I bought this book on a recent visit to Schuyler, Virginia, where Earl Hamner Jr. based his stories of Walton's Mountain. This is the original book, but it took a little while getting used to 'John-Boy' being 'Clay-Boy' and 'Elizabeth' being 'Patty-Cake'!! Thankfully 'Olivia' is still 'Olivia'! Also, although we are told not to write in the way people speak, but to give just a suggestion by using key words etc, Earl Hamner Jr. uses 'goen', 'loven', 'sawen' etc, which again takes time 'getten' used to.
However, the book doesn't disappoint. It's on familiar ground if you loved The Waltons. And you can almost hear the music playing as you pick up the book which tells of Clay Spencer, the father, building his house on Spencer's Mountain from the trees that grow there, and Clay-Boy's attempts to get a place at the University of Richmond, whilst Olivia gives birth to twins and seemingly just gets on cooking enormous meals for her family of nine other children and her in-laws! Well, how times change, but I expect Grandma and the older girls give a hand with the chores indoors, which he forgets to mention!
All in all, if you loved The Waltons, you'll love this book, and if you can ever get yourself to Schuyler,Virginia, you'll love that too!
The Waltons was such a huge success wasn't it? I'm surprised they haven't shown it again, but maybe it has been serialised more recently on some TV channel somewhere. There are so many now, it's difficult to keep track.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Cara. There were a few programmes on a couple of months ago on one of the channels. I wish they'd show a whole series!
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