What do you think?
Rate this book
Cwmardy / We Live
The epic industrial novels of the 1930s, Cwmardy and We Live are published together here for the first time. In Cwmardy, Big Jim, collier and ex-Boer War soldier, and his partner Siân endure the impact of strikes, riots, and war, while their son Len emerges as a sharp thinker and dynamic political organizer. Len’s tale is taken up in We Live, in which he is influenced by Mary, a teacher, and the Communist Party, which becomes central to his work both underground and in union politics, and to his decision to leave and fight in the Spanish Civil War. Cwmardy and We Live paint a graphic portrait of the casual exploitation, tragedy, and violence as well as the political hope and humanity of South Wales industrial workers from the 1900s to the 1930s.
- GenresFiction
885 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
4 people are currently reading
84 people want to read
About the author
Lewis Jones
57 books1 followerBorn in Clydach Vale in 1897, Lewis Jones began work underground at the age of twelve. He worked for the National Unemployed Workers' Movement, was elected a County Councillor in 1936, and died in 1939 after a day of speaking at numerous public meetings in support of the Spanish Civil War.
Stephen Knight described Jones' work as novelist thus: "Lewis Jones produced two novels that remain classics of international industrial fiction and testify to the oppressed but resistant and creative character of industrial South Wales."
Stephen Knight described Jones' work as novelist thus: "Lewis Jones produced two novels that remain classics of international industrial fiction and testify to the oppressed but resistant and creative character of industrial South Wales."
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
January 20, 2011
Finished reading the first book in the volume, Cwmardy. I gather that the two carry on from each other pretty seamlessly: the first book begins when Len is a child, and follows his growth, including the death of his sister Jane, his work in the coal mines, his growing interest in politics and involvement in the strikes, and his attraction to Mary, the daughter of Ezra, a man who organises the strikes.
It's much easier to read than I expected. It's matter of fact about the dangers, even the gory details. It's stark and relentless with the story it has to tell. Despite all the darkness, there are ordinary good men -- and oh, they're so ordinary, but they're good as well. They're not put on pedestals: they are what they are. Big Jim isn't exactly clever, but he's loyal and true and lives his life fairly by his own lights...
The parts about the police brutality just make me think history is being repeated, over and over. Strikes and riots and protests, all blossoming into violence.
And now I've finished reading the second book in this volume, We Live. This one focuses on Len and Mary much more, though Sian and Jim are still there, in the background. It's still as stark, still as evocative, and I had tears in my eyes so many times, while reading it.
It focuses a lot on the communist movement, in this book, and the plight of all the people in Cwmardy: not just the colliers, but all those working or unemployed in the town. There's a lot of power in it, evven if you disagree with the politics of it: it wasn't all sad moments that stopped my heart and made me want to cry.
I say it's stark and brutal, but in a way, it isn't. Life just keeps rolling on, no matter what, in Cwmardy. It has a lot to say about perseverance and strength, never mind the politics of it.
It's much easier to read than I expected. It's matter of fact about the dangers, even the gory details. It's stark and relentless with the story it has to tell. Despite all the darkness, there are ordinary good men -- and oh, they're so ordinary, but they're good as well. They're not put on pedestals: they are what they are. Big Jim isn't exactly clever, but he's loyal and true and lives his life fairly by his own lights...
The parts about the police brutality just make me think history is being repeated, over and over. Strikes and riots and protests, all blossoming into violence.
And now I've finished reading the second book in this volume, We Live. This one focuses on Len and Mary much more, though Sian and Jim are still there, in the background. It's still as stark, still as evocative, and I had tears in my eyes so many times, while reading it.
It focuses a lot on the communist movement, in this book, and the plight of all the people in Cwmardy: not just the colliers, but all those working or unemployed in the town. There's a lot of power in it, evven if you disagree with the politics of it: it wasn't all sad moments that stopped my heart and made me want to cry.
I say it's stark and brutal, but in a way, it isn't. Life just keeps rolling on, no matter what, in Cwmardy. It has a lot to say about perseverance and strength, never mind the politics of it.
January 13, 2020
I love this book and feel some of the criticism it receives is harsh. It not quite be a Welsh 'Germinal' but it is still mighty fine and very moving.
November 8, 2018
A polemic novel about the exploitation of the working-class in industrial South Wales, telling of an uprising from the mining community of Cwmardy. As Dai Smith has observed, it’s perhaps more interesting as a piece of social documentary than a work of literature, but if you like your socialism with a dash of violence, Lewis Jones might be for you.
July 28, 2012
So, a communist activist, miner, public speaker and thinker in the 1930s is encouraged by friends to write a working men's story of the Welsh valleys, to give the world a glimpse at what it is like to live there and then, for regular people. The result is Cwmardy. (I have not read its sequel, included in this double bill, We Live)
The book has a lot going for it. Or rather, it should have a lot going for it. The story is told in easily accessible language; it features sex, violence, war, intrigue, conspiracies, high drama... purely in terms of "stuff happening", the novel is not that far off a thriller.
Then why is it so boring?
The answer is simple. Unfortunately, this novel is basically a soap opera set in the Welsh valleys. Stuff happens, but it's the story of (fictional) people's lives - not the story of a single, thrilling part of their lives. The book simply does not have the structure of a story, but is instead a neverending, eye-on-the-wall list of events.
