Review of John Morrison's book Tales from Litterdale, by Julie Bunting
This review is by Julie Bunting, and was published originally in
The Peak Advertiser, the Peak District's local free newspaper,
on (unknown), and is reproduced with Julie's kind permission.
TALES FROM LITTERDALE
by John Morrison
Perhaps you haven't heard of Litterdale, a small village 'smack in
the middle of the Peak District National Park'. Well, before you
start looking on the map I should tell you that Litterdale is born
of the fertile imagination of John Morrison, in what he describes
as 'an attempt to seduce the fickle mistress that is comedy'.
Some might view his seduction technique as typically English. No
hurry and the humour never piled on with a trowel, just a subtle
style gathering pace as one season follows another around the turn
of the millennium. With a sometimes skewed look at Peakland life,
he voices real concerns - off-roading and traffic jams for a
start, while making amusing observations of people resembling our
own neighbours, from pub landlords and female catering staff to
tractor drivers and farmers. One of the funniest lines in the book
is attributed to the village chemist. As for scruffy Mandy - 'even
her laugh is infectious'. In any other village John Morrison's
descriptions would be libellous.
The National Park Authority has its critics too. (What, even here
in Litterdale?) The author evens things out by putting in a good
word and well he might, for the introduction to his book is written
by Roly Smith, no stranger to the workings of the real-life Peak
District National Park.
Some of the author's off-beat musings almost make sense as he
considers such matters as conservation-grade meat, outerwear which
'breathes' and farmers' ideas of Christmas presents for their
wives. At one point we are asked who would really want to watch the
local amateur dramatic group performing King Lear? After all, in
this part of the world we already know what it's like to bring up
ungrateful kids in adverse weather conditions. 'All's Well That's
Tideswell' might be something to look forward to though! Sharp
word-play gives us a village eco-worrier and a TV programme called
'You've Been Farmed'. Could John Morrison be getting something out
of his system through the voices of characters like Bob, whose kids
'treat this house like a hotel'? Maybe he even relates to pub
regulars who 'tuck their shirt into their underpants' - surely not!
Tales from Litterdale is published by
Halsgrove,
price £12.95. In
local bookshops or to order, quoting ISBN 1-84114-215-8.
Review by Julie Bunting
Ed: 'Tales from Litterdale' is (or used to be) a regular feature in
Peak District Magazine (a
Dalesman Publication), and for me, one of the best parts of it! It does
for Derbyshire's Peak District what the 1970s 'Yes Minister' TV Series
did for the Civil Service - that is, make fun of its foibles in the nicest
possible way!
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[Created 21 Nov 2002. Last updated 24 Oct 2008 - 11:02 by Rosemary Lockie]