Melvin Bragg. I've always found his TV presenting on the South Bank show to be offputtingly smug and more suited to Pseuds Corner than my living room. So it was that I came to this book with a certain amount of trepidation. I'd seen one episode of the TV series (about the football rules) and was sufficiently surprised that I enjoyed it to be prepared to give the book a go - and I'm glad I did.
It's a personal list of a dozen books that Bragg feels changed the world. He says in the introduction that he's tried to avoid just covering the obvious choices like religion (so we only get the King James Bible, and not the Ko'ran as well, for instance) and instead tried to find a dozen books which cover many different aspects of contemporary society - from football to economics to sexual equality and so on - and then to illustrate how they helped create that society. It's a good list, and is sufficiently broad a topic that it can lead to ' I wouldn't put that book in, I'd've had this book instead' debates, which is always fun.
Bragg shows himself an incisive reviewer of books, offering both an illuminating precis of the content of each, how they came to be written and his judgement on the effects they had. I still don't like his TV persona, but Twelve Books that Changed the World, for it's length, is highly informative and accessible, and may well have inspired me to read more of the list it offers.

An interesting list..., 08 May 2007
I have to say I found this book quiet interesting and readable. I am not familiar with any of Mr Braggs TV or Radio work (unlike some other reviewers) so I am viewing this book in its own right and not with any preconceived bias of the author. I will probably never get around to reading the Magna Carta, Principa Mathematica or the King James Bible for that matter, so the whistlestop tour given in this book along with some of the reasons why these books are so influential in society was quiet enlightening. I'm sure some of it will be useful in a table quiz some day!

Thought provoking snapshots, 13 Apr 2007
Previous reviewers having been so negative thought it worth pointing out the Bragg doesn't pretend this selection is anything other that a personal choice. I think he justifies the "books" fairly well and I enjoyed the snapshot way they were presented. I am unlikely to ever read all of them in full, in the original, so enjoyed the chance to skim through some Newton, Faraday and Stopes inter alia.

An Intelligent Read, 03 Dec 2006

This is an excellent book. I found this by mistake and haven't read the others in the series but I'm very impressed and will certainly be reading the other two. In fact they are on my Christmas List this year.

For some it may be hard going to start but, if you hang on it will reward.
I just couldn't put it down, whenever I get the chance I read a few pages which went into a chapter then a couple of chapters. I was actually late for work a couple of times because of it.

If you like a well presented book and are interested in our history and social upbringing then this is for you.

I look forward to the next one.

Really struggled and gave up in the end..., 15 Mar 2006
I was given this book as a birthday present in January 2004, and only recently tried to read it.

I always try really hard to give a book a fair go, but this book, just no good. I hated the writing style - the author regularly uses very long sentences, with quite disjointed thoughts....

Very slow, tedious, boring. I almost got to page 200, but gave up in the end.

Save your dosh for something a bit more inspiring!

Ingrid

a modern classic, 11 Feb 2005
Crossing the Lines sees the central character of Joe - perhaps largely modelled on the young Bragg - undergo the rites of passage into adulthood before going to Oxford University. For those who grew up in the 1950s, it is an evocative reminder of those times and what it was to be young. Bragg is an excellent novelist and this trilogy is a significant contribution to contemporary British literature.

My partner and I have loved all the books in the trilogy. Perhaps the highest compliment we can pay is that they are books we hope to read again.

disappointing, 17 Jul 2004
This is the third book in the series and I have found that they have become increasingly dreary. The first was great but I have found myself struggling with this book. I found it very difficult to like the central character and consequently found it a struggle to get to the end.

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 22 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled. Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at starting a business but recognize how hard the entire family must work. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man."

Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel, or one with an exciting plot, as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle. Mary Whipple

A stand-alone sequel to The Soldier's Return., 10 Sep 2004
When Sam Richardson returns home to Wigton, a small village in Cumbria, after World War II, he recognizes his limited future there and the social barriers. Because his wife Ellen and small son Joe have spent their entire lives there, however, he chooses to remain, rather than go to Australia to start a new life, and he must now learn to adapt to peace as effectively as he once adapted to war. Wigton, however, represents "his limitations, his predestined mediocrity, his inevitable failure to be at the full stretch of himself," and he feels stifled.

