The book Spencer’s Mountain is the best book that I have ever read, I won’t say that it’s the best book ever written because I haven’t read every book in existence, but it’s definitely a possibility. Written by Earl Hamner Jr. the story is made up of several events that actually happened in his life but which have been fictionalised.
As you read, you find out about the adventures of young aspiring writer Clay-Boy, a member of the very large Spencer family. The overreaching arc of the novel is the story of Clay-Boy working hard so that he can go to college, and, throughout the story there are events that’re really funny and events that’re really sad, all them featuring highly likeable and relatable characters. It’s a real testimony to how well Earl Hamner can write. I guess I should also write a little warning that there is one scene in the book that is somewhat sexually explicit, but it’s done very well and isn’t at all untasteful, but I just thought I should mention it as it was rather unexpected.
Spencer’s Mountain has been adapted twice, once as the film Spencer’s Mountain and then again a little later as the TV series The Waltons. Unfortunately, at the time of writing I have not seen the original film adaptation, but I have seen the TV series and anyone who has seen the series will enjoy reading the book even more because you’ll notice all the links to episodes in it. But I’m adding unnecessary adaptation information, so this last paragraph may be irrelevant, I only added it because otherwise I’d just be saying “This book is great” over and over again.
Basically, I love this book, so I’ll give it a nice 10/10
