The Long Dry by Cynan Jones

 review by Maryom


 One hot summer morning, Gareth wakes early and goes to check on his ready-to-calf cows - and discovers one has gone missing over night. Feeling restless, she'll have wandered off, as they do, pushing her way through hedges and  fences, probably heading for the nasty boggy bit of the farm, so before she can come to any harm, Gareth goes in search of her.  As the day gets hotter he tramps up hill and down, over fields lying parched after a long drought, and his thoughts turn on the problems of his relationship with his wife, the happier early years of their marriage and his plans for the future.

If you heard a novel described as "the story of a man looking for a cow", you'd probably not be rushing to read it - but give it a chance, think of Gareth as a rural version of Leopold Bloom, pursuing his odyssey not through Dublin's paved streets but alongside the hedges and fences of a Welsh hill farm. As the day progresses, the reader slips into the thoughts of Gareth, his wife Kate, hiding her secrets back in the farmhouse, teenage son Dylan angry "out of habit" and young daughter Emmy who sees fairies and dead people. This is one of the strengths of Jones' writing - that he can bring to life such a diverse range of feelings and emotions; first I felt Gareth's version of how his marriage is sliding on to the rocks - then saw events from Kate's completely opposite standpoint; when two boys are faced with the dreadful task of killing an injured rabbit, I felt not just there, but part of them, willing them on but appalled at the same time; I even felt I understood the bafflement of a cow just delivered of a still-born calf.
This is Cynan Jones' first novel and is set in the landscape that's become familiar to me through his later work - Everything I Found On The Beach and The Dig. There's the same grit and grimness underlying the beauty of the landscape, the same feeling of inevitable anguish. It's not all doom and gloom - there's light relief from the teenage son, with his delight in driving the transit van, and the mass 'attack' of the ducks on the nearby seaside town - but moments of joy seem short-lived and over-shadowed by sorrow to come.

Originally published by Parthian  The Long Dry has now been re-printed by Granta as part of a matching set of all three of Jones' novels.

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Granta Books
Genre - Adult literary fiction

The Dig by Cynan Jones

review by Maryom

The Dig is a raw, bleak story of two very different country dwellers and the inevitable collision they're heading for.
Daniel, a farmer, is desperately trying to cope with bereavement. Worn down and devastated by his loss he's still determined to carry on tending to his birthing sheep. He life is tied up in the farm, in nurturing the land and his livestock despite the harshness of his life and the setbacks encountered daily.
On the other hand, the anonymous 'big man' earns his living in the most violent way imaginable, killing rats on local farms and digging badgers out of their setts and supplying them to people for 'sport'. The only glimmer of affection he shows is for his dogs, though even then it's linked to their ability as rat-catchers or badger-baiters.
The Dig isn't about a sunshiny, cows-in-pasture, rural idyll but takes an unblinkered look at the harsh realities of the countryside; the sheep aren't cute bundles of fluff gambolling in the fields but animals made of blood and guts; badger-baiting is no country 'sport' but pure vicious brutality.
Jones has an astounding ability to conjure feelings and sense of place by a few well chosen words. I felt I could share Daniel's grief and his commitment to the land that is part of him, the big man's animal cunning and fear of being trapped, and also the sheer terror of the tormented badger. At times, because of how immersed I felt, it was a hard book to read.
There are many disturbing passages but two stand clear for me; the horrible violence done in the name of sport to the badger and, to a lesser extent, the dogs in the baiting pit - what people find to enjoy in maiming animals or encouraging them to fight each other is beyond me -  and the chapter where a boy is taken along to a badger dig as if initiating him into becoming a 'man'. It isn't the fun experience the boy had expected but, to avoid losing face, he forces himself to join in and is persuaded that he's enjoying it.

It's a grim, shocking and stomach-turning read; the one brief moment of pure happiness that lights up the end casts the rest into even deeper darkness. It's not for the faint-hearted or squeamish. And yet, I'd say 'read it'. You'll come away moved.


