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| Mr Vogel |
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A sad and funny tale of one man's epic journey around Wales in the company of an eccentric, band of companions which is a bizarre celebration of the country's history, landscape and culture, including the nation's spirit of survival. First published September 2004.
Hanes trist a doniol epig un gwr o amgylch Cymru yng nghwmni criw gwreiddiol o gyd-deithwyr sy'n ddathliad rhyfeddol o hanes, tirwedd a diwylliant y wlad ynghyd â'r ysbryd i oroesi ymhlith y genedl. Cyhoeddwyd gyntaf Medi 2004.
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Beware Mr Vogel . . . for you may well get lost in this masterpiece of a book for weeks. Cancel all social plans, grab some hefty supplies and embark on Jones’s magical, witty and bizarre tour of Wales in pursuit of an eccentric old alcoholic first brought to light in a bizarre and compelling manuscript, mysteriously found stuffed into the eves of an old village pub. You won’t even need walking boots!
Joined on his epic adventure by an eccentric mix of free spirits, wanderers, healers and charming eccentrics (to name but a few), Jones’s inspiring journey is fired by a mixture of ideas, leads and purpose that these characters bring. The narrative is in no danger of getting repetitive and jumps from place to place in the imagination, Jones spreading his authorial wings to far away places and a whole world of wonder and interest.
Entwining his tale, thoughts and the physical walk itself amongst fascinating and varied moments of intertextuality, Jones exploits all sorts of sources to aid and abet his ideas as he flits from the historical exploits of the oppressed Tasmanians, to an intellectual musing on crippled children. Indeed, this literal device splatters the book with a charming, almost historical textbook feel that contrasts well with his subtle, insightful anecdotes and razor sharp wit that is well showcased in this, his critically acclaimed tour de force.
Whether you’re a tourist, rambler, or simply love Wales and don’t have the time to explore everything it has to offer, allow Lloyd Jones to take you by the hand into his warped, honest and overall lovely guide book and perhaps inspire those first tentative steps of another exploration around this great country.
Jack Clothier
It is possible to use this review for promotional purposes, but the following acknowledgement should be included: A review from www.gwales.com, with the permission of the Welsh Books Council.
Gellir defnyddio’r adolygiad hwn at bwrpas hybu, ond gofynnir i chi gynnwys y gydnabyddiaeth ganlynol: Adolygiad oddi ar www.gwales.com, trwy ganiatad Cyngor Llyfrau Cymru.
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Further Information: Mr Vogel
Mr Vogel is a colourful acount of a modern pilgrimage, an erudite book, teeming with references to Welsh literature and history, which describes how, following a debilitating bout of drinking, author Lloyd Jones embarks on a programme of rehabilitation, not in the gym or on the psychiatrist's couch, but on the highways and byways of the Welsh coastline and countryside. But whereas pilgrims of old made their way to Bardsey Island off the Llyn Peninsula in the north, or to St David's in Pembrokeshire in the south, Lloyd Jones' trek brings him every step of Wales' thousand mile border, from Anglesey to Wrexham, Hay-on-Wye and Glamorgan. This epic journey, chronicled in Mr Vogel's three hundred pages is 'an astonishing mixture of fantasy, philosophy and travel' in the words of travel writer Jan Morris, and represents an ill man's endeavour to make himself whole once more. In this endeavour he is aided by his discovery of his own country - Wales - and of its environment, its voice and its character. This will to dicover and rediscover character, whether human or geographic, is the force which drives both walker and book. Mr Vogel, a name given the sick man because of his spindly legs after months in bed, is companion and alter ego to author Lloyd Jones. He is a teller of tales, an outcast, a Welsh-learner, a former farm-worker, and newspaper editor who, mile after mile, exorcises his past in the hopes of finding a future. Lloyd Jones writes like the rolling, undulating landscape which he crosses, and with a passion and devilish wit that derives from the will not to give life up, but to embrace it fully afresh.
Cyfnewidfa Lên Cymru/Wales Literature Exchange
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