Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

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Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by ledzep93 »

Back in school I remember we had to read a graphic novel in a history class called Ethel and Ernest. I really liked it at the time and a few days ago bought a copy for myself and read it again. Its a lovely little book, I managed to read it in 40 odd minutes or so. I love the snapshot feel we're given of their lives.
Anyone else read this book, or any other books of Raymond's? (He's the chap who wrote The Snowman btw.)
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've never come across Ethel and Ernest (I haven't read many of Raymond Briggs' books at all) but I have read When the Wind Blows several times. It's about a nuclear war and its effect upon an elderly couple. There was an animated version of it on TV in 1986 and I found it every bit as moving - and chilling - as dramas on the same theme, e.g. Threads and The Day After.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by ledzep93 »

I've yet to read that title Anita, though I have heard good things said about it, I might add it to my reading list for the summer :)
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

I've just read an online review of Ethel and Ernest and it sounds interesting, telling the story of the lives of Raymond Briggs' own parents.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by ledzep93 »

You should buy it Anita! :D I won't spoil it for you, but like I say it has a gorgeously simple snapshot feel of their lives as a married couple and how they adapt to changing times as the years go by.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Thanks, Ledzep. I'll have to look out for it. If only my house wasn't already overflowing with books! :lol:
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by ledzep93 »

Haha, fair enough! Its only a small book as well, neither thick nor exceedingly tall, so it could probably get lost VERY easily :lol:
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

Did anyone see the animated version of Ethel & Ernest on BBC 1 the other day? I was keen to watch it, having remembered Ledzep recommending the book on here. It's a gentle, emotional story of two decent, hard-working folk supporting one another through a long and happy marriage and sharing trials and tribulations, dreams and achievements. I found it absorbing. Being taken through the lives of Raymond Briggs' parents from the 1920s-70s, and seeing the gradual changes in society, vividly brought to mind my grandparents (dad's parents) who were both born in 1910 and lived until the early/mid 1990s. The lives of Ethel and Ernest mirrored their lives in numerous ways and I felt really nostalgic watching the animation.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by number 6 »

I watched it, Anita. I enjoyed it immensely. However, I never read the book, though, so I can't compare the two. Does anyone think the animated story did the book justice? :D
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by sixret »

What a coincidence, Anita! I watched it this morning. Actually, while I was watching Witness For Prosecution BBC drama, there was Ethel & Ernest ads on the left side of my laptop screen. So after I had finished watching WFP, I clicked it. I enjoyed watching it. It's a sweet romance without being cloying. Very warm story. The Ernest's voice actor has a distinct accent. It's so nice to hear. Do you know the accent is originated in which part of UK? :D
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

The story is set in London so he has a working class London accent.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Julie2owlsdene »

I watched it when it was broadcast over Christmas, Anita. I thought it was lovely. And so well done too. I thought it was quite touching at the end when the son was going through his parents house and pictures of them both we're up on the wall etc.

It's one sad part of life at the end, when two people have had a life and all that is left is memories and an empty house.

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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by sixret »

Thank you, Anita. I know that Hastings in Poirot is from London but Hastings and Ernest have very different accents. Hastings is upper middle class. I am not sure if upper middle class and working class are the same.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Anita Bensoussane »

The social classes are quite complicated to define. Working class people would traditionally have gone into manual or low-skilled jobs on leaving school at the age of fourteen or so, while upper middle class people would have been educated to a high level and gone into well-paid professions. The traditional upper middle class accent was Received Pronunciation, while working class people (who were less geographically mobile on the whole) tended to have the local accent of the region in which they grew up.

Changes in education, transport, employment, etc. have gradually brought about increased social and geographical mobility. We see that happening in Ethel & Ernest. Ernest (a milkman) comes from a rough background and doesn't even want Ethel (a housemaid) to visit his neighbourhood when they're courting. When they're able to buy their own house, Ethel feels that they're now members of the (lower) middle class. Their son Raymond has educational opportunities that weren't available to his parents as he attends a grammar school (a state school which selects pupils by academic ability) and then goes to art college and university. At one stage, Ernest comments that he has to work for five days to earn what Raymond earns in a day - even though Raymond has only just begun his career. Later, of course, Raymond was to achieve fame as an illustrator and graphic novelist.

I'm glad others enjoyed the animation too. I haven't read the book, Number 6, but the TV animation of When the Wind Blows stuck closely to the book and I imagine the same would apply to this.
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Re: Raymond Briggs - Ethel and Ernest, etc.

Post by Rob Houghton »

I watched Ethel and Earnest when it was shown over Christmas - and both me and my dad loved it. It shows Raymond Briggs at his best - most of his books are tinged with sadness and wistfulness - even Fungus The Bogey Man - though you'd never know this from the awful (in my opinion!) TV series.

Like Anita, I could identify strongly with the characters, as they were just like my mom's parents (born 1908 and 1909 - died 1980 and 1989.). Raymond Briggs is a brilliant observer of life, and this comes through strongly in both Ethel and Ernest and Fungus The Bogeyman - and even in Father Christmas and The Snowman.
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