Small events and everyday life, not dramatic plot lines, become the focus of the novel as Sam works at the local factory, tries to reestablish his relationship with his wife Ellen, and serves as a masculine role model for his son Joe. Sam is an Everyman--a man without an education who is dependent upon "the system" for his family's welfare, a man who must put up with slights and insults by his factory bosses if he wants to keep his job, a man for whom there is little or no opportunity for independent thought and action. Sam's big decision to set up his own business is a decision he makes alone, even though it will require enormous sacrifices by the whole family.

The daily lives of the Richardson family reveal the social, political, and economic issues of rural England from the end of the war through 1954. Dividing the novel into several sections, Bragg conveys the viewpoints of Sam, Ellen, and Joe through plain-spoken dialogues and interior monologues, short sentences, and simple vocabulary. We see Ellen's joy at finally having a house of her own in Greenacres, a public housing development, but also her dislike of the distance from town. We understand Sam's joy at having his business but recognize how hard the entire family works and how little privacy they have. Young Joe, on whom much of the book focuses, suffers almost overwhelming fears, and we empathize with him because there is no one in whom he can confide and still be a "man." Bragg's interest is not in creating an artificially "literary" novel as much as it is in recreating real (ordinary) lives. In this he is completely successful, creating a broad picture of the postwar era through the details of one family's struggle.

A comparison between the paperback and the audiobook version, 29 May 2002
I bought The Soldier's Return and A Son of War paperbacks and the audiobook versions to take way with me for holiday reading and listening. I was very disappointed in the audiobook version of this book. My criticism is the same for both books. I really enjoyed having Melvyn Bragg narrating his own book, but oh dear, the abridgements were far too much. To cram such a good book into just 4 sides of tape resulted critical parts of the original being omitted. There were far too many examples of story lines being opened and not finished and endings of plots being there without knowing why. 4 tapes with 8 sides would have been much better.

If you read The Soldier's Return, you just can't miss this!, 03 Apr 2002
With this cracking sequel to the Soldier's Return, Bragg continues to breathe life into post-war Wigton. Based in his home town, the novel is a covincing read that does not disappoint. Local readers will recognise the landscape, while those from further afield will surely want to visit.

This is a book about the effects of war rather than war itself. The plot is steady rather than exciting and there are no gory battles or sensational action. Despite this, Bragg takes the reader to unwritten horrors and creates a sense of all-pervading trauma that he wrestles against the tentative rays of hope. These tensions and contradictions are explored through complex and compelling characters. You will feel pain for the one's you like and pity for those you don't.

Like it's predecessor, A Son of War left me wanting more. Bragg faces a challenge if he aims to match this. Let's hope he can!

Too much like the other, 12 Dec 2001
I read "The soldier's return" and enjoyed it very much. Therefore I was looking forward to the second book of a so-planned trilogy and I was very disappointed. "A son of war" drags, is repetitive and the story becomes just as boring as the characters. One may argue that life is often boring and that the story of a family doesn't always present new and exciting developments..... but during all the time I read it I felt the exact impression of an already read book. All the poetic slow mouvement of the first book gets lost in a repetitive, boring, déja vu story. I don't think I shall be reading the third one of the promised trilogy. ENOUGH!

Longer than the Dark Ages themselves, and not as interesting, 29 Oct 2008
Credo is a big book, about 900 pages, but after about 9 pages it rapidly becomes clear that this big fat book is going to be a long and rather dull experience. It becomes so fustrating that you actively want BAD THINGS to happen to the characters, and cheer on the malevolent fate that keeps them apart.

The book is about the rise of Christianity in Dark Age Britain. It has a cast of saints and heroes. Its writer is neither, he is the true villan of the piece. Its a potentially interesting story but Braggs lumpen prose turns it into an unbearably stodgy mess. It might have merited two stars if it had been half the length.

