I'm from Wales, the north to be precise, but why is Wales in the Thursday Next series independent and called The Social Republic Of?

Because Jasper felt like it!

Why not? It just adds to the sense that it's a different version of reality.

Years and years ago, there was a movement to anhialate any Welsh properties owned by English tourists. Hence the famous advert: Come home to a real fire. Buy a cottage in Wales!

(Actually, that's the Not the Nine o'clock News version - but I bet the original writer FELT like saying it)

Oh we all know about Meibion Glyndŵr. But it seems to me that Jasper Fforde's Britain is the complete opposite to the one we live in.

And what is the problem with cheese?

I think you might be missing the point a little, and we don't all know about Meibion Glyndwr. It's just a funny take on how things might have been based around the conceit of being able to jump into books, in the true spirit of speculative fiction.

Cheese is very addictive. I know I'd consider banning it just to save myself from tempation!

Egon.

Quote:

and we don't all know about Meibion Glyndwr

They were a Welsh Independence group from the late 70's to the mid 90's, they bombed around 200 English holiday homes in Wales and sent a number of letter bombs to English politicians. R.S. Thomas liked them.

And I got the point quite clearly.

But like I said: it "seems to me that Jasper Fforde's Britain is the complete opposite to the one we live in"

I was at Aberystwyth University at a "meet the author" day and Jasper Fforde was one of the authors, he mentioned loads of things, but not about why Wales is independent or the fact that is is a Social Republic.

Did he mention the extra-long Crimean War, or Goliath? One of the advantages of writing fiction is that you can change things from reality. Thank goodness that he kept President-for-life George Formby.

Help yourself to some pie, by the way.

+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

My computer beat me at chess, but I won at kickboxing

Isn't it all part of the attraction, things can be different for no immediately apparent reason. It's like me as a Swindonian saying why zeppelins and not railways as the romantic form of transport. Or more importantly, why is there no mention of what the rest of the world would consider a bad joke; the magic roundabout?

Billfred Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> it seems to me that Jasper Fforde's Britain is the
> complete opposite to the one we live in.
>

[goliath.ecnext.com]
You know, you could be right. Let's see now, what have they been getting up to in OUR neck of the woods? The smoking ban, for a start. And don't get me started on the state the live music industry is in since they axed the 'two-in-a-bar' rule.
You can still get a decent cheeses ploughman's, though.
Try 'The lamb and Shepherd,' near Aberystwyth.

Comedy.

Off topic question: Is the pub at Cilcennin still there?

To get to it, go south from Aberystwyth to Aberion turn left and up the hill about 8 miles if I remember correctly.

I must remember that my memory stems from a day when they had the rope pull across the harbour mouth in ?1980 and then we went on a pub crawl and I lost track about pub number 12.