MULES; MASTERS & MUD (Book) - 11/26/2018 8:21:03 AM
I like historical fiction, especially historical fiction that stays true to history. I'm glad you chose to use the vernacular of the time from the various parts of the United Kingdom. I'm sure that was a difficult right and may be difficult for some readers to understand some of the dialects.
Although I didn't read the excerpt (not much time), what I did read, reads well. I see that your reviews are quite good. Challenging writers like Charles Dickens in the 21st century is a mighty task and I applaud you for doing it.
Ron
Dizzyrambic Imaginings (Book) - 4/30/2018 2:44:43 PM
I enjoyed the humor in this collection: "To some it’s just a mobile, / To others just a cell. / I had to name mine Alec / So smart it makes me yell." (From the poem, "Looking Back"). Most of the poems rhyme, which lends to their upbeat nature. More serious poems here often address our place in the world, via ecology or other sciences: "Snow, solar / Or lush green climes. Oceans, precious black rock. / All surrendered to homo sapiens. / His saprophytic brain reaching to take stock." (From the poem, "Images.") Mr. Griffiths is fresh voice in poetry, who makes many clever choices in his work. I especially like the lines, "We list their bell-like tinkling call, / As it adds to the piquancy, / Of a sparkling autumnal day. / Hope Nature's best is here to stay." (From the poem, "Goldfinches.") It's nice to encounter such cheerful work.
So What! Stories or Whatever! (Book) - 12/13/2014 3:32:40 AM
In Between Classes – A review of the novel ‘So What! Stories or Whatever!’
“I am indebted to my father for living, but to my teacher for living well” – Alexander the Great
Any kid growing up spends the longest hours of his young life outside his own home in a school. So it’s no wonder schools are often referred to as second homes and teachers as sort of parental figures. And even though we experience a lot of rich emotions in our homes, nothing compares to the unique and special bond we make with our teachers. Numerous lovers and friends may enter and exit our lives, deaths and births we may see many but never shall we forget the one who opened the door to our minds, dispersing the shadows of ignorance with the light of knowledge.
Author G J Griffiths’s novel ‘So What! Stories or Whatever!’ is an anthology of a lifetime of stories of a teacher and the many kids that made an impact in his life. It follows Mr. Robert Jeffrey, a high school science teacher and his experiences dealing with students who were as varied as it gets. Beginning with Robert trying to lay a foundation on which to base his teaching persona, we get to see the various methods he employs, the numerous day to day incidents he faced dealing with students that made up a normal school day and the positive impact he made in the student’s lives.
Even though So What! Stories or Whatever! deals with the story of a teacher and his students in an English school, it has a story that will find universal resonance wherever it is read. It is a story that has been told many times before but then which story isn’t, is there a love story, an action story, a life drama or a comedy in this world that you haven’t heard before? And yet we like them and listen to and read every new story in that genre because certain stories are like that, it appeals to us at a basic emotional level we cannot ignore because these stories, like the one you will find in this book tug at your heart and not your head.Another attractive quality about the book is the guaranteed connection you will feel with the various characters and the events described in the book. You will find in the book traces of your old self and the various people you knew back in school, you will read about things that your friends and you did and you will also get to see the teachers that made an impact in your life.
G J Griffiths has a very simple and yet effective way of narrating his story and has created the perfect alter ego in Robert Jeffrey. And you can sense that it is perhaps the author himself, reliving his teaching days and the moments he spent amongst students like these. Another thing that I liked was how he dealt with the issue of bullying, everyone must have faced it one time or the other while in school and whether you were a perpetrator or a victim, you will find the conclusion drawn in the story to be very apt and just.
For the realistic portrayal of the school atmosphere and the laughs and tears that the author hands out in equal measure, I recommend this book and look forward to its sequel.
So What's Next! (Book) - 12/13/2014 3:31:56 AM
Lessons About Nature – A review of the novel ‘So What’s Next!’
“A teacher who loves learning earns the right and the ability to help others learn” - Ruth Beechick
There are a lot of issues and problems in this world of ours that manage to grab our attention, they ignite the extremist and arm-chair activists in us to act and do something about it. But more often than not, the ‘issue’ takes place somewhere far away from us, not too far that we can afford to ignore it and not talk about it but far enough to stop ourselves from becoming a part of the solution. If we were really honest with ourselves and paid more attention to our surroundings, then we would realize that issues and problems are everywhere, right in our own backyard and it is these we should tackle first instead of indulging in some namesake pseudo worrying.
