The Green Gauntlet

In the end of the trilogy we see the grand design of Delderfield. How he has taking us along on the adult life of his hero, Paul Craddock. Each book roughly about 20 years of life.

We see that there are years in life where nothing momentous happens. That is true in all our lives, but even when momentous things do happen sometimes they are events that happen more to others who we know well, then ourselves.

That big events come and we are on the periphery. Craddock has that, and now, we see the passing of the reins to the next generation. The shifting viewpoints and stories are such that this gives us even more depth into our hero and not as much into the POVs we share as we learn more of our hero.

We see in the trilogy the Young man, the show more middle aged man, and the older man. One line resonates when he talks about politics and how he has been the left, the right and the center in his views over the course of a long lifetime.

We experience the end of life with several views of the valley, mostly seen through the eyes of our Hero, the views through the animals was purely a device that did not work well. As we follow what has happened over the course of 60 years we see change, and stasis. In all a good conclusion. If I were younger myself, I might be tempted to have another read before my own end. As it is, I find that at this stage I can Identify with the stages of life we see in the book. show less

The third book in excellent series, covering the life of Paul Craddock and the sweep of English social history from the Edwardian era to the early 1960s. This book got a bit repetitive about the virtues of Paul Craddock as he looks back upon his life.

Believe Delderfield was pressurised into writing this 'sequel' and perhaps this is why it is not quite as good as the earlier books.