I paid just £1 for this book and I feel the price tag was unjustified. It should be pulped, and possibly its writer as well.

convincing and authentic, 16 Apr 2007
Credo tells the story of a young Irish princess named Bega, and the two loves of her life - her God and a young nobleman called Padric - a lifelong tug between this earth and the next, romance and faith. The story is set in seventh century Britain, and Melvyn Bragg has really done his homework, describing life in Anglo Saxon times in rich detail. Many of the characters are based on historical figures too, St Bega being the main one, and the story hinges around real events. I personally found it very convincing, and a real insight into a particular place and culture, the Kingdom of Northumbria and Celtic Christianity.
It's quite a fascinating period in English history, and an important one in the story of Christianity, and Credo hits a satisfying balance between love story, adventure, and historical exploration. These were savage times, and Bragg doesn't gloss over the brutality. He doesn't dwell on it either, but sensitive readers should be warned that there are some genuinely horrible moments. My only real caution though is the length - at some 780 pages it takes some commitment to reach the end. But if you're a fan of epic novels and are willing to take your time, its a rewarding read.

Well worth the effort!!, 19 Mar 2007
I started reading this book while staying with family - I didn't own it, but had borrowed it to fill some time. And I am so glad I did! Months later I finally finished it and I can't find any other word to describe it than 'epic'. 'Credo' is such a beautiful story of love, passion, faith, determination, courage, hope and eveything else that a truly great story should be about! The central characters become more alive with every page you read and have so much in them to be admired. There's no doubt that it is a long book and hard work at times, and it definately isn't something you can pick up and read in a few hours, but after months of sticking with it I can honestly say it is by far the most wonderful book I have ever read!

Epic scale, 16 Jul 2006
They say don't judge a book by the cover but I did with this one. I saw the cover, liked it, picked it up, read the back and thought I'd give it a go. I was probably in need of something meaty to read having just read something less than challenging (well, one has a tendency to romanticise) and I wasn't disappointed.

This epic work tells the fictionalised tale of Bega (latterly St Bega) and the torments she faced between choosing the man she loves and her calling to serve the Almighty. It's set during the Dark Ages in Ireland and England and Mr Bragg uses his superb talents to bring those brutal times vividly to life. The sights, smells and sounds of the events seem very real and I don't think I'll be the only person to find myself itching when reading the scenes set in Carlisle!

While the book does have some slow sections (especially where Bega is wrestling with her conscience) it has some superb moments where it fair rattles along. The battle scenes and times of conflict are brilliantly written if somewhat nerve-shredding. For example, there is a violent rape scene in the early chapters that, although brief, is one of the most jaw-dropping scenes I've ever read. Don't get me wrong, it's not there for gratuitous titilation but to highlight the brutality of the times and the status of women as possessions and will leave the reader feeling a bit rattled.

The finale is executed on a grand scale and provides a suitable climax to the action, while Bragg deftly ties up the loose ends with the other characters. The characters have depth and are flawed and virtuous at the same time, while the events of the times are brought magnificently to life.

I'd recommend this to anyone wanting a good read that will stretch you a bit. My only criticism is that it's a bit overlong in places but that doesn't happen too often.

A magical journey of faith, spiritualism and of miracles, 03 Jul 2006
This book is a magical journey of faith, spiritualism and of miracles that stands out like a beacon, in our clean world of science, technology and materialism. The story is absorbing and it's difficult to put it down. The locations and characters are richly described and wholly believable. This novel is thought provoking and invites the reader into a world transported away, where real life and death hinges on failure of the crops or if the plague sets in, something we in the developed world cannot fathom any more. I personally found this novel provided a catalyst for me to re-think my perspective on life, and for that I am eternally grateful.

