The Green Years - A. J. Cronin - First Edition (November 1944)

A heart-warming book, particularly relevant in the current economic "hard times". AJ Cronin helps us understand what hard times really were! Strong moral values triumph!

"The Green Years" and its sequel "Shannon's Way" are two books that I loved so much I've worn out three copies of each over the last 40 years or so. Cronin's characters are generally so well crafted that one gets a sense of who they are without having to dodge labels of "good" or "bad." They're just people compellingly portrayed, behaving and responding to one another against a dramatic background. There are no car chases, fistfights, courtroom scenes or gun battles, but there's still plenty of drama -- and humor. I loved the chapter about Jamie Nigg getting Murdoch Leckie drunk at the Ardfillan Fair. This book is one of my all-time favorites.

Randomly picking this book from the shelf in the library, I knew nothing of the novel or author, and was hoping I had not picked a second-rate novel. Pleasanlty, I was surprised! The plot is realistic centering around a richly developed Catholic boy. Though book one was somewhat slow developing the plot and characters, books two and three were well worth the wait and made me anxious to continue reading. However, I was somewhat dissapointed with the anticlimax end, but you'll have to read it to see for yourself!

I started because I couldn't find the book I actually wanted to read, and to my surprise, found that it was an engrossing and well-written novel.It reminded me, as it did the reviewer below, of Maugham's excellent "Of Human Bondage," but I thought it was actually better. It lacked the cynicism of Maugham's book, and instead of endless philosophizing, it simply provided the reader with good thought-provoking material and left him to draw his own conclusions, if he wished.It was also consistently enjoyable, though some sections were rather depressing. The characters were realistic and vital. Most of them were multi-dimensional, while a few of them were deliberately done in one dimension. As in real life, one was constantly changing one's opinions about the characters. It was unusually good in this respect.The plot, finally, was engrossing and, again, realistic. I recommend the book, noting that in my opinion at least, it is far superior to the author's most famous work, "The Keys of the Kingdom."-Stephen

Someone gave me "The Green Years" and to my joy I discovered an author who doesn't write about violence, sex, and "lawyers!" It was a return to the use of language to describe the trials, and tribulations of a young Catholic boy, who, because of his mother's death is forced to live with his grandmother, and greatgrandfather in Scotland. The story is simple, and sweet, and makes you feel that you are back in Scotland at the turn of the century. After reading Cronin I must find other books that he had written. I'll probably become a Cronin "Groupie!"