Di Chatwin - di cui non conosco i libri di viaggio - ho amato molto Utz, con la sua concisa perfezione di racconto. Sulla collina nera non ne condivide la sintesi, costruendo una lunga e densa epopea familiare in cui i due gemelli protagonisti attraversano un secolo restando apparentemente loro stessi mentre intorno è il mondo a cambiare. A mio avviso Chatwin calca troppo la mano con le simbologie fra mondo degli uomini e mondo della natura e, soprattutto, inserisce un avvicendamento di troppi personaggi, la funzione dei quali è spesso, nel loro rapido comparire e sparire, eccessivamente meccanica. Questo fa sì che il romanzo finisca per risultare troppo “costruito” e troppo poco naturale, a sfavore del piacere di lettura. ( )

A quiet atmospheric tale of character and place; the place being a farm on the Welsh/English border and the characters a set of twins, their parents and neighbors. ( )

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Interesting fictionalised story of farming twins growing up on the Herefordshire-Wales border between 1900 and 1980s. ( )

This is a beautiful, quietly written book with an old soul. Set on a Welsh mountain side, it's a moving account of the bond between twin brothers who live at Black Hill farm throughout the entirety of their lives, and the often fraught relationships between family members and nearest neighbours.

I really enjoyed this gentle novel. Reminding me of a cross between Thomas Hardy's and Kent Haruf's writing, it was emotive and moving with well executed characters trying to make ends meet in the rural isolation of the Welsh mountains.

For anyone who's already read this and enjoyed it, I thoroughly recommend Horatio Clare's memoir Running for the Hills. It has a very similar setting on a Welsh mountain farm and real-life eccentric rural characters. I kept thinking of it as I read this book (to the extent that I wonder did it heavily influence Clare's own book).

4.5 stars - a wonderful read. Highly recommended. ( )