Up into the Singing Mountain by Richard Llewellyn

Up into the Singing Mountain Reviews

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  Manybooks

  Richard Llewellyn's 1960 Up Into the Singing Mountain is the sequel to his, to Llewellyn's absolutely brilliant and evocative 1939 How Green Was My Valley. And yes, I most definitely and in fact absolutely, totally very much do prefer How Green Was My Valley, which truly is not only an epic story of family but at the same time a nostalgic, hauntingly beautiful but equally also often exquisitely painful homage to an area of South Wales lost and gone forever through and because of industry and coal mining. Furthermore and in fact, so much is my personal reading preference for How Green Was My Valley over Up Into the Singing Mountain that while I actually own multiple copies of How Green Was My Valley (and which I have also been rereading religiously for many decades), I am indeed really glad to have found Up Into the Singing Mountain on Open Library, that I did not have to spend actual money purchasing a copy of Up Into the Singing Mountain in order for me to finally be able to read and to review it (and yes, a one time perusal of Up Into the Singing Mountain is definitely all that I want and all that I can even stomach, and that the other two sequels I am definitely not going to bother considering unless they also become available on Open Library and for free, which at present is unfortunately not the case).
  
  For yes indeed, while there are definitely a number of textual parts in Up Into the the Singing Mountain I have certainly enjoyed reading (like for example some of Richard Lewellyn's descriptions of the Welsh colony in South America, and that the Welsh expats in Patagonia are strangely but not actually all that surprisingly often more Welsh than the Welsh of Wales, than those who have stayed behind in the so-called Old Country) and that Llewellyn's presented text for Up Into The Singing Mountain does certainly answer some of the questions left a bit open in How Green Was My Valley (like why Huw Morgan leaves his home village in Wales to go to South America, what has happened to his brothers and his sisters, and that Bronwen and Huw actually did for a time consider marrying even if it would cause major and uncomfortable gossip), Up Into the Singing Mountain as a story in and of itself just does not really work all that well for me.
  
  For one and a huge personal reading turn-off is that I find Huw Morgan's story as it is narrated by him in Up Into the Singing Mountain really frustratingly difficult to follow and for really no decent reasons why either, and with my biggest annoyance being Richard Llewellyn throwing in far too many characters (and many with really strange and often unpronounceable names) and also generally with lacking and sometimes even no character descriptions at all (and that for me, this very quickly has become massively tedious, slogging, and to the point that much of Up Into the Singing Mountain I have ended up skimming over and through, and definitely not really all that much finding Up Into the Singing Mountain either readable or enjoyable). And for two, while part of me definitely appreciates that throughout Up Into the Singing Mountain, Hugh Morgan still longs for Bronwen and continues to love her, his constant womanising in Patagonia and Hugh basically in Up Into the Singing Mountain fluttering akin to some kind of butterfly from one flower to the next, from one romantic conquest to another, this not only makes me rather livid (as it certainly does not show much respect for Bronwen, and for women in general), it also to and for me appears to be something that the author, that Richard Llewellyn seemingly tends to find acceptable and not at all problematic for Hugh, as there is never any real criticism or condemnation thereof encountered in Up Into the Singing Mountain.
  
  And combined with the fact that Huw Morgan's stubbornness and obstinacy are even more pronounced in Up Into the Singing Mountain than in How Green Was My Valley, and that basically, I really do NOT think Huw should have left and gone to South America in the first place, for me, Up Into the Singing Mountain is not really a worthy, is not really a decently enjoyable sequel for How Green Was My Valley and thus only warranting a two star rating from me.
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  Tesilyaraven

  A follow up to How Green Was My Valley. While I far prefer the epic saga and homage to a hometown lost and gone in the dust and dirt of industry and coal mining, I liked this second book. How Green Was My Valley made me ache and long for a home long gone; this book answered some of the questions left unanswered by the first book, like "where did Huw Morgan go?", but it was at times hard to follow. There were too many characters thrown into the mix with crazy names and no character descriptions. But, I loved Huw's continued triumph in the face of challenge, his aherance to his own principles of right and wrong--no matter what the cost--and his skill at fine woodworking. And, of course, his love and longing for his woman. I was a bit thrown off by the trek to the Andes in the final pages, but all in all I found it an absorbing read, if a bit hard to follow at times.
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  Deborah Pickstone

  Huw's most irritating quality is his stubborn adherence to his own principles, come what may and never mind who else gets hurt. This is also one of his best attributes. I really enjoyed this novel though I see many were disappointed after
  How Green Was My Valley. I think it is best read as another Huw Morgan book rather than as a sequel to 'How Green etc'.
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  Bettie

  
  Bettie's Books
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  Maria

  Stupid. Full of adultery. Don't waste your time. Didn't finish it.
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  Mary

  A very disappointing sequel to How Green Was My Valley. An average story at best, and at times hard to follow.
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  Sarah Ann

  1.5
  
  The story was hard to follow and uninteresting. I think the bulk of my disappointment is with the lack of description (and love) of the landscape and food compared to the beautiful, evocative descriptions in How Green Was My Valley. Even if it was with distaste or sadness, some more description would have been nice instead of colony issues and 'love' troubles all the time.
  
  There were odd moments of good prose that promised the song of How Green Was My Valley, but these ended up being failed attempts to repeat the same magic in a different setting. Also, at times it felt like the Huw of this book was a completely different person to the Huw that reflected on his upbringing in the valleys, and although this story picks up where that one left off, there is no character development to explain how he underwent a personality transplant.
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  Maria Reid

  I loved How Green Was My Valley, and found this book in a secondhand shop years ago. I started to read it then but set it aside until now, after watching the classic film of the first book. I love the lyrical Welsh-English lilt with which Llewellyn narrates. It was very interesting from a historical viewpoint to learn about the Welsh settlements in Patagonia too. A lovely read with a happy ending (unlike the first book and therefore a happy surprise for me).
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  Suzanne

  Although "How Green Was My Valley" earned 5 stars from me, I just don't feel the same way about this one. I still like Huw and his outlook on life, but........R.L. brings in so many different characters, and uses dialect without the assistance of a glossary or any explanation; that I was often lost and confused. Regrettably, the terms 'wearisome' and 'tedious' come to mind more than the aforementioned appreciation that I had for his lyrical prose in the first one.
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  Alice

  I wanted to love this book. I loved the first one so much in college, and was excited to learn there were 2 sequels. The premise seemed interesting, but the prose didn't "sing" the way the first one did, and I found myself disappointed in the decisions Huw Morgan was making.
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  Becky Nelson

  This book was way too slow for me. It was a disappointment after the first in the serieis. I didn't even finish it.
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  Amber

  This is a pretty decent sequel. I loved reading about Huw Morgan and his life after he left the small Welsh mining town and settled in Argentina with other Welsh expats. He is no saint and he more than once tells others to mind their own business without concern for politeness. Go Huw!
  Llewellyn's writing style is lyrical and beautiful and rough and all sorts of things at once.
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  Peggy Scripter

  This is one of the sequels to my favorite book of all time, How Green Was My Valley, but so different that it seems like the main character is someone else. Still worth reading, because after reading How Green, you could not NOT read it. There are two other sequels too!
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  Melissa

  Depicts masculinity, love, people with poetic language.
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  Courtney Smith

  A disappointing follow-up to How Green Was My Valley.
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  Sarah Evans Mayo

  6/5. The last few pages are the most moving, best things ever written. I want to be Lal!