G J Griffiths’ new novel ‘So What’s Next!’ is the sequel to his earlier work So What! Stories or Whatever!,which came out last year. Using the same setting of Birch Green High School, this time he introduces a new protagonist in the form of Molly Pearson, who was incidentally mentored by Robert Jeffrey, the hero of the first book. Molly is a young biology teacher who is both assertive and ambitious when it comes to her two loves, teaching children and caring for the nature around her. And she soon realises that she has to jump through a lot of hoops and face a lot of obstacles before she can get her kids back in line and also ensure a lasting awareness on the need to take care of nature.
Even though the author returns to the old school in which his first story was set, he introduces a fresh cast of protagonist and secondary characters, and therefore ‘So What’s Next!’ works well as a standalone new novel too. Miss Molly Pearson is an idealistic teacher who’s in it for the love of teaching and for making a significant difference in caring for nature, which is her second love. As a teacher she isn’t content with influencing and improving the life of just a single individual, she wants to improve the school and its surrounding to such an extent that the whole community benefits from the changes. There are a lot more sub plots and serious ones at that too in this outing unlike the first book, issues about bullying and the delinquent nature of certain students are discussed once again, the problem with caring for something the majority isn’t interested in and a romantic angle for the main protagonist are some of the other sub plots worked into the main story. The story line of this book follows the same pattern of the previous book in it being a collection of vignettes and anecdotes rather than a full blown linear story told in a traditional novel format. But this is something that works really well with the theme of the book, because of the level of believability and closeness to reality that the author has been able to portray.
Even though the author has not promised a sequel at the end of this book, one sure hopes he brings out a new book in this series. Because whenever you are telling stories about a school and the interactions between the teachers and students in them, there can never be an end to it, just as a school is kept alive by the hustle and bustle of life that each new class brings every year, this series too has the potential to keep going with newer stories about yet another teacher and his or her class of students.
Sunrises and Sunsets (Poetry) - 11/23/2018 10:37:11 AM
The lyrics of a song come to mind: "Sunrise, sunset, swiftly flow the days…" But you are condensing those daily occurrences into memories of the life fulfilled. If only everyone could be so lucky.
Ron
Sunrises and Sunsets (Poetry) - 11/23/2018 10:05:52 AM
Sunrises and sunsets are Mother Nature's show all the way, and we're all the better for it.
Santa's Gift to Goldilock's Planet (Poetry) - 12/20/2016 8:37:10 AM
The promise of nuclear fusion seems as far away as an early arrival on Mars. But we don't have to rely on it if we just rely on wind and solar. And you are so right about our wonderful, highly productive Goldilocks planet that we must save if we are to save ourselves.
Ron
A View from the Cliffs (Poetry) - 11/29/2016 11:39:14 AM
Our mother is being strangled by our own ineptitude and we don't seem to know what to do about it. The more poets sound the alarm, the sooner we will start doing something. But I fear it may already be too late.
Ron
RIP Spider (Poetry) - 11/28/2016 6:28:14 AM
Does he know times running out,
from the hour glass on her back?
That's why the widow,
always wears black.
Michael D.
RIP Spider (Poetry) - 11/27/2016 10:11:08 AM
I love it when a poet sees the irony in people's inordinate fear of things natural.
Ron
Glittering Prizes (Poetry) - 11/24/2016 2:26:42 PM
A wonderful description of the power of life to learn how to survive in very alien environments. Gives rise to the thought that life can survive and even thrive on alien planets unlike the earth but containing the ingredients necessary for life to grow and evolve into creatures like those found in the dark deeps of the oceans.
Ron
Glittering Prizes (Poetry) - 11/24/2016 7:16:57 AM
Indeed, the wonders and beauty of nature.
Michael D.
Glittering Prizes (Poetry) - 11/23/2016 8:45:35 AM
A piece composed cleverly. Flows nicely. Requires some meditation. The spiritual subtext is predominate (to me) even though several intellectual meanings can be extrapolated. The three questions (the writer poses) are key to me, and act as a swordsman defending against what some claim Lucifer is responsible for, while using what the Most High God created, ("and God said, let there be light, and there was light") as the substantive argument for the seeming thankfulness he feels. Enjoyed. rlc
