Never Tell Stories That Involve Sheep
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This is the fourth in the series of books about life in the Dales, and the quality and turn of phrase is still there. In a world full of dark thrillers, gorey murder mystery and generally bad news, this is the ideal way to put a smile back on your face.
I haven't even finished this, and it already gets five stars. There are few passages of prose that can better Phinn's delight in enjoying school Nativity plays (always a winner), including the plaintive cry of a young boy dressed as a Wise Man, who enters the stage, pauses, breaks down, and cries "I don't know who I am, someone tell me who I am!!"
The writing style is effortless, the humour is endless, and you end each chapter feeling a little happier with life.
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Cannot wait for the next book 'In the Heart of the Dales' out in 2007!!
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I was introducted to this book by my step-grandmother - she is an avid book reader like me. Being deaf myself, I love books passionately the same way as people love their music. Once I had read the second book in the series, I went out and bought all the three remaining books and I have just finished reading 'Up and Down in the Dales' half an hour ago - Wanting more, I have done an internet search on Gervase Phinn to see if there are any more books to follow - and I am very excited to get my hands on the next one in the series - There are very few books that make you laugh out aloud!! Thank you Gervase for writing the enjoyable books!!
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Discovery of the Year
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I've heard Gervase Phinn on Radio 4 but had never read a word he'd written till I received this as a surprise birthday present. I read it in two days, laughing out loud for much of the time, and can't wait to catch up with the rest of the canon. It's a bit of a cliche to compare him with James Herriot but this particular cliche isn't too far wide of the mark. He writes with affection and humility and I marvel at how well he remembers events in such detail. Don't miss this!
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This was fantastic!!!
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My dad gave me Over hills and dales one night when i was board, and in the end i just couldn't put it down. I have just finished reading Up and down in the dales and i loved it. If your looking for a really good heartfelt, funny book i really recomend any Gervase Phinn book, I have enjoyed reading his books so much that I'am now looking forward to seeing him at the Hove centre during the Brighton and Hove festival. His books are money well spent and these are books that you will never want to finish.
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A nice enough way to spend an afternoon
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Gervase Phinn has been called the James Herriot of schools, or words to that effect. The similarity between their work goes beyond the simple fact that they both write about their lives working in the Yorkshire Dales. Like Herriot, Phinn's books are full of amusing, feel-good stories, larger-than-life characters and the occasional tear-jerking moment. You can be sure that everything generally turns out all right in the end, though, and the bad teacher or errant schoolchild sees the error of their ways and becomes a better person. Phinn even meets his wife during the course of his work and, like Herriot, they have a suitably chaste courtship until he finally proposes at the end of the second book. The events in Phinn's books take place around 16 years ago, not during the 1940s. Yet the Dales life that Phinn writes about is not greatly different from Herriot's. Remove the odd reference to television and skiing holidays and you're left with a book that could have been written at any time in the last 50 years. Whilst this gives the books a timeless, escapist feel, it also means that they miss the opportunity to provide a real insight into the job of a schools inspector in the late 1980s. But despite their faults, the books are a good read. They are well-written and the stories are amusing, if predictable. I would suggest that the publishers re-think the cover design for the next book in the series, though, as I nearly didn't buy this one. The title and cover of the book were so similar to the previous three, I thought that I already owned it!
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