"Blaisdon Made Me!"

Hello Anthony,
I would like to commend you on such a beautiful articulated book. The descriptions of the places, grounds and the back-stories of the characters were authentic and relevant. The picturesque locations were impeccably worded and I felt your spirit and soul in every word.

I was very impressed with the relationship with "Bertie", he was the chosen family... Quite emotional for me at times, I felt the loneliness but then I would be awakened by this self-confident and proud boy.

From a reader's viewpoint, it was engaging, personal and well written.

As a footnote, I couldn't open chapter eight...

Good luck with this fantastic work...
Max stars...
Thanks
FC

I'm enjoying this, Anthony :) Beautifully written, which didn't come as a surprise after reading the first of your books.
T. Donna Robison
No Kiss Good-bye

I read to chapter two. I have never read anything quite like this. I find that you have quite a talent for telling the story and your grammar is superb. I feel a bit awkward commenting because it is obvious of what an experienced writer you are! I have just started writing and the book you commented on is my first piece. All I can say is well done and it appears to me as something that is publishable. Best of luck with this! All my stars to you!

Best,
Ashley

Claire Lyman: What a clanger! And me fluent in spoken and written french: Quelle bêtise! I have spelled out esprit de corps ten times in reparation. I will have to check back on my King Leopolds: it was number 2 I think.. In Book 3 the spiritual side develops: I promise you. Thank you so much for your perceptive reading and constructive Comment/s. It seems a publisher has picked me off Authonomy - see my latest Message feeds. I am waiting for HC to get back to me. Best Regards. Tony Brady.
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J.marie - Hello!

I never thanked you for your Comment on "Blaisdon Made Me" it was so absolutely spot on in its perception. You are so right about the different emphasis: Book 1 was deliberately written through the eyes and sensibilities of a child. Book 2 attempts to capture transitions in adolescent self-awareness and sensitivities to other influential and significant people. I promise you won't be disappointed in your expressed hopes for the mature material in Book 3. Your point about telescoping Book 1 & 2 into one volume is timely. It seems a publisher has picked me off Authonomy. If you go to my latest Messages you can see the contact person and the address. Be bold and make contact: they might like your book better than mine: I do. Thank you. Best Regards. Tony Brady.

Hi Tony,
I'm not an expert on memoir, having read all of I think two autobiographies in my life (both political), but this reads well. Almost flawless grammar and spelling, which I like to see - so I feel duty bound to point out a tiny nit: esprit de corps doesn't have an accent (accents only happen at the end of a syllable, and when there are two consonants, the syllable breaks between them es-prit). Also, I think you mean King Leopold I, not 11 :)
You made me laugh with your paragraph about fearing plunging into hell after touching a girl!
Sounds like you've had a varied and interesting life - I hope the spiritual side is something you explore again later.

Just finished reading 'Blaisdon' and now looking forward now to the next volume. The style in which you begin differs from the previous volume, and at first I missed the vivid descriptions of actual events - the rich - almost Dickensian - detail of the child's memories. The unfolding narrative of those early years was very engaging. By contrast there seemed more distance and detachment - despite warm descriptions of various people - in the opening chapters of Blaisdon. (These details about so many different people and their roles in the community would have greater value to a local history publication.) Eventually, however, you resume your previous style with delightfully detailed anecdotes and I am reconnected with the child who is becoming a young man. Chapters such as the one about Bertie Bucket are you at your best! You set up the scene, create the characters, deliver the punch. It's perfect - so funny and heartwarming, and clearly the same writer from the first volume .
Anthony, would you to consider merging the two volumes. (After all they are both quite short) I feel the two together would be greater than their sum individually. In Scenes from an Examined Life you allowed the reader to get up close and personal - that's its strength. But we only get that in brief snatches here. I was disappointed you didn't describe in any detail the meeting with Mary. Such an important event, surely? I felt a building possibility of your becoming a brother, and then you marry. How that came about would have made a lovely ending.
Once again, a sterling work and an extraordinary life. Congratulations.
j.marie.

