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So Long, Hector Bebb
A year out of the game for a fight gone wrong, Hector Bebb, a boxer from Cymmer, south Wales, is ready to make a comeback, confident that he's got himself under control. Those around him aren't so sure, and their fears are justified as, second time round, Hector's savagery takes a terrible toll, and he has to go on the run. So Long, Hector Bebb, which originally appeared in 1970, recounts in Ron Berry's sparse and uncompromising style the compelling story of the tragic-heroic Hector, a story set in the brutal world of boxing and the disintegration of a community.
235 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1970
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 19, 2017
Fourteen different first-person narratives tell the gripping story of disgraced Welsh boxer, Hector Bebb, in fourteen different ways and with fourteen distinct voices.
I've never been that interested in fiction about sport. Never one for indulging in films/literature about fighting like Rocky (though I did like Aronofsky's The Wrestler). Ron Berry injected a much-needed dose of thrill and suspense into a sports story, and it did grip me. It's a tale that dares to morph genres as it progresses; and one that interrogates so many outlooks about the world of boxing - from fighters in their prime, to their trainers, their managers, war veteran friends, and especially their pragmatically resilient wives.
A great English language novel from a Welsh writer.
I've never been that interested in fiction about sport. Never one for indulging in films/literature about fighting like Rocky (though I did like Aronofsky's The Wrestler). Ron Berry injected a much-needed dose of thrill and suspense into a sports story, and it did grip me. It's a tale that dares to morph genres as it progresses; and one that interrogates so many outlooks about the world of boxing - from fighters in their prime, to their trainers, their managers, war veteran friends, and especially their pragmatically resilient wives.
A great English language novel from a Welsh writer.
March 30, 2021
“Up in the black sky those summer stars twitched obedience...We’re each and every one of us shaped for muck and glory, thank the Jesus Christ All-bloody-mighty for it and all.”
Fourteen different voices piece together the rise and fall of boxer Hector Bebb – a warrior and a champion cursed by fate to destroy himself and run wild and hunted into the sheep-haunted Welsh hills.
Sounds like an ancient tale from The Mabinogion – and indeed I raised an eyebrow at the appearance of a wounded landowner called Prince – but as far as I know Ron Berry’s novel is entirely original, even if it does give more than a nod to the mythic. Hector himself – “more genius than sense” – is almost an innocent, a force of nature who leaves his mark, for good or ill, on all the other characters. Their voices are distinct, of Cymmer and the Valleys. not always coherent and not necessarily true to life, but still decidedly alive. Interesting and surprising.
Fourteen different voices piece together the rise and fall of boxer Hector Bebb – a warrior and a champion cursed by fate to destroy himself and run wild and hunted into the sheep-haunted Welsh hills.
Sounds like an ancient tale from The Mabinogion – and indeed I raised an eyebrow at the appearance of a wounded landowner called Prince – but as far as I know Ron Berry’s novel is entirely original, even if it does give more than a nod to the mythic. Hector himself – “more genius than sense” – is almost an innocent, a force of nature who leaves his mark, for good or ill, on all the other characters. Their voices are distinct, of Cymmer and the Valleys. not always coherent and not necessarily true to life, but still decidedly alive. Interesting and surprising.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews