An English version is below!
Dyma'r llyfr cyntaf yn y Gyfres Amdani (i ddysgwyr Cymraeg) mwynheais i fel pe bai nofel yn Saesneg. Addaswyd y llyfr Helen Naylor gan Dwynwen Teifi - mae’r eirfa’n berffaith i Lefel Canolradd Dau. Mae’n stori yn hyfryd. Darllenais i’r llyfr yma dros un diwrnod, achos ro’n i eisiau gwybod beth fasai'n mynd i ddigwydd.
Mae’r stori yn rhychwantu hanner can mlynedd, o’r diwedd yr Ail Ryfel Byd, pan oedd Megan a Huw un ar bymtheg mlwydd oed. Mae tad Megan eisiau bod hi’n mynd i’r coleg, ond rhaid i'w chariad Huw gweithio yn y pwll glo.
Mae rhestr o’r cymeriadau ar y dechrau, sy ddim yn angenrheidiol, yn fy marn i, achos mae’n rhoi gormod o fanylion amdanyn nhw. Mae’r rhagair yn fwy diddorol - llythyr yw e. Y llythyr o’r teitl? Llythyr hwyrach yw ymgeisydd posib hefyd . . . beth ydy’n digwydd yn y stori Megan e Huw?
Roedd y teitlau penodau wedi'n ddethol iawn, ro’n i’n meddwl. Maen nhw’n ddefnyddiol, gan symud y stori ymlaen gyda chryno digwyddiadau. Dim un o eiriau yn wastraff.
Ro’n i’n caru Megan a Huw a ro’n i eisiau bydd popeth yn iawn amdanyn nhw. Roedd eu bywydau’n teimlo’n wir i fi, go iawn. Ro’n i’n drist ag hapus drostyn nhw.
Llyfr bach perffaith.
English version: The Letter
This was the first book in the Cyfres Amdani series for Welsh learners that I enjoyed as if it were a novel written in English. Helen Naylor’s book was adapted by Dwynwen Teifi – it’s just right for Intermediate 2 Level in the ‘Welsh for Adults’ course. It’s a lovely story. I read it over the course of a day, because I wanted to know what was going to happen.
The story spans fifty years, from the end of The Second World War, when Megan and Huw were sixteen years old. Megan’s father wants her to go to college, but Huw has to go down the mine.
There is a list of characters at the beginning, which, in my opinion, is unnecessary, as it gives away too much detail about them. The preface is more interesting – a letter. Is it the letter of the book title? There is also a later letter that is a possible candidate . . . what will happen in the story of Megan and Huw?
The chapter headings were well chosen, I though, moving the story on while summarising the chapter content. Not a word is wasted.
I loved Megan and Huw and wanted everything to work out well for them. Their lives felt real to me, and I was both sad and happy for them.
A perfect little book.