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June 2004 A Christmas gift from my loving, book-addict Mother.
This is a picture of a region; The people of that region. It is told through a series of (mostly)
unrelated stories about the townsfolk, and the result is very engaging. The setting is early industrial
England, (about the beginning of the 20th century,) in a rather out-of-the-way cluster of towns, whose
chief industry is the making of ceramics. This is not simply the chief industry though; it is so large,
and important, that it's the defining aspect of the region. It is what made these towns, instead of
little villages. To me, I would think of it as I would a logging town, or the northern towns created
during the Gold Rush; They end up with a somewhat diversified population, but every thing clearly has
it's roots in the One Industry.
So... This is the small society that the book is about. It is a book about labourers, or people one minute step above them: owners of labourers. That was not a literally true statement at all, in fact, most of the tales that stuck in my mind were about... other people: An undertaker, a museum curator, a newly wed couple, the director of the Electric works, and a nondescript man returning to the region after many many years abroad. Yet... I still had a feeling through out, of this Industry, and of how it was a generally recognised life-blood of the place. It permeated everything about the region, and the author did, (It seems,) an excellent job communicating that.
The stories themselves are light, humorous, (in that serious, dry British way,) and very "easy to read." It was wholly enjoyable, and I don't think that I ever looked to see "how many more pages are there until this chapter is finished?" Many of the characters are attractive, in that literary sense, that your interest is attracted to them, and you are fascinated with Who they are.
And, well, I feel that there really Must be something else that I could, and ought to be saying about in, but I can Not figure what it is. If you, (the reader of this,) know what I'm missing, than please Do contact me, and inform me what it is. This is a jolly good book, and I would like to read more of this style. It's not the same as "1001 Arabian nights though," (I thought it could be, because they are both collections of short stories, which collectively give a picture of a population.) I would say (at least at this moment,) that the differences are in the writing style, and also the content, (1001 being more... tales of fantasy, and incredible journeys. Five Towns is more "regular" people, and the minor journeys of their lives, and the small victories and disappointments of their histories.)