What a wonderful book in the offing. I was at both Enfield and Blaisdon but before Tony's time, and Tony's 'Scenes from and Examined Life' and Tony's book is a masterpiece,and brought many emotins to the fore, as I read this summary. Tony you have pointed up, so well, how the Salesian Fathers and Brothers were so true to their calling and to their unique eduducational system, known as The Preventive System - based on Reason, Religion and Loving Kindness. This, you show clearly, is just what you and I and many others benefitted from. Your skill in recording this is a wonderful tribute to You and to the Salesians. You speak for many hundreds of us. "Well done Though Good and Faithful Servant". Can't wait for the book to be published in full, Best Wishes, John Ward

hello, ANTHONY -- ' BLAISDON MADE ME '
A GEM OF A BOOK, ONE WHEN PUBLISHED WILL BE READ AND RE READ IN FUTURE YEARS.
Yes Anthony it is well up to author . John Banville's (booker award winner) style of writing, so descriptive and with great attention paid to detail of life as it was under the brothers in Blaisdon Hall.
The scene as described when the boys are caned for indiscretions of a trivial nature is a reminder of what things were like in the classes then. the scene so authentic, one can picture in the minds eye the terror as they line up for the beatings. I found this book a most compelling and very interesting read, to me it's a page turner.
lots of readers will identify; with this story. Powerful writing indeed .
good luck
TOM BYE ' FROM HUGS TO KISSES'

Anthony, On Chapter 11. In general: you have a wonderful descriptive style, it flows ever so easily, well-written/edited, precise choice of words, reflective and I admire your memory! I like this style of writing very much as it does not alarm me in the sense that I have to brace myself against sudden violence (story and/or language-wise) that seems to be the custom on this site. In detail: Yes, your description of the Ardennes and the characterization of the Flemish/Wallon people is truthful and correct. I live at a 45-minute distance from Antwerp, am going to the cinema there tonight! I will greet it for you. Merci beaucoup pour écriver cet histoire. Vous êtes un écrivain extraordinaire. Bon courage et â tantôt. Hannah

Hannah. D'accord. I could easily reply in french but was not sure to use it or respond en flamande: as you know, the belgians are extremely sensitive about what language you address them in but nederlands would have sufficed. Thanks for your complimentary and perceptive comment: I expected a quality response as I looked through all your available Comments: I was not disappointed. You do not deal in "authonogush or authonopuff." I am keeping my books on Authonomy until February 2011 then replacing them with another book entitled: "Near and Dear to Someone." It's about my years studying tropical medicine in Antwerp and nursing/hospice care. I like your favourite books choice: I have read them all. I recommend Silas Marner - The Weaver of Raveloe by George Eliot. Is it still possible to buy Matheau's Mayonaisse? I lived in its manufacture's house in Berchem, Antwerp 1961/62. Tot straaks. Tony Brady.

Anthony, On Chapter 11. In general: you have a wonderful descriptive style, it flows ever so easily, well-written/edited, precise choice of words, reflective and I admire your memory! I like this style of writing very much as it does not alarm me in the sense that I have to brace myself against sudden violence (story and/or language-wise) that seems to be the custom on this site. In detail: Yes, your description of the Ardennes and the characterization of the Flemish/Wallon people is truthful and correct. I live at a 45-minute distance from Antwerp, am going to the cinema there tonight! I will greet it for you. Merci beaucoup pour écriver cet histoire. Vous êtes un écrivain extraordinaire. Bon courage et â tantôt. Hannah

You write beautifully, and I cannot but help think that these teachers must have been very good at teaching. What good models for these boys. I feel your pride in knowing them. Five stars.
Caroline
KC Hart
Summer Rosed

Anthony,
Very nicely written. Not my type of reading material but the writing is very inviting.
I really liked ch1, the descriptions of the small village made me want to see it for myself.
Ch2 had me skipping ahead. Not a problem with the writing, I just didn't care about the prefects or headmasters.
Ch3 brought me back as I did want to here about the teachers.
As with book1, well done.
MickR - The Nightcrawler

I would never have believed that of Thomas Beecham, naughty man. And fancy your teacher telling you!
This is such a lovely read and sad too because things are so different and much worse.
You remember your characters clearly and with love. I like the way you introduce them to us in chapter two, as if they're standing in a row as you describe them.That's a rather creepy verse about being dead, but well set off by Wiggins getting fish in the face.
So few people write like this now. You had a wonderful childhood. The next best thing is reading about it. Why would anyone want to read memoirs about child abuse and domestic violence? They do your head in. This is what we should read - beautiful, melancholy, funny and true. Backed. Lynn

I found this as evocative and engrossing as its predecessor, written with that rare gift of capturing the details that truly bring a story to life. When I read your work I am right there with you, and I don't think as writers we can hope to do better than that. Tony, this was a joy to read and a pleasure to back.
Warmest regards
Joanna

It is rare to read a memoir where the teachers and the educators are praised and come through like heroes that truly shaped a young man into a better grown up. There is something meditative about the writing...it is free of effects, and full of quiet poetry...as if we, the readers, had just spent a little time at Blaisdon, with the brothers.
Makes one want to pray to Don Bosco...:) In the meantime, I will back this book with reverence!