Not diminished by the passage of time..., 23 Jul 2007
This book was first published in 1987 but, unlike many novels written 20 years ago, it is not diminished in the slightest by the passage of time. I was recommended to read this by my mother and I'm very glad I did. I just wish I was on holiday in the Lake District whilst I was reading it - but that's no reason to put the book to one side until you do go to the Lakes. I'm sure that a physical link to the land would benefit the reader substantially but it isn't essential. I don't want to give anything about the story away except that it's a love story based in the 19th Century located in the Lake District. I suggest you forget what you read on the dust jacket if you can and don't read any other reviews until you've read the book. It is slightly difficult to read because Melvyn only let us have the back-story on a "need to know" basis but that kept me guessing and I enjoyed it in a perverse kind of way. If you've already read all the reviews and the dust jacket the mystery is lessened as is the experience.I found it excellent in that the character of the protagonist was complex and multi-dimensional. He was a product of his life - neither fully good nor fully bad. A real person, in fact.

One of the finest books ever written, 24 Apr 2007
I came across the name of John Hatfield whilst doing some historical research online. Having discovered that he was executed in Carisle. The whole scenario was set in the Lake District where I am fortunate enough to live. All of the places & most of the people did exist (impossible to check everyone.) William Wordsworth featured her in his poem 'The Prelude.' He came with Samuel Taylor Coleridge to the Fish (her father's pub) to gaze at her beauty, as many men did. It was Coleridge who suspected that Hatfield was an imposter. Indeed he was, going under the name of Colonel Augustus Hope. Coleridge did in fact start the exposure, which led to the manhunt; and eventual execution of Hatfield.

Unlike his character, Bragg is no imposter, 17 Sep 2006
I love the way this book has come about. The author, Melvyn Bragg, has obviously done some historical research, and come across a very juicey tidbit, a scandal, covered in the newspapers of the time, involving a very flambuoyant character who is not what he claims to be, and a woman famous throughout the region for her good looks, known as the Beauty of Buttermere. He must have rubbed his hands in glee when he came across it! He has then taken what he has found, and spun it out into a really interesting, and at times gripping, novel.

Before reading this book, the impression I had of the author from his appearances on the television was of quite a shallow and superficial character. However, Bragg has obviously put a lot of himself into the book, and it is evident that he is far from being just a showman.

I would imagine the character John Hatfield is based to quite some extent on the author himself who, as i understand it, comes from humble origins but has, of course, risen to considerable heights. Maybe at times he has felt like an imposter in the same way that Hatfield plays at being a gentleman.

The character Hatfield, whilst unfortunate because of his pretence and show, is also very likeable because he knows his weaknesses, and underneath it all wants to do what is right. His motives are good, even if the way he goes about things eg by assuming a title which isn't his, is not.

Bragg has an impressive knowledge of social history, which he paints lightly onto the canvas, not letting it become a distraction in the way that some writers do. The reader doesn't continually get the impression he is trying to show off his knowledge. Instead, you genuinely feel you are experiencing the events in Cumbria and north Lancashire at the turn of the 19th century.

The book is of particular interest if you happen to live in these parts, as most of the action takes places in the area between Lancaster and Carlisle. I love the opening scene in which the protagonist rehearses his lines in Morecambe Bay. Living only two minutes' walk from the Bay myself I could picture this scene very vividly.

This is not quite a classic, but it is one of the best books by a contemporary author I have come across.



A beguiling story based in a fascinating location., 01 Jan 2002
I loved reading The Maid of Buttermere. Coming from the area in which the story is set made the detailed descriptions more vivid.
The story is an adventure with an added romance, which is slow to unfold. Mr Bragg cleverly introduces characters into the melting pot, whose importance in the tale only becomes apparent near the conclusion.
A perfect draw for tourists to the beautiful tranquility of Buttermere, where the Fish Hotel which centres in the story still exists.
The book also includes action set in the Morecambe Bay Sands, Keswick, Carlisle and Gretna Green, and jumps to more southern cities too.
It was my introduction to Bragg, and led me to read more of his work.
An admirable Cumbrian certainly, and a memorable book.