Following on from this, I interviewed the author about The Dig, badger-baiting and not twisting the story to reach a happy ending Cynan Jones - author interview The Dig

Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Granta Books
Genre - Adult literary fiction

Bringing Down the Giants – Cynan Jones talks about taking on Peredur.

One of the things I love about book-blogging is discovering books and authors that may not have come to my attention through my local bookstore or library. Oddly, though, my attention was drawn to Seren Books' series of re-worked tales from the Mabinogion by a clothing website. The series is now drawing to a close with Cynan Jones, author of Everything I Found on the Beach , being asked to adapt the tale of Peredur to a modern setting. The result is Bird Blood Snow and we are lucky enough today to have Cynan explain how he went about it.

I was the last of ten authors to be invited to write one of Seren’s ‘New Stories from the Mabinogion’: I got Peredur. The tale everyone else had left.

When I read it I thought: Shit. I came away with one image – the bird and the blood in the snow; and a sense that the hero of the tale was a delinquent. There were reasons why every other writer had avoided the story.

However, such was the totality of my reaction, that I had no doubt how to approach it.

Writing Bird, Blood, Snow was a “bicycle kick”. There was the surety of what I wanted to achieve and the necessity to achieve it immediately.

So I stopped thinking and just went for it.

I brought in different voices, perspectives, techniques. Tried a sense of performance, of pantomime. Half-did things. Wrote incorrectly. Caused confusion. Added pictures. Mind maps. Crossings out. I threw it all in.

There was a thrill to working like this and a necessary pace. Like a bicycle kick, I figured if I missed the target, what the hell: it would be a worthy effort, and entertaining. If I hit the net, all the better. The only issue was if I missed completely and landed on my arse.

I wasn’t going to know until I handed in the manuscript. But Penny Thomas, the series editor, had been clear: I had a totally free creative remit.

Luckily, she liked it.

When were you awarded the commission to write the book?

I was awarded the commission at the start of 2012. The book was due for October ’13 and would have been the final book in the series. Then Seren asked whether we could bring things forward a year. That was March ’12. They needed the manuscript by June. I said yes.

If I’d had longer I might have taken a different approach. I might have looked at telling the story of Peredur’s mother and father, bringing it to the point where Peredur is taken from things – the point the original tale starts. It would have been more like my other work. More considered, scant, controlled.

Was there a lot of research involved in writing the book?

I usually research heavily. It’s part of the process of limbering up to write. Given the shift of deadline, research went out of the window this time. I think that fed into the book. I’m fully aware the psychiatric treatments I describe are outdated. The mishmash of voices is deliberate. I use the anachronisms with intent.

The key work, other than the writing, was consuming the various novels and other texts I wanted to bring into the story in order to create echoes.

I wanted readers to feel that they recognised the piece, to reflect the fact that the motifs, occasions, references in the original would have been understood by the audience. I added echoes of other books. Sometimes verbatim, other times parodied or hinted. I bent Welsh nursery rhymes into the story.

What were your chief aims when deciding on the approach you took to the book?

I wanted to repeat the sense I had from the original that it was written down – and therefore ‘solidified’ – before it was ready. That it hadn’t matured properly, (much like Peredur himself), before it was sent out into the world.

I wanted to bring in the fact the original was an oral tale and would have been performed. Performance would have brought emphasis and exaggeration and spontaneity to the otherwise dry language. I had to get that back in somehow.

I wanted there to be a degree of celebration. The original tale is violent and nasty, and I couldn’t shy out of that. But there had to be something of the romp to it! It had to be visceral and colourful and compelling, but it had to be fun.

In the end, though, a book can’t rely on party tricks. It has to work as a coherent whole.

I hope it does for you. 

It most certainly did for me! Many thanks for letting us in on the working process. 

Maryom's reviews of the Seren tales from the Mabinogion can be found here

More information on Seren’s ‘New Stories from the Mabinogion’ can be found here and if you are not familiar with the Mabinogion tales then brief information on the Mabinogion can be found here and more specifically the Peredur story here

Cynan Jones' website can be found at www.cynanjones.net and you can follow him on Twitter as @cynan1975

Bird, Blood, Snow by Cynan Jones

review by Maryom

The original Peredur tale recounts the adventures of a youth bent on recognition as a knight in King Arthur's court. In true questing fashion, he defends maidens, defeats giants, and eventually overcomes the witches who have cursed him. In Blood, Bird, Snow, Seren's tenth in it's New Stories from the Mabinogion series, award-winning author Cynan Jones turns the tale into a modern Quixotian romp.