Hi Anthony, An engaging memoir. The history and the profiles of the priest with the personal notes lead right into the experience at this multi-faceted school. The landscape pulls in with the buoyant recollections. I enjoyed it! Shelved – Katherine (The Swan Bonnet)

Another beautifully written account of Anthony's life experiences. Blaison Hall sounds like an amazing place...love the nicknmames given to characters in novel...and history of hall.
A fascinating, heart warming read.
Alison Butler (The Hanging of Margaret Dickson)

Dear Anthony, I hadn't seen your 2nd & 3rd books before & just saw them when I came to your book after receiving your backing on, "He Loves Me" (I got so excited when I saw that you had backed it :). I just read/will back/am commenting on this your 2nd book.
I like your poetry & songs lyrics. It really adds to your book. It is a little hard for me to get through long paragraphs, so in the future, I'd cut them in 2 or 3.....the 1st sentences is what hooks me, then I get lost. Thanks you for sharing your exciting adventures with the world. :)
I will now go to read your 3rd one. Please back my unedited version, "Tell Me True Love Stories." Thanks. :)
Love, Susie :)

Blaisdon made me.

This book is well written and flows well, but it is not light reading, because it portrays a wealth of detail in the life of Anthony Brady. (I must point out that I don't stick with 'light' reading anyway). How work and connections took him from Belgium, to Lourdes in France, and back to England; his was the life of a carer (a saint!) in the charitable employ of the catholic church.

I found beauty in the sleep-scene of chapter 11: 'the waters of the river Gave slapping against the columns which supported the building', lulling him to sleep 'enfolded me in a blissful dreaming; I had never felt safer or happier in all my life'. And I was roused by the indoctrined teenage fear of touching girls 'for fear of committing a mortal sin and plunging unconfessed into hell'.

It would have been interesting to hear more about the 'officially declared miracles', of what nature, and if they came in quantity. But then, healing in any form is a miracle. And, but for the 'brancardiers' many would not have benefitted from the caring environment of L'abri. The world needs more hearts like Anthony's.

Regards, Lee
Trekking the Pyrenees from Coast to Coast

BLAISDON MADE ME ~ ANTHONY BRADY


Visually, artistically, and intellectually stunning, this masterpiece's uniqueness lies in its quasi-classic style prose, evident in its vintage passages. The spectrum of your experiences provides a smooth transition between an unfortunate childhood and young adulthood, enabling the reader to embrace young Tony as an honest and likable narrator. There is no high drama in this memoir, simply written with humor, candor, and melancholy. The sprinkling of classic poetic and lyrical passages adds elegance to its layers of subsumed text and beautiful imagery.

I was awed by your writing, but would like to offer a few technical suggestions that might improve the flow of this near-perfect story. Your pitch would do nicely with less details. Consider deleting from "Boys are taught..." to "The author learns basic..." Chapter 1: Watch capitalization of common nouns (Normandy invasion, forest oaks). I found the history of Blaisdon Hall fascinating but am not sure why it's included here. Chapter 2: The Blaisdon Prefecture listing reads like encyclopedic entries. It negatively affects the flow of your story. Their descriptions could easily be incorporated into the storyline. Chapter 5: The dialogue is written in script format; awkward. Try to follow the standard rules for incorporating dialogue into a narrative. Some inappropriate use of colons here. Chapter 6: Spell out Brother Joe. The last line should not be in capital letters. If a quote, should be enclosed in quotation marks. Chapter 8: You revert to present tense. Change to past tense in keeping with the rest of your story.

I have read your entire book with a lot of pleasure, admiring the wisdom and economy of your reflections in this delightful, captivating story.

Good luck with it, Tony! All the best,
Isabel