High On Hope

There are memoirs that arrive dressed in solemn importance, determined to convince you they have unlocked the secrets of the human condition. Then there are books by Gwyn Thomas, who had the far more sensible idea of observing life with razor-sharp wit, a healthy dose of self-deprecation and an appreciation that the world is often gloriously absurd. High on Hope is exactly that sort of companion: thoughtful without becoming preachy, humorous without becoming frivolous, and unmistakably Welsh in its warmth, intelligence and affection for ordinary people living extraordinary lives without necessarily noticing.

Published in 1985, this engaging volume captures Thomas’s distinctive voice, weaving together recollections, reflections and observations with the effortless charm of someone who could find comedy in hardship and dignity in the everyday. He understood that hope is rarely loud or theatrical. More often it quietly gets on with the business of surviving another Monday, making another cup of tea and pretending everything is perfectly under control while the universe cheerfully ignores your plans.

This copy is in Good condition, meaning it has already enjoyed the company of at least one appreciative reader. That’s only fitting. A Gwyn Thomas book shouldn’t look as though it’s spent forty years sealed inside an oxygen-free vault awaiting inspection by white-gloved archivists. It ought to have been opened, smiled over, perhaps read aloud once or twice, and occasionally nodded at in quiet agreement.

There is, of course, a delightful irony in the title. High on Hope sounds suspiciously like the sort of motivational slogan that might appear beneath a photograph of someone standing triumphantly on a mountain at sunrise. Gwyn Thomas would almost certainly have found that hilarious. His version of hope is altogether more believable: imperfect people making the best of imperfect circumstances, armed with little more than resilience, humour and the ability to laugh when life insists on playing practical jokes at their expense.

Whether you’re already a fan of Gwyn Thomas, interested in Welsh literature, or simply enjoy writers who can make you smile while quietly reminding you what it means to be human, this book is a rewarding addition to the shelf. It doesn’t promise miraculous transformations or seven easy steps to happiness. Instead, it offers something rather rarer: honest writing, generous humour and the comforting realisation that life’s greatest stories are usually hiding in its smallest moments.

Proudly offered by Crappy Old Books, where books with a little history are considered infinitely more interesting than books with none at all. After all, if hope can survive the decades, a second-hand book certainly can too.

Keep browsing: See more Non-Fiction books Other books by Gwyn Thomas