Harvey’s Hutch - Philip Dodd

 It’s often astounded me today how celebrities, for want of a better word, feel that after a short time in the public eye they are compelled to offer their life story in book form. I have held the belief that a true autobiography should be attempted towards the maturer years as it is only then that a true reflection of life‘s journey and it’s lessons can really be effectively written about. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve read and enjoyed some of these autobiographies and been thoroughly entertained but often been left with the feeling that the lives I’m reading about are only half lived and there’s more to come. The other thing that strikes me is that when you remove the celebrity aspect of these books what you have left is………. ordinary lives of ordinary people or extraordinary lives of extraordinary people because really we’re all rather unique. And I think that if we were all compelled as part of some dystopian direction to write our own memoirs we would all come up with our own anecdotes and observations that might be interesting and entertaining to read.

And that brings me neatly to the subject of this blog piece, this charming memoir of Philip Dodd – Harvey’s Hutch. It’s not an autobiography, as such, it is very much a memoir where Dodd likens memories to mirrors in a quite captivating way and demonstrates how a pivotal event in a younger life can impact irrevocably on their future life. Here the four-year-old Phil finds that Harvey, much beloved rabbit, has disappeared in the night through a hole in the wire mesh of his hutch. 

Dodd’s memory mirrors allows us glimpses into his life and his philosophies of life. It’s a gentle lyrical consideration of people and events that may have contributed to the person he has become. It’s full of relatable anecdotes, well relatable if you’re a certain age I guess! I am! And so it was sheer delight to read of life in the 60s with  Ready Steady Go, the progress of the Beatles (Liverpool feature strongly as Mr Dodd’s hometown), the crumbling of Oxo cubes and the sobering reminder of how the war shaped our parents. I thrilled at some of the parallels between my life and this writer’s. From a hutched pet in early years to the desire to pursue literature, the impact of family and friends from our younger years and that profound sense of loss when beloved grandparents pass away.

It’s a memoir of honesty and earnest belief. I found something so profoundly refreshing about the lack of desire to impress the reader that is so often present in other such works and it was also very moving. it  is taking those things that happen in our lives and giving them a credibility that is uplifting when you read because you can identify and think, oh yes, I remember. We all have mirrors, they hold the reflection of our very souls. Not all of us have the capacity to commit them to a full length book as Philip Dodd has done. And done so very well.

My thanks to Librarything and the author himself for my gifted copy.