A narrative composed of other narratives. This is how author John Connolly describes The Book of Lost Things. The boy David loves the company of books, and in them he thoroughly enjoys stories that take him away from his place where the second world war is imminent and his beloved mother lay dying. Interspersed with the real world, he soon steps into a magical land where things seem vaguely familiar. And David realizes they are indeed familiar, for many are tales from the books he loved, but have been given different twists.
Also, the imagination is quite powerful here, because when it is mixed with strong emotion, things find a way to materialize themselves. Unfortunately, such emotions are usually of fear and hatred.
It is interesting how - given its source material of children's fairy tale books - this book is actually not meant for kids. Deeper, underlying messages geared towards adults. And there are even scenarios that are obviously understandable to adults and not to kids. But the author did find - as he shared in the interview at the latter part of the book - that kids did enjoy reading them as well, though some did not comprehend the real meaning within it.
The soft-bound book, at 399 pages, is quite thick. But the story ends at about three-quarters of the way, and the rest is a recollection of the stories from whence the author created David's world. This section is a worthwhile read too, as it shares a bit of history about how the story has evolved over the years and then it proceeds with the telling of the story. Many of these, understandably, comes from the version of the Brothers Grimm.
If you loved reading books as a kid and you are familiar with Snow White, Rumplestiltskin, Sleeping Beauty, and their company, The Book of Lost Things will read like a magical book. It is a well-written story, engaging and rich with imagination.
If you stayed outdoors playing more than you read books as a kid, you will still surely find an adventure within the pages worth travelling to, as the kid David discovered in the sunken garden.
Related link: The Book of Lost Things website
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1 comments:
Nice review, Nick! I'll keep a lookout for this book.
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