book data
505 ratings, 3.90 average rating, 59 reviews
(more data...)
edit
published
May 1st 2002
(first published 1985)
by Greenwillow
binding
Hardcover, 432 pages
isbn
0060298855
(isbn13: 9780060298852)
description
A photograph called "Fire and Hemlock" that has been on the wall since her childhood. A story in a book of supernatural stories -- had Po...more
Sign in to Goodreads to see your friends' reviews of this book.
| topics | replies | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Next Best Boo...: Top 5 All Time - No Classics Allowed | 121 | 428 | 8 hours, 43 min ago |
friend reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up.
other reviews (showing 1-20 of 661)
Read in January, 1989
recommends it for:
good kids
(Pre-1985-) Dianna Wynne Jones is my absolute favorite writer of all time. Since I've gotten this far with cataloguing much of my reading history, I had to make sure this fact is recorded here somewhere. I actually haven't read this one -- my favorite -- in years, mostly because I'm terrified I'll discover it can no longer do for me anything like what it did when I was a kid.
I really wish I could read anything now that would give me the kind of experience I had as a child reading Ms. Jones's...more
I really wish I could read anything now that would give me the kind of experience I had as a child reading Ms. Jones's...more
Like this review?
yes
(2 people liked it)
2 comments
Read in January, 2006
I saw this title on the Young Adult shelf at the library and, remembering Eight Days of Luke, Howl's Moving Castle and other titles I'd enjoyed by the same author, I picked it up. I'm glad I had read the other books by Jones before, because I wasn't really impressed by this one, and I might not have given her a second chance had this been my only experience with her work.
Much of the book is a sort of coming-of-age narrative of the main character, with whom I failed to sympathi...more
Much of the book is a sort of coming-of-age narrative of the main character, with whom I failed to sympathi...more
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
why does this book always have such TERRIBLE covers? don't let them turn you off. dianna wynne jones is fantastic across this board, and this is my favorite of her books. it's written for a slightly older audience than many of the others (dogstar, etc).
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in March, 1999
Dianna Wynne Jones is my favourite author of all time, really. And this is definitely high on my list of all-time favorite books. I love how she melds fantasy effortlessly with reality to create this great mystery/love story/can't really classify it.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in January, 1993
I wish I could give this book infinite stars.
Like this review?
yes
(1 person liked it)
add a comment
Read in February, 2008
recommends it for:
teens/adults
It's simply fantastic. I stayed up all night once, reading it . . . my second time. The thing I like best about Diana Wynne Jones is that her heroines are always really strong people. Polly is imaginative, quick-thinking and independent. She doesn't sit around waiting for help, she makes things happen.
I love how everything is described in this book. Once in the book, Jones talks about how reaching the end of a milkshake sounds like, and it is so true! She is always very inventive in her metap...more
I love how everything is described in this book. Once in the book, Jones talks about how reaching the end of a milkshake sounds like, and it is so true! She is always very inventive in her metap...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2008
Definitely one of my favorites of hers so far. It's a retelling of two Scottish ballads... sort of. I thought the realistic elements, though, were the heart of the story - the chronicle of the protagonist's painfully dysfunctional childhood, the vivid descriptions of England in the eighties, and the warped yet compelling love story at the center of it.
There was also a lot of interesting themage about storytelling, reality, and power. It was in fact written the year before Howl's Moving Castl...more
There was also a lot of interesting themage about storytelling, reality, and power. It was in fact written the year before Howl's Moving Castl...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2007
The cover is absurd, but the story is interesting, if a bit confusing.
*Spoilers*
P.O.?:
In order to unravel the mystery surrounding her nine-year-double-stranded memories, Polly must delve into her past, allowing herself to remember the event that led to her amnesia-like state, in order to unravel the mystery and save the man she loves. I’m still not sure I fully understand the ending of this book-I do understand that Polly ends up saving Tom Lynn, but I’m not sure I understand how-I...more
*Spoilers*
P.O.?:
In order to unravel the mystery surrounding her nine-year-double-stranded memories, Polly must delve into her past, allowing herself to remember the event that led to her amnesia-like state, in order to unravel the mystery and save the man she loves. I’m still not sure I fully understand the ending of this book-I do understand that Polly ends up saving Tom Lynn, but I’m not sure I understand how-I...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Explores in a very meta way the mythical trope of hero figures through the interactions of a young girl Polly and a man called Thomas Lynn whom she befriends at a funeral being held at the mysterious neighbouring manor house one Halloween. References to Tam Lin, Thomas the Rhymer and T.S. Eliot's Four Quartets abound and a familiarity with these should enlighten an understanding of the plot, particularly the ending which is famed for its confusing and oblique denouement, but is not essential to ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2002
recommended to Susan! by:
Helenrecommends it for: fans of smart YA fantasy, people interested in books, words, time, memory
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in August, 2004
Diana Wynne Jones is at the top of my list of best fantasy writers for children and young adult fiction (along with Vivian Vande Velde and Garth Nix). Her books are well-crafted, rich enough that I'd say most could be crossover adult books, and truly original.
"Fire and Hemlock" is one of my favorite books by Jones. It's place as number one is rivaled only by "Howl's Moving Castle." Originally published in 1985, "Fire and Hemlock" is a modern retelling of the bal...more
"Fire and Hemlock" is one of my favorite books by Jones. It's place as number one is rivaled only by "Howl's Moving Castle." Originally published in 1985, "Fire and Hemlock" is a modern retelling of the bal...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
Megan
What an exciting read. The authors illustration of a youths perceptiveness, and simultaneous confusion, to adult emotion is authentic and moving. The characters relate in a most believable way in a world where fantasy and reality are entwined- where there is mystery just strange enough to be believable but not strange enough to take you to the safe world of fantasies.
This book could have been 5 stars if only the ending has been a bit clearer and less abrupt. Funny thing is, if it were a mov...more
This book could have been 5 stars if only the ending has been a bit clearer and less abrupt. Funny thing is, if it were a mov...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in December, 2007
This book was enthralling through the first two thirds, which I read in one sitting, but the ending kinda wavers. It suffers from what I like to call the Wynne Jones Whatinthehell, wherein the story seems to be going along fine until you hit a passage so shrouded in metaphorical magic with no precedent that you’re like “What in the hell is going on?” At its best, this is a wonderfully-crafted story where you find yourself really growing up with Polly, the protagonist. She’s awesome, and ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 2006
Why is F&H so good? I offer you a number of reasons.
1. The character observation is almost Austen-ish in its subtlety, accuracy, and often humor. And I love the heroine, Polly, stubborn, sometimes clueless, and always brave.
2. The plot is all-absorbing, every detail worked out, no sloppy holes to interrupt its tapestry. And it's a great story, a story of adventure and love.
3. Despite this, nothing is overstated. DWJ doesn't feel the need to use any anvil-weight explanations. She ...more
1. The character observation is almost Austen-ish in its subtlety, accuracy, and often humor. And I love the heroine, Polly, stubborn, sometimes clueless, and always brave.
2. The plot is all-absorbing, every detail worked out, no sloppy holes to interrupt its tapestry. And it's a great story, a story of adventure and love.
3. Despite this, nothing is overstated. DWJ doesn't feel the need to use any anvil-weight explanations. She ...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 2001
recommends it for:
EVERYONE!
this is probably my favorite book. i've read it far too many times, but i still enjoy it. The story is set in England(the author is British)and you just get pulled into it. what's so amazing is how polly (the main character) has this dull everyday existence yet suddenly something triggers her memory and she realizes that it was all a fake and her real life was exciting and adventerous. The true brilliance of Diana Wynne Jones is how she manages to write stories about all the secret hope and d...more
Read in October, 2008
I read through 200-some pages of good (if somewhat slow-paced) story, only to be met with the most obscure, unsatisfying ending probably in all of history. If I hadn't already read and enjoyed some of her other books, this would be enough to put me off Diana Wynn Jones forever.
I did like all of the story up until I got to the ending. So I gave it three stars at least. But I feel gypped! I want an ending that goes with this story! Because I don't know what this ending was. I'm sure it...more
I did like all of the story up until I got to the ending. So I gave it three stars at least. But I feel gypped! I want an ending that goes with this story! Because I don't know what this ending was. I'm sure it...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
This story is an interesting, unique and twisty version of the ballad of Tam Lin. The tale begins when Polly suddenly realizes that vast portions of her childhood memory have been erased mysteriously. As she remembers more and more of her past, taking the reader along for the ride, she realizes that she has a limited amount of time to save a childhood friend. I love the way in which this novel creates a version of faery that exists in the ordinary world of England. Again, the author's unique abi...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in January, 1996
What I learned from this book is that it is okay for men in their early twenties to fall in love with nine year old girls. OK, just kidding, I'm sure he didn't fall in love until she had grown into the mature age of 15.
Actually this is a pretty good book. Diana Wynne Jones is very good at integrating magic into her stories pretty seamlessly and this book takes this myth of Tam Lin and really reimagines it in a very cool way. It is the most emotional of Diana Wynne Jones' books that I've r...more
Actually this is a pretty good book. Diana Wynne Jones is very good at integrating magic into her stories pretty seamlessly and this book takes this myth of Tam Lin and really reimagines it in a very cool way. It is the most emotional of Diana Wynne Jones' books that I've r...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in November, 1990
When I was first handed this book to read I struggled to get into it and put it down. A few months later I felt compelled to pick it up again and this time I not only finished it but it became one of my all time favourite books. I have read it over 5 times (atleast 2 readings is required to fully understand the story) and got something different out of it every time. The characters will stay with me forever! I do agree that the last two chapters seem rushed and abrupt which is a real shame becau...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
Read in July, 2007
recommends it for:
all readers of fantasy
I learned from this book that books are important. So are pictures.
Magic disguises itself in everyday clothes, but is still there.
Remembering ones childhood matters.
I now see what bravecows meant about Diana Wynne Jones and finishing a book. The book finishes in a great hurry: I would have liked an coda with some explainings in it, to catch my breath before the end of the book.
I have read that 'Tam Lin' ends rather abrup...more
Magic disguises itself in everyday clothes, but is still there.
Remembering ones childhood matters.
I now see what bravecows meant about Diana Wynne Jones and finishing a book. The book finishes in a great hurry: I would have liked an coda with some explainings in it, to catch my breath before the end of the book.
I have read that 'Tam Lin' ends rather abrup...more
Like this review?
yes
add a comment
to-read
(on 87 people's shelves)
fantasy (on 57 people's shelves)
young-adult (on 18 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 10 people's shelves)
youngadult (on 9 people's shelves)
diana-wynne-jones (on 7 people's shelves)
favorites (on 7 people's shelves)
ya (on 7 people's shelves)
fiction (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
More shelves...
fantasy (on 57 people's shelves)
young-adult (on 18 people's shelves)
currently-reading (on 10 people's shelves)
youngadult (on 9 people's shelves)
diana-wynne-jones (on 7 people's shelves)
favorites (on 7 people's shelves)
ya (on 7 people's shelves)
fiction (on 5 people's shelves)
own (on 5 people's shelves)
More shelves...