Peredur has been taken by his mother to live away from the housing estates in the hope of raising him away from the culture of gangs and violence that predominates there. Of course nowhere can remain isolated for ever and the arrival of a couple of kids on fancy bikes, inspires the young Peredur to customise his own and try to join their gang. His desperate attempts to impress them lead him to violence and brutality, and, despite the attempts of foster families and social services to channel his strength into more acceptable channels, he looks on track for an unhappy, extremely violent end.

In case you haven't discovered the series yet, Seren's New Stories from the Mabinogion series takes these ancient Welsh legends and folk tales and re-interprets them in a modern, or even futuristic, setting. Bird, Blood, Snow is an imaginative re-telling of the tale of Peredur, son of Efrawg, told through a journalist's notes and interviews, copies of police and psychiatric reports and newspaper cuttings. The reader is aware from the beginning that something horrific has occurred and is being investigated by the police, though we only discover what at the very end.  Whereas the original tale had Peredur as a hero, Jones' re-telling has him as a troublesome teenage thug. The qualities that made the medieval Peredur an heroic legend - his belligerence, aptitude for fighting, his persistence in the face of opposition - are out of place today and only lead to him into trouble. It made me wonder how many of Arthur's famous knights would feel comfortable in the modern, humdrum world; maybe they're best left in legends.

Maryom's review - 4 stars
Publisher - Seren Books
Genre - adult literary fiction, folk tales

The Fart by Cynan Jones

The Year Of The Short Story (cntd) 
The Mole


Cynan Jones is a true published author with two books (Everything I Found On The Beach and The Long Dry) in print more as 'work in progress'. We interviewed the author and found him to be a most sober chap.  His first novel (The Long Dry) was translated into French, Italian and Arabic but in this short story he demonstrates that he does have a sense of humour. It's not the schoolboy humour that the title may imply but a sort of mature... err... errr... schoolboy humour?

WARNING - This story contains details of a bodily function that some people may find offensive. If this is you then please look away now.

WARNING - This story also contains wry humour that may mean you want to read it on your own - whatever, enjoy it!

How long should a short story be? Perhaps not this short but it's all about entertainment and this certainly entertained me. This kind of thing has never happened to me but I can feel everything that happened in it and smile about it too!

This story can be downloaded for free from Amazon until 3rd February 2012 and if you don't own a kindle then Amazon offer free software on most any device, however I haven't seen one yet for my vacuum cleaner.

Publisher - Kindle
Genre - Adult, Humour, Fiction, Short Story

Get The Fart from Amazon

Cynan Jones - Author interview - Everything I Found on the Beach

Following on from Maryom's review of Everything I Found On The Beach by Cynan Jones, Cynan has kindly agreed to an interview.

 
His first novel, The Long Dry, was published in 2006 and went on to win a Society of Authors' Betty Trask Award. It was subsequently translated into French, Italian and Arabic. He was nominated as the Hay Festival Young European Writer for the Scritture Giovani project in '08. His second novel, Everything I Found on the Beach, was published earlier this year.

Short stories have also been published in anthologies and journals, and in 2004 his children's story 'The Piano Player's Hands' was one of the winners of Richard & Judy's Winning Stories - a national TV competition.

 

In a BBC interview you said that if you hadn't got published in two years then you would have had to get a 'proper' job. What age were you when you set this timetable and at what stage in your life?

I'd made the decision at twenty two that at twenty eight I'd give myself the two years. People make the mistake of believing that because we've talked from a young age we can write. We can't. It takes learning and practice - much like playing the piano or learning to mix paints. So between twenty two and twenty eight I worked as a freelance copywriter in Glasgow. That knocked the writing into shape. I returned to Wales at twenty eight. The Long Dry came out, Hollywood fashion, just as the time was up.