A thriller thrills by giving us cliffhangers (usually at the end of chapters) and plot twists, revealed with impact and panache. The author of Cwmardy does not do either of those things - in fact, each chapter title gives away what the chapter is about. Chapter titles herald the plot twists, rather than setting up any kind of tense anticipation.
Meanwhile, our characters basically just want to get on with their lives. They don't seem to have big dreams and ambitions. Their struggles are, for the most part, everyday ones rather than anything exceptional enough to make a novel exciting. Even when they experience dramatic events, these are somehow narrated in such a matter-of-fact way that they aren't brought to life. They're also fairly flat.
Big Jim is a friendly, strong oaf, always ready to be a bit rough. Len is a more physically fragile, political young man. His mother is a mother hen, pecking at Len and Jim but ultimately always there for them. Ezra is a leader figure with doubts. Mary is intelligent. Jane likes boys. The characters all have their functions, but rarely have moments when they come across as fully human. For me, the one outstanding moment of humanity was when Len had to deliver the news of a death to the wife of the dead miner: standing at the door, he chokes up at her expression of horror as she guesses a tragedy has occurred, and tells her that her husband had a "little tap" but would be allright soon enough (even though the miners carrying the body can't be far behind). It is a rare moment that seems complex and human and unpredictable. The rest of the novel is only rarely unpredictable.
It's a book that sets out to tell what life is like for Welsh miners in the early 1900s. It does not set out to entertain. It wants to make points, and as such, it is functional, matter-of-fact, sometimes preachy, full of characters that are walking illustrations of arguments rather than characters of their own right. The end result is a boring narrative that is often predictable and never entertaining... basically, it's about as rewarding an experience as walking into a small local town museum, with its faded black and white photographs and a few pickaxes in glass cabinets. If you feel excited about Welsh mining heritage, this book is for you. I don't, so it really wasn't.
(To its credit, the book has some quite harrowing / affecting passages, and, especially early on, quite a few uncomfortable scenes of brother-sister intimacy - but once Len starts working in the mine, the novel is just a lengthy slog with axes to grind and points to make)
The book has a lot going for it. Or rather, it should have a lot going for it. The story is told in easily accessible language; it features sex, violence, war, intrigue, conspiracies, high drama... purely in terms of "stuff happening", the novel is not that far off a thriller.
Then why is it so boring?
The answer is simple. Unfortunately, this novel is basically a soap opera set in the Welsh valleys. Stuff happens, but it's the story of (fictional) people's lives - not the story of a single, thrilling part of their lives. The book simply does not have the structure of a story, but is instead a neverending, eye-on-the-wall list of events.
A thriller thrills by giving us cliffhangers (usually at the end of chapters) and plot twists, revealed with impact and panache. The author of Cwmardy does not do either of those things - in fact, each chapter title gives away what the chapter is about. Chapter titles herald the plot twists, rather than setting up any kind of tense anticipation.
Meanwhile, our characters basically just want to get on with their lives. They don't seem to have big dreams and ambitions. Their struggles are, for the most part, everyday ones rather than anything exceptional enough to make a novel exciting. Even when they experience dramatic events, these are somehow narrated in such a matter-of-fact way that they aren't brought to life. They're also fairly flat.
Big Jim is a friendly, strong oaf, always ready to be a bit rough. Len is a more physically fragile, political young man. His mother is a mother hen, pecking at Len and Jim but ultimately always there for them. Ezra is a leader figure with doubts. Mary is intelligent. Jane likes boys. The characters all have their functions, but rarely have moments when they come across as fully human. For me, the one outstanding moment of humanity was when Len had to deliver the news of a death to the wife of the dead miner: standing at the door, he chokes up at her expression of horror as she guesses a tragedy has occurred, and tells her that her husband had a "little tap" but would be allright soon enough (even though the miners carrying the body can't be far behind). It is a rare moment that seems complex and human and unpredictable. The rest of the novel is only rarely unpredictable.
It's a book that sets out to tell what life is like for Welsh miners in the early 1900s. It does not set out to entertain. It wants to make points, and as such, it is functional, matter-of-fact, sometimes preachy, full of characters that are walking illustrations of arguments rather than characters of their own right. The end result is a boring narrative that is often predictable and never entertaining... basically, it's about as rewarding an experience as walking into a small local town museum, with its faded black and white photographs and a few pickaxes in glass cabinets. If you feel excited about Welsh mining heritage, this book is for you. I don't, so it really wasn't.
(To its credit, the book has some quite harrowing / affecting passages, and, especially early on, quite a few uncomfortable scenes of brother-sister intimacy - but once Len starts working in the mine, the novel is just a lengthy slog with axes to grind and points to make)
October 28, 2010
A great book. Easy to read it is not only a great testimonial of the (Welsh) working class culture in the early 20th century, but also a great piece of literature. Written in the style of (social) realism it far exceeds most books of that genre in quality. Although the story deals with socialism and the struggle of the workers it is only mildly didactic.
Good to read, interesting content => 5 stars
Good to read, interesting content => 5 stars
July 15, 2012
l have already read the two books and I cry every time I read them very moving I can relate to the books as I come from a very political family to all out there who are thinking of reading the books do get them it will change the way you think x
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews