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The Book of Lost Things

by John Connolly (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 24,422 ratings · 3,668 reviews

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into...more

Hardcover, 339 pages

Published November 7th 2006 by Atria (first published January 1st 2006)

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Dec 10, 2011 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, fantasy, audiobook, 2006-2010, darker-than-you-think, ya, books-about-books, mythstories-and-legends, retellings-reimaginings-and-mashes

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Rumpelstiltskin…aka “the Crooked Man” is one seriously scary and diabolical CREEPSTER.

Trust me, after reading this book, the above image of a sadistic, powerful, child-slaughtering MOFO will forever displace your previous perception of old Rumpy being nothing more than a half pint, mischievous prankster with ethical deficiencies…

…a Disney tale this is not.
…a light, comforting “happily ever after” children’s story this is not.

However, what this story is….is beautifully written, richly charac...more

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Nov 03, 2011 mark monday rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: mythopoeikon, time-to-come-of-age, fantastickal

Fugue state, formally Dissociative Fugue... usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. Fugues are usually precipitated by a stressful episode.

in world war 2-era england, young David loses his mother after a lingering illness and begins to experience strange dissociative episodes, often involving the sounds of books whispering to him and usually ending with him falling into unconsciousness. soon enough, his father finds a n...more Fugue state, formally Dissociative Fugue... usually involves unplanned travel or wandering, and is sometimes accompanied by the establishment of a new identity. Fugues are usually precipitated by a stressful episode.

in world war 2-era england, young David loses his mother after a lingering illness and begins to experience strange dissociative episodes, often involving the sounds of books whispering to him and usually ending with him falling into unconsciousness. soon enough, his father finds a new wife named Rose - a nurse at his mother's hospice - and David finds himself with a stepmother and an infant half-brother. David is deeply unhappy with this development. after the new family moves out of london to Rose's country home in order to escape german bombers, David realizes a shadowy, crooked figure has sinister designs on him and his brother. one night, after a particularly bad argument with his folks, David hears his mother's voice calling him. following that voice, he crawls into a hole within a sunken garden - just as a german bomber also falls from the sky and crashes into that garden. he emerges into a sinister fantasyland. his quest: Find and Rescue His Mother. his nemesis: The Crooked Man.

John Connolly is best known as a respected writer of an excellent detective series. his strengths have been widely reported: gorgeously dark and lush descriptive skills, a sensitive portrayal of private eye Charlie Parker - an unusually tormented protagonist (tragic even for a genre noted for its sad, sad heroes), and a unsettling ability to mix the prosaic with the supernatural to startling effect. in this book, Connolly takes each of those gifts and streamlines them in a way that is appropriate for the reader of young adult or even children's literature - although this novel is very clearly an Adult Fairy Tale. the result is pleasingly distinctive. there are many scenes that are striking in their psychosocial nuance, their foreboding atmosphere, their ability to evoke that wonderfully shivery feeling of fearful anticipation. my favorite passage happens early on: David's daunting entry into the strange fantasy world... an eerie vignette that is a model of careful, suspenseful writing, featuring unearthly quiet, child-like flowers, a a taciturn Woodsman, the smoking remains of the german bomber, bleeding trees, a house in the woods with a Giger-like exterior, and a gathering of evil wolfish beings.

Dionysian imitatio, a literary method of imitation conceived as the practice of emulating, adaptating, reworking and enriching a source text by an earlier author.

Book of Lost Things is a book of mythopoeic templates - revisited, revised, regurgitated, remixed, and reimagined. we have an entire company of Big Bad Wolves, reconfigured as ambitious wolf-men, born of a grotesquely slutty Little Red Hood and sprung from the nightmares of a juvenile king... a perhaps not-so-Wicked Stepmother... a malevolent and terrifying Sleeping Beauty... Childe Roland, transformed as a brave gay soldier in search of his long-lost lover... trolls and harpies and a savage, hungry Beast... a young girl's spirit in a glass jar... and our villain, a gleeful child-thief, a striker of dark bargains, a Rumpelstiltskin, an old old devil: The Crooked Man.

the use of revisionism is, sadly, not always successful. a comic interlude with the socialist Seven Dwarves and an obese, monstrous Snow White is depressingly unfunny and a little desperate (at least to this reader). and a long part near the end, depicting various torture chambers and examples of The Crooked Man's terrible villainy seems to be merely an excuse for Connolly to indulge himself with a gloatingly vicious array of sadistic tableau. both sequences were eye-rolling and sigh-inducing.

but those are aberrations; despite them, Connolly more than succeeds in creating delightful and intriguing reinterprations of figures from fairy and folk tale. even better, David's character is a slow-burning but dynamic one, changing in bits and starts from boy to man with each new encounter. he is a realistically flawed protagonist as well as a brave and endearing little hero.

Memento mori, a Latin phrase translated as "Remember your mortality", "Remember you must die" or "Remember you will die"... it names a genre of artistic work which varies widely, but which all share the same purpose: to remind people of their own mortality.

the novel's extended endings were a brilliant surprise. to avoid spoilers, i'll just say that i was entirely taken aback by the meaning of The Book of Lost Things itself. and - even more memorably, more intensely - the closing pages' no-nonsense illustration of the potential and/or inherent tragedy of human life in general... and the idea of that tragedy - no matter how intimate - somehow not really being that tragic at all - just simply a part of the greater cycle of life, death, and rebirth.

i hate to end a review with a tv show reference... but if you have ever seen the last 10 minutes or so of Six Feet Under's final episode - a wondrously sad, wistful, yet somehow uplifting experience - you will know exactly what i mean. the ending of this rather fantastic book is equally moving.(less)

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Feb 01, 2009 Bunga Mawar rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, translated-into-indonesian, it-s-mine

Review yang agak sedikit serius berhubung sudah masuk bulan Februari

Lagi-lagi Ibu memergoki saya sedang cekikikan bersama sebuah buku, "Apa lagi, itu?" tanya beliau.

"Hmmm... coba Ibu bayangkan cerita Timun Mas. Waktu dia berlari melintasi gunung dan lembah dikejar Buto Ijo sambil mengantungi perbekalannya: terasi, garam, cabe (bukan jarum), ia melewati sebuah kebun timun. Di sana Pak Tani dan si Kancil sedang sibuk memanen timun dengan bahagia. Pak Tani memanggilnya dan mengajaknya ikut memetik...more

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Mar 01, 2012 Colleen rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fractured-fairytale, group-read

So I finished the story part of this last night (though I'm still browsing through the additional material stuff), and I ended up really liking it.

Actually, I found the ending very poignant and bitter sweet... touching and sad and beautiful, and it elevated an otherwise 3.5 star book to a full 4 stars.

I will say that I enjoyed the story pretty much throughout. I really like fairy tale re-tellings, and I like the way they were often put on their head in this story, but also used to both teach Dav...more

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Mar 09, 2008 Robotkarateman rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: modern-fantasy

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Connolly's "Book of Lost Things" came highly recommended as a modern take on the fantasy genre. What I found instead was a completely unlikeable main character, an array of interchangeable father figures, and a disappointing rehash of the usual fairy tale parodies.

"Lost Things" centers on David, a boy whose mother dies and whose father remarries and has a second child, leaving David to bicker bitterly with his new stepmother while trying to avoid anxiety attacks that leave him blacked out and f...more Connolly's "Book of Lost Things" came highly recommended as a modern take on the fantasy genre. What I found instead was a completely unlikeable main character, an array of interchangeable father figures, and a disappointing rehash of the usual fairy tale parodies.

"Lost Things" centers on David, a boy whose mother dies and whose father remarries and has a second child, leaving David to bicker bitterly with his new stepmother while trying to avoid anxiety attacks that leave him blacked out and feverish. And that groundwork occurs in one of the most poorly paced info-dumps I've had the misfortune to read. The first chapter focuses on David and his mother, leading you to believe this will be the crux of the story - but alas, she dies. The second chapter focuses on the father's remarriage and David's anxiety attacks leading the reader to believe, perhaps, this is the focus of the story - it is not. The third and fourth chapters center on David's mostly absent father whose work is "top secret" and David's fights with his step-mother and we, the audience, raise our index fingers and say, "Ah-ha! Top secret Dad! Conflict with the new parental figure! This, surely, is the story!" But, alas, those are red-herrings as well. In fact, after the sixth chapter, neither of those characters appears again until the (two chapters long!) epilogue.

The real story ends up being David's abduction into the land of fairy tales by the Crooked Man, a Rumpelstiltskin who makes vicious bargains with emotional children to feed his magical slave house. David starts off his true adventure by following the voice of his dead mother - but don't assume that the story somehow involves David's mother's spirit wandering painfully in the fantasy realm awaiting rescue, this too, in Connolly fashion, is completely irrelevant to the story. Instead, David wanders the fantasy realm accompanied by a series of nearly identical substitute fathers who end up betraying David's trust in one way or another - by being gay in one case (Roland), by being fallible in another (the generic Woodsman).

In the end, David finds another potential father figure in Jonathon, and quickly realizes that not only is Jonathon a liar and a murderer, but also that he, David, no longer needs a father figure because he's now become a man of his own right. He then stares down Jonathon, the Crooked Man, and the vicious wolf monsters, who until that point only appeared in the story when Connolly felt the need to remind us that David was in danger because wolf monsters were chasing him; they never catch up to him except at the end and, as I said, David simply stares them down and wins by virtue of his newfound manhood.

In all, "Lost Things" is a plodding, thinly veiled paean to a baby-boomer-era view of "manhood" as stoic resolution and resistance to all hurts, including mental and emotional. Perhaps this story plays better, and I don't wish to be insulting, with a female audience, one that's never had to grapple with questions of "manliness" or had to decide on an appropriate level of attachment to an older male. As for me, I was insulted that David begins the story emotionally wounded by what he views as a betrayal by his father and, instead of finding closure, he learns to just get over it and "be a man" about it.

But a bigger insult, in my eyes, was the closing of the book - Connolly is so in love with his work that he follows up the main story with almost 150 pages of notes and commentary on his story: everything from the origins of the fairy tales he parodies to his woeful recollections of scenes that were cut from the final draft (murder your darlings, Connolly!). It's as jarring as it would be had Stephen King ended Christine with detailed descriptions of a Plymouth Belvedere and ten pages of him crying about the Arnie/Christine tailpipe sex scene that his editors excised from the final publication.

This was my first experience with Connolly, and as it's his most highly recommended book, I'll probably pass on his work in the future. (less)

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Jan 25, 2009 Wirotomo Nofamilyname rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: i-bought-it, novel-fantasy, indonesian

Saat saya membaca buku ini terus terang saya langsung teringat buku "Politically Correct Bed Time Stories"nya James Finn Garner (1994) yang diterjemahkan oleh Gramedia pada tahun 1996. Buku itu "menjungkirbalikkan" dongeng-dongeng yang sudah kita kenal baik selama ini, dengan maksud untuk mendudukkan cerita dongeng seperti seharusnya (politically correct) dan tidak seksis, tidak diskriminatif, dan tidak merendahkan martabat para tukang sihir, binatang, jembalang dan peri (hal ini dituliskan dala...more Saat saya membaca buku ini terus terang saya langsung teringat buku "Politically Correct Bed Time Stories"nya James Finn Garner (1994) yang diterjemahkan oleh Gramedia pada tahun 1996. Buku itu "menjungkirbalikkan" dongeng-dongeng yang sudah kita kenal baik selama ini, dengan maksud untuk mendudukkan cerita dongeng seperti seharusnya (politically correct) dan tidak seksis, tidak diskriminatif, dan tidak merendahkan martabat para tukang sihir, binatang, jembalang dan peri (hal ini dituliskan dalam kata pembuka buku itu). Tapi pada akhirnya, walaupun memang harus diakui cerita dongeng itu menjadi lebih menyegarkan (karena kita jadi memandang dari perspektif yang lain), namun buku ini gagal mencapai tujuannya karena setelah ia berhasil membuat dongeng2 ini tidak merendahkan wanita, binatang, jembalang, peri dsb ... tapi buku ini malah jadi merendahkan para pria, yang di dalam dongeng itu semua digambarkan sebagai tokoh yang angkuh, serakah dan bodoh. Jadi tujuan bahwa dongeng tidak boleh seksis tidak tercapai, karena dongeng2 ini sekarang menjadi seksis, tapi dengan korban yang berganti ... kaum pria.

Nah kembali ke buku The Book of Lost Things ... terlihat bahwa pengarangnya benar2 berusaha melakukan langkah sama yang dilakukan Garner dengan memasukkan tokoh utamanya ke dunia antah berantah dimana para penghuninya adalah tokoh-tokoh dongeng yang kita kenal tapi dengan perilaku dan kehidupan yang berbeda dari yang kita ketahui selama ini. Snow White (tidak diterjemahkan sebagai Putih Salju) tidak digambarkan sebagai wanita cantik dan senang mengurus rumah sang kurcaci. Kurcaci-kurcaci digambarkan "agak kekiri-kirian" dan menyebut dirinya kamerad. Bahkan sang kurcaci berusaha membunuh Snow White dengan mengkambinghitamkan Ibu Tiri Snow White, Sang Ratu ... yang sialnya pada saat kejadian memiliki alibi. Semua dongeng digambarkan dengan pikiran orang dewasa tapi sayangnya tidak segemilang upaya Garner. Cerita menjadi terlalu kekanak-kanakan untuk orang dewasa, tapi terlalu kelam dan brutal bagi anak-anak. Selama ini orang tua akan lebih suka anak tidak membaca cerita yang menggambarkan dunia dalam keadaan sebenarnya (yang kejam dan tidak menarik). Mereka membiarkan anak untuk mengetahui sendiri pada akhirnya bahwa Santa Claus itu tidak ada, kamu tidak perlu pintar untuk menjadi kaya (cukup waktu dan tempat serta kenalan yang tepat) dan sebagainya. Sehingga tidak jelas hendak ditujukan ke siapa dongeng-dongeng ini.

Terlepas dari beberapa cerita memang menyegarkan (ide paling brilian adalah kisah Snow White), namun tetap menurut saya satu-satunya pelajaran menarik dari buku ini hanyalah betapa benarnya pepatah: "There's no place, like home". Anda bisa membenci rumah tempat tinggal anda, tapi tetap tidak ada yang sebaik rumah dimana kita tinggal bersama keluarga. Itu pelajaran terbaik yang diperoleh David dari pengalamannya di negeri "dongeng" tersebut, dan itu yang harusnya kita camkan dalam kehidupan kita sebenarnya saat ini. Seharusnya.... :-)

(less)

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Apr 05, 2013 Brandon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, fiction, 2008, ya, connolly

John Connolly released only his 2nd book not related to his franchise character, Charlie Parker, with “The Book Of Lost Things”. Connolly’s story begins during World War II, where the main character, David, has moved to the childhood home of his new stepmother to escape the possibility of a German occupation in London. David’s mother had passed away a few years earlier due to a terminal disease and he had never really found a way to cope with it, shouldering most of the blame and rejecting his f...more John Connolly released only his 2nd book not related to his franchise character, Charlie Parker, with “The Book Of Lost Things”. Connolly’s story begins during World War II, where the main character, David, has moved to the childhood home of his new stepmother to escape the possibility of a German occupation in London. David’s mother had passed away a few years earlier due to a terminal disease and he had never really found a way to cope with it, shouldering most of the blame and rejecting his father’s new wife because of it. His inability to cope have resulted in David taking frequent panic attacks and passing out for extended periods of time. His parents begin to worry when David claims that the books in his bedroom have begun to talk to him, whispering to him from time to time.

One evening, after an argument with his step mother, David wanders out to his backyard claiming he’s hearing calls for help from his mother. He crawls through a space in the fence somehow transporting him into a world similar to his favorite fairy tales.

Now, I know this sounds pretty childish but it really isn’t. “The Book Of Lost Things” can at times be extremely violent as Connolly seems to enjoy twisting and taking apart various fairy tales. Snow White, for example, never meets her prince. Instead, she over-eats and forces the seven dwarfs into slave labor for the rest of their lives to support her. This leaves the dwarfs constantly trying to find a way to kill her in order to be free.

Connolly puts his own spin on several other classic tales coming away with something fresh and memorable. He develops a great antagonist with the book’s main villain, “The Crooked Man”. In the end, he is an extremely desperate and vengeful character who is fully realized and spiteful. In fact, his speech to David near the book’s conclusion is something to watch for. Quite possibly one of my favorite literary villains to date.

This was the first Connolly book I’d read and after reading almost everything else he has to offer, it remains near the top of my favorites. I’d recommend it to just about anyone.

Cross posted on Every Read Thing (less)

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Dec 07, 2011 Mith rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy, young-adult, horror, i-needz-moar, fairy-tales, love-the-cover

I stayed up till 1 last night to finish this book.

I REGRET NOTHING.

Recently I've taken quite a fancy to fairy tale re-tellings. You can go right ahead and blame Gail Carson Levine for that. The Book of Lost things belongs to that genre, albeit a ~~bit~~ LOT more darker.

The book begins by introducing us to 12-year old David who has just lost his mum. He finds out that his dad is getting remarried and pretty soon finds himself with a baby brother, whom he hates on sight. Deep in his depression, he be...more

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Jan 11, 2009 Ariyati rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

.... The story ...

It was started with David’s grief and loss for his mother. Being with books and reading was his way to lose himself from reality. The grief has not lost when his father married a woman name Rose. He still can not accept Rosi’s existence and later his half-brother Georgie. This situation drove him more onto his books and tales… and the back yard, the place where he was going to wander about.

The adventures of searching the lost mother was started in the evening at the same time a...more

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Apr 22, 2008 Kim rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: gr-friend-recommendations, meh-at-you

This is why I don't read the front jacket of books. I get sucked in thinking 'wow--this makes a good story'. Hmphf.

Okay, it's not a bad story. It had its moments. But, it lost me when it started twisting fairy tales to be all sorts of clever. Snow White as a hefty, insult laden uber wench? yeah. whatever.

The story outside of these sidebars is actually quite interesting, a boy's journey in a strange land, grieving over his dead mom, etc... but I still found myself wondering what those dudes that...more

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Jan 27, 2008 Lisa Vegan rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everybody, especially those who have used reading to get through challenging times

Shelves: fiction, orphaned-and-quasi-orphaned-kids, reviewed, novel, speculative-fiction, fairy-folktales, gr-author, books-about-books

Part fairy tale and part psychological study, I found this to be an engrossing and powerful book. Recommend to everybody, particularly those who have used reading and books to get themselves through difficult times, especially in childhood.

I don't look at this book the way some readers apparently have: as sci-fi or fantasy, but instead see it as showing the redemptive power of books and stories in children's and adults' lives. And as an account of one boy's inner life and imagination.

I'm not sur...more

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Sep 26, 2007 Abby rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fantasy

Hmmmm. What to say about this book...

Okay, in many ways, brilliant. It started off reading like a children's story and I was immediately thinking that I'd lend it to my 8-year-old niece. But as the book progressed, it moved further and further into a clear adult-fantasy. And like many adult-fantasy authors these days, Connelly has taken old fables/fairy tales and put his own twist on them. Rather than revelling them into an entire story, like Gregory Maguire does, Connelly just keeps them as lit...more

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Feb 22, 2009 Dini rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Dini by: Sanji

Shelves: fiction, translation

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Melihat judul buku ini, Kitab Tentang yang Telah Hilang, kita bisa menebak ceritanya berhubungan dengan kehilangan sesuatu atau seseorang. Di awal buku kita langsung dihadapkan pada nasib pahit David, seorang anak lelaki yang kehilangan ibunya karena penyakit. Tak lama setelah ibunya meninggal ayahnya kemudian menikah lagi. Tanpa pernah meminta David diberi ibu baru, Rose, dan adik lelaki baru, Georgie, serta harus pindah ke rumah baru pula. Di tengah masa perang yang berkecamuk di Inggris, hidu...more Melihat judul buku ini, Kitab Tentang yang Telah Hilang, kita bisa menebak ceritanya berhubungan dengan kehilangan sesuatu atau seseorang. Di awal buku kita langsung dihadapkan pada nasib pahit David, seorang anak lelaki yang kehilangan ibunya karena penyakit. Tak lama setelah ibunya meninggal ayahnya kemudian menikah lagi. Tanpa pernah meminta David diberi ibu baru, Rose, dan adik lelaki baru, Georgie, serta harus pindah ke rumah baru pula. Di tengah masa perang yang berkecamuk di Inggris, hidup David pun tak kalah berkecamuk karena sulitnya menyesuaikan diri dengan semua perubahan yang terjadi. Ia mulai sering mendapat penglihatan-penglihatan aneh dan mendengar buku-buku di kamarnya berbicara. Puncaknya, ia masuk ke dunia lain ketika sedang menghindari pesawat Jerman yang jatuh di kebun rumahnya.

Dunia yang dimasuki David penuh hal-hal aneh dan berbahaya, di antaranya makhluk Loup yang merupakan gabungan serigala dan manusia, Binatang mengerikan yang ganas dan sering memangsa penduduk, atau pemburu yang doyan memutilasi anak-anak. Banyak pula tokoh-tokoh yang sering ada dalam dongeng seperti Snow White dan Putri Tidur, tapi mereka tak seperti dalam kisah-kisah yang pernah dibaca David. Untuk mencari jalan pulang David harus menghadap raja negeri itu yang konon memiliki sebuah kitab yang mungkin bisa membantunya. Dengan bantuan si Tukang Kayu dan seorang ksatria, Roland, David harus menghadapi berbagai rintangan terutama dari seorang Lelaki Bungkuk yang tampaknya tahu banyak tentang dirinya dan punya rencana tertentu untuknya.

Saya cukup kaget saat tahu bahwa penulis buku ini, John Connolly, sebelumnya banyak mengarang novel kriminal, karena ia cukup piawai meramu 'dongeng untuk orang dewasa' ini. Meski penuh dengan hal-hal mengerikan, kejam dan twisted, inti cerita sebenarnya adalah perjalanan psikologis dan emosional David dari seorang anak kecil menuju lelaki dewasa. Ia harus menghadapi rasa takut, iri dengki, prasangka, dan kehilangan. Kita kemudian tahu bahwa sang raja negeri itu dulunya adalah seorang anak dari dunia David yang pernah mengorbankan adik angkatnya sendiri kepada si Lelaki Bungkuk. Ketika David dihadapkan pada situasi yang sama, ia memilih untuk tidak mengorbankan adik tirinya, Georgie, meski dahulu ia merasa benci pada Georgie karena dianggap merebut kasih sayang ayahnya. David telah cukup dewasa untuk tidak menyerah pada pikiran-pikiran buruk yang ada dalam dirinya.

Kejutan lain adalah tokoh si Tukang Kayu yang dikisahkan tewas oleh serigala di awal cerita belakangan diketahui masih hidup dan bertemu lagi dengan David. Ia juga ternyata sudah tahu yang sebenarnya mengenai sang raja dan si Lelaki Bungkuk. Ketika si Tukang Kayu mengatakan "semua anak-anak adalah anak-anakku", ia seakan mengungkapkan dirinya sebagai figur otoritas simbolik di dunia tersebut – seperti tokoh Aslan di kisah Narnia. Dan seperti Narnia juga, David pun pada akhirnya akan kembali ke dunia tersebut. Dilihat dari sisi psikologis, bisa saja seluruh petualangan David di negeri antah berantah itu hanyalah mimpi atau buah imajinasinya sendiri. Ia memang sedang mengalami masalah pribadi yang pelik dan butuh cara alternatif untuk mengatasinya. Entah perjalanan David itu dikhayalkannya atau tidak, kisah ini cukup memesona bagi saya dan berhasil mencapai tujuannya untuk menjadi dongeng bagi orang dewasa.(less)

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Jan 18, 2009 miaaa rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to miaaa by: Goodreads Indonesia

Shelves: fairy-haven

The first few chapters remind me to Sally Nicholls' Ways to Live Forever, about how a child deals with death, although in this case it's not his but someone he loves, his mother. And as if it is not enough his father brought Rose into their lives, and from David's perspective, someone who came in a wrong time and tried to replace his mother, as he wanted to believe, is still alive somewhere. David then escaped from his domestic tension, especially after his half-brother has born, to his books of...more The first few chapters remind me to Sally Nicholls' Ways to Live Forever, about how a child deals with death, although in this case it's not his but someone he loves, his mother. And as if it is not enough his father brought Rose into their lives, and from David's perspective, someone who came in a wrong time and tried to replace his mother, as he wanted to believe, is still alive somewhere. David then escaped from his domestic tension, especially after his half-brother has born, to his books of tales. The night when his rage erupted, he ran and his mother's voice lured him to another world, a world of tales.

I believe what Connolly has done in this book, rephrasing tales in different point of interest, was not something new but it works. You'll encounter the Loup Clan, werewolves who were more vicious than an ordinary wolf [I'd like to know why in some tales wolves, cute creatures I must say, represent the mischief. I need to look up some reference about this later:]. You'll meet the Trolls who guarded the bridge and confront you with a riddle [surely not the troll we have met in Harry Potter's as they care nothing but their bats!:]. What struck me most are the Socialist Dwarfs, seven Kamerad who had conspired to put the annoying Snow White asleep for ever, and failed due to some errors and the Step-Mother has an alibi. Yes you heard me right, she has an alibi!

Throughout the journey, David met some awkward creatures, Knights, a Queen who kissed all men to death [this one reminds me to Grimm's tale but not so sure:], a King who was not happy at all, and the brain behind all mischieves occured in that world, and the Book of Lost Things. It's not the Book that matters but how David was growing up as all those obstacle have made him stronger, and wiser too as we all aware experience is the best teacher in life. Connolly ended the tale a little more than I've expected, especially about his family, but then if he ended it in a happy-ever-after one, the Seven Kamerad might conspire to put him asleep for ever.(less)

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Jan 12, 2009 Endah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Pada dasarnya saya ini penggemar fiksi realis, tetapi juga tidak menolak bacaan-bacaan bergenre fantasi walaupun tentu saya lebih banyak membaca jenis buku yang pertama dibanding yang disebut terakhir. Entah kenapa dalam pikiran saya sudah terpatri bahwa buku fantasi identik dengan buku anak-anak/remaja. Dan saya sudah lama meninggalkan masa-masa indah tersebut. Namun, diam-diam saya sering merindukan saat-saat itu kembali lagi. Barangkali itu salah satu alasan saya tetap menyukai kisah-kisah fa...more Pada dasarnya saya ini penggemar fiksi realis, tetapi juga tidak menolak bacaan-bacaan bergenre fantasi walaupun tentu saya lebih banyak membaca jenis buku yang pertama dibanding yang disebut terakhir. Entah kenapa dalam pikiran saya sudah terpatri bahwa buku fantasi identik dengan buku anak-anak/remaja. Dan saya sudah lama meninggalkan masa-masa indah tersebut. Namun, diam-diam saya sering merindukan saat-saat itu kembali lagi. Barangkali itu salah satu alasan saya tetap menyukai kisah-kisah fantasi dan petualangan pada usia saya yang sekarang (Berapa sih? :D) Alasan yang tidak sepenuhnya saya sadari, karena seperti tertulis dalam lembar pertama buku The Book of Lost Things, dalam diri setiap orang dewasa masih tersimpan jiwa kanak-kanaknya.

Hal itu rupanya disadari betul oleh John Connolly (40) sehingga ia lalu membuat novel (dewasa) apik bergenre fantasi yang judulnya telah saya sebut di atas, The Book of Lost Things.

Tokohnya adalah David, seorang bocah lelaki 12 tahun yang–seperti sering terdapat dalam kisah-kisah petualangan–“malang” (Ingat saja Harry Potter). Ia harus menjadi piatu pada usianya yang kedua belas itu. Sejak itu David merasa sangat kesepian. Apalagi kemudian ayahnya menikah lagi dan dari perkawinan tersebut David mendapat adik tiri laki-laki, Georgie. David merasa kian diabaikan dan mulai mencari pelarian untuk menghibur dirinya yang tengah kecewa. Tak dinyana, suatu hari setelah pertengkaran mulut yang hebat dengan ibu tirinya, David terdampar ke negeri lain. Dan dimulailah petualangannya yang seru dan fantastik.

Di negeri ini David bukan saja mengalami kejadian-kejadian menegangkan, tetapi juga bertemu dengan tokoh-tokoh dongeng favoritnya, seperti Snow White dan Tujuh Kurcaci serta Gadis Kecil Bermantel Merah. Lucunya, sosok atau kisah tentang mereka berbeda sama sekali dengan yang selama ini David baca dari buku-buku. Pada bagian ini saya benar-benar terhibur dan tak sanggup menahan tawa ngakak.

Gimana nggak ngakak jika Snow White yang selama ini kita kenal sebagai putri berparas jelita, berkulit seputih salju dengan bibir merah merekah, tiba-tiba berubah menjadi sosok perempuan gemuk yang rakus dan kejam. Ia selalu menghabiskan jatah makan ketujuh kurcaci. Saking rakus dan kejamnya, suatu malam pada sebuah musim dingin dan makanan sulit didapat, Snow White kedapatan sedang menggerumiti kaki salah seorang kurcaci. Gila nggak sih? )

Tak kalah sintingnya adalah penggambaran tentang para kurcaci yang saling memanggil di antara mereka dengan sebutan kamerad. Mereka tak ubahnya buruh pertambangan yang miskin dan tertindas. Dalam obrolan mereka sering terucap kata-kata “kerja kolektif” atau “anjing-anjing kapitalis”. Huahaha. Jangan-jangan mereka baca Das Kapital juga ya? Yang tak kalah seru juga adalah twist dari dongeng Little Red Riding Hood serta Hans and Gretel.

Bagian itu memang kocak tetapi selebihnya kisah The Book of Lost Things ini cenderung kelam dengan seting Inggris pada masa Perang Dunia II. Mungkin itu sebabnya Gramedia selaku penerbit buku ini merasa perlu menyematkan label “novel dewasa” di sampul belakang. Sebab, kendati ini buku fantasi dengan tokoh utamanya anak-anak, di dalamnya banyak memuat adegan kekerasan (kepala yang dipenggal, darah berhamburan, usus terburai, dsb) yang mungkin menurut pertimbangan Gramedia tidak sesuai untuk konsumsi anak-anak. Tapi kalau saya punya anak, saya akan mengizinkan mereka membacanya. Sebab saya percaya, dalam diri setiap anak bersemayam jiwa yang kelak akan menjadi dewasa (kalimat terakhir ini hasil mengutip dari buku ini).

Selanjutnya, lazimnya kisah fantasi dan petualangan, akan kita jumpai banyak makhluk ajaib yang cuma ada dalam dongeng. Misalnya, troll dan harpy untuk menyebut salah duanya. Tentu juga harus ada petualangan, perkelahian, dan pahlawan. David dong pahlawannya. Selain karena ia mampu mengatasi lawan-lawannya yang jahat, juga lantaran dia berhasil mengalahkan rasa takut dan kebencian dalam hatinya. Bukankah perang terbesar adalah perang melawan diri sendiri?

Secara umum novel ini menarik dan cukup menghibur. Buat Anda penggemar kisah-kisah dongeng dan fantasi pasti akan menyukainya.***
(less)

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Jan 12, 2009 ame lee rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to ame by: Goodreads Indonesia

After finished reading the last page of this book, I took a deep sigh, and go to bed. And in the next morning, I hardly remember how the story goes.

John Connolly didn't offer any new idea. Some author did the fairy tales twisting before, and some of them did it better.

Although I have to say the first pages seems quite promising to me; when David struggling with his own feeling after his Mom's death, Rose shows up into his Dad's life, the new baby, and also about the war.
The mystery still took me...more

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Aug 13, 2007 LJ rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: paranormal_fantasy, horror, england, ww2_1939-45

THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS (Dark Fantasy/England/WWII) – Okay
Connolly, John – Standalone
Hodder & Stoughton, 2006- UK Hardcover
*** 12-year-old David loves to read and, upon the death of his mother, hears books talking. Still mourning the loss of his mother, his father tells him he’ll have a new mother and a baby brother or sister. They move out of London to his stepmother Rose’s huge house in the country where he is given a room filled with books but feels angry and displaced by Rose and the bab...more

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Jul 29, 2008 Kirsty (Blatant Biblioholic) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Kirsty by: Lori Hettler

Shelves: fantasy

This book was fun. I liked the author's take on the fairytales I read as a child. They become very dark, and in some places very funny. I especially liked the tale of Snow White.

The characterisation was ok, for me there was something missing from the main character - I just can't quite figure out what. That said, I liked the character of The Crooked Man, even if he did creep me out a little.

There was a little more gore than I was expecting, and I'm not sure all of it was necessary. I did like th...more

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Apr 30, 2012 Stefan rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Wow, what a great book! I can honestly say that this was much more than I expected.

The Book of Lost Things is a wonderful fantasy adventure novel that takes a young English boy and transports him to a magical land from which he must search for his way home. The main plot is a familiar one in many young adult/juvenile fantasy's but this book is clearly intended for more adult readers. Connolly has created a world where fairytale and myth are heavily intertwined with his storyline and he has inje...more

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Apr 25, 2013 Jenne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Jenne by: Jannine

Shelves: fiftyfifty-me-2013, fantasy

Pretty much everything you need to know about this book is contained in this passage:
“You mean they killed her?" asked David.
"They ate her," said Brother Number One. "With porridge. That's what 'ran away and was never seen again' means in these parts. It means 'eaten.'"
"Um and what about 'happily ever after'?" asked David, a little uncertainly. "What does that mean?"
"Eaten quickly," said Brother Number One.”

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Apr 13, 2010 Megan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, myths-folklore, not-mine-library, horror, favorites

Even though I seem to be stuck on an(admittedly lame) teen/vampire/romance kick lately, my first love is horror. Books, movies, whatever ~ the scarier the better. Unfortunately, after having been exposed to so much of it over the years, the majority of horror books simply aren't frightening enough. The Book of Lost Things, however is wonderfully scary and I regret that this book wasn't available to me as a kid. But even as an adult, it is easy to appreciate the full on creepiness of this novel....more

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Dec 19, 2007 Lori rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fricken-awesome

Read this book without really knowing too much about it. Just that other reviewers were impressed and it centered around a little boy and some dark versions of fairy tales that I had grown up on.

Wow.

Wow.wow.wow.

That is what I have to say when I got to the last page.
It was a really really great story. 10 year old boy who loves to read, loses his mother, hates his new stepmother and stepbrother.... gets pulled into this fairy tale world where things are familiar yet somewhat strange. Evil lurks ar...more

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Apr 06, 2008 J.B. Stanley rated it 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. No, it's not for children. It's an adventure story and fairy tale for grown ups in the style of fairy tale masters Andersen and the Grimm Brothers. For those who like Disney fairy tales, forget this book. This is written in like an old-school fairy tale - those harsh and magical morality tales meant to teach a lesson by using monsters, beautiful women, and courageous children stepping from childhood into adulthood. I thought the World War backstory was excellent and g...more

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Sep 23, 2009 Libby rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: current-recommendations, fantasy-fairytale-and-myth, fantasy-horror, read-in-2009, favorites

I loved and highly recommend this book. To give you an idea of its content and style, it reminded me of the film Pan’s Labyrinth. It’s a vividly imagined coming-of-age fairy tale with a dark overlay. The fairy tales as used in this book are more akin to the traditional Brothers Grimm than the modern Hollywood version. I mention the darker aspects of the book simply to alert the potential reader that this is not a modern day Cinderella story that many expect when they hear “fairytale.” This book...more I loved and highly recommend this book. To give you an idea of its content and style, it reminded me of the film Pan’s Labyrinth. It’s a vividly imagined coming-of-age fairy tale with a dark overlay. The fairy tales as used in this book are more akin to the traditional Brothers Grimm than the modern Hollywood version. I mention the darker aspects of the book simply to alert the potential reader that this is not a modern day Cinderella story that many expect when they hear “fairytale.” This book is the wonder of fairy tales combined with the darker side of human nature.

The setting of the book is England during WWII. David, the protagonist of the book, is a 12 year old boy who loses his mother to illness at the outset of the book. We witness David’s life turned upside down by the death of his mother and subsequent remarriage of his father. While David attempts to adapt he is seemingly incapable of doing so and takes refuge in his books. David begins to hear the books talking and also starts to experience fainting spells. A series of events lures David out of our world and into a fairytale kingdom where the Crooked Man has his own plans for David’s life.

This book artfully explores the harsh transition from childhood to adulthood. In the fairytale kingdom, David finds all the characters and stories from his beloved books but they have been changed. If you’ve ever read a book or watched a movie and then gone to sleep, and your subconscious incorporates the story into your dreams with surreal twists – David’s fairytale kingdom is those dreams and nightmares come to life. It is extraordinarily creepy and wonderful at the same time.

David’s mother taught him that stories want to be told. As noted in one review “more than anything, Connolly's novel is an ode to the power of story.” (bookreporter.com) -

"Stories...came alive in the telling... They were like seeds in the beak of a bird, waiting to fall to earth, or the notes of a song laid out on a sheet, yearning for an instrument to bring their music into being. They lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader."

The Book of Lost Things is the telling of David’s story. We are the audience for his necessary but painful transition from boy to man. The book incorporates the tragic beauty associated with such an experience.

Connolly does not hold back when exploring the loss of innocence experienced by all children at some point. Specifically, we hear of sinister acts of the Crooked Man who rips children from childhood by forcing adult knowledge on them long before they are ready. While it made me cringe to read some of these details, it is the reality of life. Connolly’s fairy tales are infused with the ugliness of the real world that does indeed steal innocence, or more accurately blissful ignorance, from children.

The book also touches on obsessive compulsive disorder as we see David’s desperate attempt to control fate and avoid the death of his mother.

Ultimately, The Book of Lost Things is very real; a visceral coming of age tale. David’s experiences with loss, death and war are suffused into the fairytales. In order to become an adult, David must learn to balance imagination and belief with the tragic reality of everyday life.

My only significant criticisms of this book are the treatment of female characters and the lack of lighter elements to balance the darker. It appears most of the evil or negativity exhibited in the fairytale kingdom is generated from female characters. However, I think this may be for two reasons (1) that is how many of the traditional fairy tales are written with the vices of women being the downfall of men etc. – a topic with extensive social and cultural influences that I won’t go into here; and (2) David’s issues with his step-mother, Rose. So while it seems to fit, I think it may have been overplayed but that is just my opinion. It certainly did not impact my appreciation of the book.

Finally, I would have appreciated a bit more incorporated about faith and the potential goodness of mankind to balance out the darker tone of the book. I think we need to believe in the proverbial light at the end of the tunnel to endure the dark journey. While this was present in the book, I would have liked to have seen it receive more emphasis.(less)

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Mar 23, 2010 Hazel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

This reminds me of the Spanish film, Pan's Labyrinth. In both the child's inner world is explored via stories, and the child enters into the story world in an attempt to come to terms with external reality. Come to think of it, in both there is an infant half-sibling who must be protected from the child's envy and resentment. I was really impressed with the first part of the book, and found Connolly's portrait of the child's psychological processes very accurate. There's magical thinking (of cou...more

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Sep 04, 2008 Nilam Suri rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: roos, runi, adisti

Shelves: fantasy, adventure

sejauh ini...terjemahannya bagus. banyak kata2 yang dah terlupakan bermunculan lagi.

rasanya kayak balik baca buku jaman kecil dulu, saat bahasanya masih terasa indah dan klasik. entah karena penulisnya yang hebat, atau memang penterjemahnya yang niat.

br sampe hal 55 sih, hehehe.

-----review-----

yaiii selesaaaaiiii, dengan sangat manis dan menyenangkan, although it depends on your own interpretation sih, tapi kalau gue sih mikir yang indah2nya ajah.

i think this writer, connoly, is beyond creative...more

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Dec 08, 2008 melanie (lit*chick) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to melanie (lit*chick) by: Allison

Points for the clever imagination,the weaving of fairy tales into a dark and fantastical story of a 10 year old boy who loves to read. When he is pulled into a nightmarish forest he must use his wits & imagination to survive the perilous journey home. I'm not usually a big fantasy reader, but this was definitely worthwhile.
Things I could have done without:
- while I loved Roland, the not so hidden agenda of his character (anti God, in love with Raphael) seemed so ridiculously out of place- o...more

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Jul 07, 2008 April rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jan 08, 2008 Rachel rated it 2 of 5 stars

I picked this up blindly and bought it from the description on the book jacket alone. I wish I'd liked it more; rather, I wish it'd been better-executed.

My main trouble was with the telling-not-showing style of writing. In the words of Twain, "Don’t say 'the old lady screamed.' Bring her on and let her scream." The turbulence of David's inner life ends up muffled by the flat and dispassionate narrative ("He experienced a wave of pity for the dead man...", "He was still angry at God for what had...more

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Jul 12, 2008 Brooke rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2008, fantasy

The Book of Lost Things is basically a fairy tale that pays homage to other fairy tales; the main character David disappears into a magic land after a German bomber plane crashes into his backyard and experiences a multitude of events culled from the books he's read (including, in the book's funniest scene, a book about Communism).

It's a story with many layers and an ambiguous end, which makes it a shame that the last 130 pages of the book are the author's notes and thoughts about the story. Eve...more

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About John Connolly

John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper...more

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“For in every adult there dwells the child that was, and in every child there lies the adult that will be.” — 296 people liked it

“I think the act of reading imbues the reader with a sensitivity toward the outside world that people who don't read can sometimes lack. I know it seems like a contradiction in terms; after all reading is such a solitary, internalizing act that it appears to represent a disengagement from day-to-day life. But reading, and particularly the reading of fiction, encourages us to view the world in new and challenging ways...It allows us to inhabit the consciousness of another which is a precursor to empathy, and empathy is, for me, one of the marks of a decent human being.” — 167 people liked it

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