K
Kandor
Guest
I've been reading 'Sunnyside Down' these last few weeks, (growing up in 50's Britain)
normally I'll get through most books in a few hours especially when it's by a favourite author such as Wilbur Smith etc..
So anyway, I thought I'd give it a go, we were both lads, both of us grew up in the 50's I'm sure to find a little common ground at least.
It started off quite well, He spoke of poverty, hardship, few clothes, getting Groceries on the 'Book'
At first I thought, another kindred spirit.
Wrong.
He grew up in a sprawling village, I spent half my younger years in a vertical one.
He wrote of his Father walking in from work with the Daily Telegraph under his arm...My Dad read the Mirror or the Despatch....when he could afford it.
There are photographs of him aged 8 in a suit wearing a shirt and tie...I had falling to bits, hand me downs and Wellingtons, I wore Jumpers that hung all over me and sometimes shoes that were either too big for me....or even worse... too small.
To do well in his 11th plus he was promised a new Bike...I was only promised one thing in my life....a good hiding if I brought home trouble.
I read how his Parents had travelled, Both, for example went on an adventure holiday to New Zealand...my Mom went on an Adventure to Manchester to escape a Step Father who bullied her every day...she was 14.
His Father owned a Car..Mine never did his whole life..even today, driving anywhere far is still MY big adventure..I appreciate it because I can...
I smiled when he spoke of getting Groceries from the corner shop on 'the Book'..
At last I thought, common ground..then he wrote how they had to settle it once it had run into several hundred pounds..
We had a 5 pound limit on our book,
For several reasons really, the first being above the 5 pounds, the Shopowner knew we couldn't pay..
The second being that because of the first, we'd have tried our luck elsewhere...
That several hundred pounds he wrote of might just has well have been 7 million to us.
He shows a wedding photo taken outside a place called 'Beeston Towers'
The families are all dressed up in their finery...every single one of my lot would have looked like they worked there...
At last...they talk of eating together, then once again I am left adrift as he writes of Lamb Chops and first courses, he speaks of puddings and desserts..
I knew of none of those things...not until I got married.
And I used to keep turning to the front cover to look at this smiling boy who claimed common ground in the touching points of my life..
And the more I looked, the less I found...
He spoke of hardship and poverty while I thought back to hunger and cold, he spoke of Christmas Parties and Car drives with his Father and I remembered being humiliated at School dinners and being left behind at the school on their daytrips because my Parents couldn't afford the Half Crown.
And then he wrote of taking a year out when he was 19 to work as a Trainee Teacher in West Africa.
And....
I closed the Book.
normally I'll get through most books in a few hours especially when it's by a favourite author such as Wilbur Smith etc..
So anyway, I thought I'd give it a go, we were both lads, both of us grew up in the 50's I'm sure to find a little common ground at least.
It started off quite well, He spoke of poverty, hardship, few clothes, getting Groceries on the 'Book'
At first I thought, another kindred spirit.
Wrong.
He grew up in a sprawling village, I spent half my younger years in a vertical one.
He wrote of his Father walking in from work with the Daily Telegraph under his arm...My Dad read the Mirror or the Despatch....when he could afford it.
There are photographs of him aged 8 in a suit wearing a shirt and tie...I had falling to bits, hand me downs and Wellingtons, I wore Jumpers that hung all over me and sometimes shoes that were either too big for me....or even worse... too small.
To do well in his 11th plus he was promised a new Bike...I was only promised one thing in my life....a good hiding if I brought home trouble.
I read how his Parents had travelled, Both, for example went on an adventure holiday to New Zealand...my Mom went on an Adventure to Manchester to escape a Step Father who bullied her every day...she was 14.
His Father owned a Car..Mine never did his whole life..even today, driving anywhere far is still MY big adventure..I appreciate it because I can...
I smiled when he spoke of getting Groceries from the corner shop on 'the Book'..
At last I thought, common ground..then he wrote how they had to settle it once it had run into several hundred pounds..
We had a 5 pound limit on our book,
For several reasons really, the first being above the 5 pounds, the Shopowner knew we couldn't pay..
The second being that because of the first, we'd have tried our luck elsewhere...
That several hundred pounds he wrote of might just has well have been 7 million to us.
He shows a wedding photo taken outside a place called 'Beeston Towers'
The families are all dressed up in their finery...every single one of my lot would have looked like they worked there...
At last...they talk of eating together, then once again I am left adrift as he writes of Lamb Chops and first courses, he speaks of puddings and desserts..
I knew of none of those things...not until I got married.
And I used to keep turning to the front cover to look at this smiling boy who claimed common ground in the touching points of my life..
And the more I looked, the less I found...
He spoke of hardship and poverty while I thought back to hunger and cold, he spoke of Christmas Parties and Car drives with his Father and I remembered being humiliated at School dinners and being left behind at the school on their daytrips because my Parents couldn't afford the Half Crown.
And then he wrote of taking a year out when he was 19 to work as a Trainee Teacher in West Africa.
And....
I closed the Book.
