What was lost
John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things.
This is MY version of a review.
Good thing I didn't know that Connolly was a mystery thriller writer before I bought the book. This is his first non-mystery book, coincidentally.
Righto. Summary -
1939. The beginning of WW2. David is a 12-year-old boy who has just lost his mother and is now struggling to come to terms with his father's recent marriage to another woman, Rose. When a new stepbrother is born, David becomes increasingly jealous and resentful towards the new addition and Rose. Seeking comfort in books, David begins to withdraw into his own world, but as he goes deeper, he begins to see and hear things that are not there. And then comes the Crooked Man, and (predictably) everything starts to go wrong.
My view -
Oooh, good story. Loved how Connolly used fairy tales to nudge the story along. The book is about stories and the power they have over us, particularly the fairy tales that we grew up listening to. Connolly mangles them in even creepier ways than Gaiman did, really. And after all, weren't these tales about blood, or had blood in them, when they were first told? (You can blame Disney for the sugar sweet versions of the tales.) But Connolly's version of Snow White was - was - well, it was worth getting the book just for that. <3
Writing a bit clunky, methought, but then again, it's not his normal genre.
Okay...one thing though - this story reminded me a lot of Pan's Labyrinth. Similarities were too obvious.
1. Both Ofelia and David are afraid of the loss of their mothers - well they both lost their mothers in the end.
2. Both are lonely, and spend a lot of time alone with their books.
3. Both enter a magical world of fairy tales.
4. Both their lives are in danger from the creatures in the other world.
5. *spoiler* Both return to the other place in the end after their deaths.
6. The Faun and the Crooked Man seem to be ambiguous characters. The Faun meant well in the end, while the Crooked Man was just...sick.
I loved Connolly's Crooked Man. Struck gold with this character. He isn't clearly evil or malevolent at first - but the ending...Connolly then gives you the full description of what the Crooked Man is capable of (i.e., everything, no matter how sick or evil).
Anyway...I wonder why all my lecturers seem to think that we'd be doing nothing but lazing round the house during Chinese New Year - okay, maybe you are, but I'm going back to Malacca with NO INTERNET ACCESS and how the bloody hell am I supposed to finish my assignments during the week and hand them in the week after next? And the worst thing is that all the assignments need research.
I'm complaining too much, yeah, but I'm stressed out right now.
Damn. I need more Pratchett :(
This is MY version of a review.
Good thing I didn't know that Connolly was a mystery thriller writer before I bought the book. This is his first non-mystery book, coincidentally.
Righto. Summary -
1939. The beginning of WW2. David is a 12-year-old boy who has just lost his mother and is now struggling to come to terms with his father's recent marriage to another woman, Rose. When a new stepbrother is born, David becomes increasingly jealous and resentful towards the new addition and Rose. Seeking comfort in books, David begins to withdraw into his own world, but as he goes deeper, he begins to see and hear things that are not there. And then comes the Crooked Man, and (predictably) everything starts to go wrong.
My view -
Oooh, good story. Loved how Connolly used fairy tales to nudge the story along. The book is about stories and the power they have over us, particularly the fairy tales that we grew up listening to. Connolly mangles them in even creepier ways than Gaiman did, really. And after all, weren't these tales about blood, or had blood in them, when they were first told? (You can blame Disney for the sugar sweet versions of the tales.) But Connolly's version of Snow White was - was - well, it was worth getting the book just for that. <3
Writing a bit clunky, methought, but then again, it's not his normal genre.
Okay...one thing though - this story reminded me a lot of Pan's Labyrinth. Similarities were too obvious.
1. Both Ofelia and David are afraid of the loss of their mothers - well they both lost their mothers in the end.
2. Both are lonely, and spend a lot of time alone with their books.
3. Both enter a magical world of fairy tales.
4. Both their lives are in danger from the creatures in the other world.
5. *spoiler* Both return to the other place in the end after their deaths.
6. The Faun and the Crooked Man seem to be ambiguous characters. The Faun meant well in the end, while the Crooked Man was just...sick.
I loved Connolly's Crooked Man. Struck gold with this character. He isn't clearly evil or malevolent at first - but the ending...Connolly then gives you the full description of what the Crooked Man is capable of (i.e., everything, no matter how sick or evil).
Anyway...I wonder why all my lecturers seem to think that we'd be doing nothing but lazing round the house during Chinese New Year - okay, maybe you are, but I'm going back to Malacca with NO INTERNET ACCESS and how the bloody hell am I supposed to finish my assignments during the week and hand them in the week after next? And the worst thing is that all the assignments need research.
I'm complaining too much, yeah, but I'm stressed out right now.
Damn. I need more Pratchett :(
posted by Lynn at
12:22 am
2 Comments:
Oh glad you've got The Book Of Lost Things!!! When I read it and put the book down I was like wow. (Seriously need to read more) The fairy tales part was awesome...the scarier one for me had to be Red Riding Hood though. Waaayyy sick. But you're right about Snow White - that was a hoot! The back part even has the original stories/poems thingie...quite interesting!
Hey is life of pi good? Coz I'm thinking of buying it but not too sure....it's like £3 for a hardcover at oxfam XD
-steph
Stephanie! :)
Ooo you read the book too! <3 Yeah the Red Riding Hood story was seriously disturbing. Had to re-read it a few times, just to make sure I wasn't seeing things... :P
Not too sure about Life of Pi...Stan recommended it before, but as for me...erm, I didn't like it. Heh. Guess it's not for everyone...
Oh btw, Happy Chinese New Year to you! :)
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