So…what next?
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@ Oliver Hill Ask ownerOLIVER HILL
Education by means of boarding schools orphaned Oliver away from parental care. The offer of three ten-pound notes and a one-way ticket to New Zealand, aged eighteen, deemed itself to be manna from heaven for the young Irishman, kick-starting individual endeavours.
Oil rigs in Australia spilt dollars into swag bags in 1967.
Ceylon became the launching pad for an epic mystery motorbike ride back to Ireland.
Together with the iliad he took at this time, Oliver’s diary documents life on this journey, a candid snapshot into navigating the strange food, customs and sometimes dangerous culture of 1960’s Asia.
€12.00
ISBN: 5 060391 684802
Seller Bio
Sold by: OLIVER HILLIt took me a full ten years to finish So...what next? If I ever get to author another book, I had better speed up a bit! It is amazing, looking back, how much research is required to get facts correct. School days were simple as my mother had kept diaries and other paraphernalia such as term reports (God forgive me). I particularly treasured my headmaster and housemasters' final reports from English boarding school.
For some reason, as I had never done so before, I kept a couple of diaries over the next part of the book in which I would recount the goings-on maybe every three months or so. These are invaluable.
Recently, I answered the door of my home to admit a delivery man. He presented me with two very heavy boxes. In them were, wrapped tightly, one hundred copies of my self-published book. There could be no going back to recheck, revise, tidy up, or rename what was stashed in the boxes. I imagine that every author goes through the same emotion upon seeing the finished product for the first time. Hopefully, some of the recipients will read the book from cover to cover.
So...what now?
Oliver Hill.
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So…what next?
€12.00
Brian O’Flynn (verified owner) –
As the hackneyed phrase goes it is a real “page turner”. Very enjoyable read. Good value, well worth the price. I look forward to the next one, and like he says himself, l hope he speeds up with production!
Mal Scherf –
Ah Sean, my old friend, have just finished reading your book. THANKS for bringing back so many memories, some lost in time and others destroyed by damage to the brain through overindulgence in the drink! Even though the narrative ran at a cracking pace I only read a few pages a day so I could relive the moment, conjure up the sound and smells, the situations and the comradeship. As the song by Mary Hopkin in 1968 summed it up “those were the days my friend, we thought they’d never end”.
Congratulations on making the effort to write, also the research around the trials and tribulations of the SS Iberia, I wonder what really happened to that piano. Also enjoyed all the other historical facts you included about history and places visited, you were correct in saying that there had been little to no prior research: in my case had just gone along for the ride.
Sean, my old mate, no corrections on my part. Particularly because some bastard stole my small bag in Thessaloniki containing my diary that was meticulously updated every day (or two) along with the Kukri purchased in Nepal and carried hidden through many border crossings. Would have loved to have used it for a bit of blood- letting if I had ever caught the bastard. Besides, Isn’t it writers’ prerogative to exaggerate and embellish a little?
Thoroughly enjoyed the read.
Maggie Whyte (verified owner) –
Thoroughly enjoyed this book. You are brought along this wonderful journey in 1940s Ireland to the other side of the world and back with such whit and humour. This is what brings this adventure to life.
You can clearly see the sheer determination to make the most out of what life throws at you.
Barry Duckworth –
An engaging tale told with verve and enthusiasm. Great observations on life in Catholic Ireland in the 50’s then onto boarding school in England which failed to challenge our boy’s potential.
Shipped off to New Zealand aged 19, ‘Sean’s’ irrepressible charm and humour got him through many scrapes during his adventuring in N.Z. and Australia then up through Asia, Europe and finally back to Ireland in 1968. All on a small 125cc motorcycle!
You have to ask- what next?!
Yvonne G –
So…what next? is a romping tale. The sometimes tongue-in-cheek memories can be hilarious. His childhood recollections and observations had me wanting to turn the pages as the narrative grabbed me. Bearing in mind that this memoir begins in the late forties, the reality of his storytelling is very ‘present’. His capering around in Australasia is so ‘divil me care’, the detail of which is backed up by access to his own diaries written in the sixties. Amazing.
The final extraordinary chapters exposed me to what adventure was like when access to travel books, maps, phones, the internet, referencing etc. was non-existent. And all 14,000 miles of it ridden on a 125 HP Yamaha motorbike!