What jobs have you worked at?

I've been a supply teacher, builder's labourer, kitchen porter, freelance copywriter, wine presenter. I've worked in a wine shop. I've worked in an aquarium and animal kingdom, given out leaflets on the street. I've worked as an AD on film sets, and for three years as a tutor in a children's behavioural unit. Among other things.

One of the characters in Everything I Found On The Beach expresses their disgust at the waste in meat processing within the UK and how that waste cannot even be consumed by employees within the factory. Is this waste something you have strong feelings on?

That happens in the book because it (constantly) happens in reality. The strong feelings come against the commercial remits forced on producers, mainly by supermarkets, and the continual artificial setting of prices that dupe people into shopping at them. The system as we have it prevents a small community from being able to sustain itself with the goods it produces locally. Happily, a degree of the meat that would otherwise be wasted does make it out of the door (illegally) but doesn't go to waste.

The processing methods in the meat factory seem to be covered in some detail - is this something you researched or have you actually been involved in some way?

This was researched, but also simply absorbed through spending time around people who work in the abattoirs. You also learn a lot from farmers.

The fisherman seemed to feel, not only a lack of job satisfaction but also a disconnection from life when working in a factory. Do you feel factories are somehow 'evil'?

Once you have to feed towns and cities - which are incapable of feeding themselves - they are a simple, economic imperitive.

The character 'Hold' catches and prepares the fish and we are told a lot of the detail of the processes. Do you fish?

I fish, but I am not in it for the fishing if that makes sense! I set nets, put out pots, and fish from my kayak. But that's about feeding myself and the people near me.

'Hold' also shoots rabbits for the pot. Do you feel we should all source our own meat?

That's not feasible. I feel we should all stop going to supermarkets and instead buy meat from local butchers.

Do you have more novels planned and can you tell us anything about them yet?
The first draft of the next novel is on the desk and I'll work on it after Christmas. It centres on a sheep farm, a man who baits badgers for a living, and the story of an Italian intern sent to work on a West Wales farm during the Second World War. It's called Traces of People.

Our thanks go to Cynan and we wish him every success, not only with his current books, but also his future projects as well - we look forward to seeing them on the shelf.

Everything I Found On The Beach by Cynan Jones

Life On The Edge
review by Maryom

The lives of three men are drawn together by the 'thing' that one of them finds on the beach.
Three men, each in his own way living on the edges of society, find their paths drawn irresistibly together - Grzegorz is a Polish immigrant, financially tied to, almost owned by, his employer, slaving away for little pay with no chance to improve his lot. When an offer of big money comes his way, he jumps at it.
Hold ekes out a living as a small time fisherman and gamekeeper, close to the Earth, trying to never take more than he needs and treating the fish and animals he kills with respect and near reverence.
The Big Man is a professional criminal, brought up on father's tales of the good old days of 'respectable' crime and wishing he'd lived back then.


On the surface Everything I Found On The Beach is a thriller - a man finds something valuable, obviously illicit, on the beach, tries to cash in on it and outwit the criminal gangs. But it's also a moving, haunting novel about love, loss and guilt, and about exploitation, greed and being trapped between the two. With his deceptively simple writing style, Jones takes the reader into the lives of Hold and Grzegorz - both trying to deal simply and honestly with the world and finding it isn't enough. Both believe that somewhere out-there is a lucky chance waiting for them - and when they think it's arrived are only too happy to snatch at it.
Running through the minds of all the characters in the novel, is a feeling that at some undefined point in the past things were better. I was particularly struck by the contrast between the Poles' fondly remembered life at home as subsistence farmers where nothing goes to waste and the mechanised conveyor-belt production of meat leading to the destruction of perfectly good food, that they discover in Britain. Even Grzegorz, though, is forced to admit that, however idyllic that life seems in comparison to the one he's now trapped in, against the force of worldwide markets, it is doomed.

A disturbing, melancholy book at times but one I'd heartily recommend.


Maryom's review - 5 stars
Publisher - Parthian
Genre - adult, thriller, literary