(3.5) it's showing its age and there was some uncertainty around the detail (i had a bit of trouble with the dried rabbit) but i was impressed by how...more(3.5) it's showing its age and there was some uncertainty around the detail (i had a bit of trouble with the dried rabbit) but i was impressed by how prescient the climate change theme was (pollution rather than global warming, but still). the characterisation was stiff (the villains were sketched in but still more vivid than the good guys) but given the impression This Time of Darkness made on me when i was a kid - i even tried my own post-apocalyptic decayed underground society survival novel - i suspect she improved. (less)
beautifully written, and i liked all of them, even the really well-known stories like the 12 dancing princesses. my version is abridged, so i'd love t...morebeautifully written, and i liked all of them, even the really well-known stories like the 12 dancing princesses. my version is abridged, so i'd love to know what the full version is like.(less)
(3.5) lively and imaginative, even if it could have done with an edit for small amounts of redundancy and repetition. but i was still pulled through t...more(3.5) lively and imaginative, even if it could have done with an edit for small amounts of redundancy and repetition. but i was still pulled through the story at a fast clip. my biggest quibble would be that there didn't seem much PI'ing going on for a story with a PI set-up, but since detective plots are not my favourites it's not much of a quibble. i really liked the worldbuilding, which comes across as much less arty-snooty than many urban fantasies. (i may also have liked it because it would work fine as a graphic novel.)
Tybalt was my favourite character, that plot never gets old.(less)
possibly not his best, although i'm not qualified to judge, not being 10 any more. i absolutely adored classics like I Want to Go Home, No Coins Pleas...morepossibly not his best, although i'm not qualified to judge, not being 10 any more. i absolutely adored classics like I Want to Go Home, No Coins Please, the Bugs Potter books and Losing Joe's Place (bits of which i still vividly remember), and i read them over and over, laughing uncontrollably every time. The Chicken Doesn't Skate definitely has the classic comedy build, so that it gets better and better as it goes along. i shall have to do a controlled experiment with my 10-year-old nephew, to see which ones he prefers.(less)
[also: not a HP knockoff. HP is the modern equivalent of jolly hockey sticks. AF is more in the Pratchett line, which in turn...morethe dwarf is pure genius.
[also: not a HP knockoff. HP is the modern equivalent of jolly hockey sticks. AF is more in the Pratchett line, which in turn is the slapstick evolution of things like Kingdoms of Elfin.](less)
i've read most of Carr's books now, mostly in a short space of time (this was kind of an accident, they were all in the basement at the library, and w...morei've read most of Carr's books now, mostly in a short space of time (this was kind of an accident, they were all in the basement at the library, and when i asked for a couple the assistant couldn't remember which ones i'd asked for so brought all of them) and this one sums up the ones before it (although apparently it was the first novel he wrote) - it has the nostalgia of A Month in the Country (which is probably the most perfect, but not my favourite), the bitter reflection and regret of A Season at Sinji and A Day in Summer, the noirish comedy of Harpole and the love of country places and country people of all his books, although here it's the plains and the dustbowl victims and refugees rather than self-satisfied, self-contained rural England. it's not perfect, possibly because it does too much, but i think it's the best of his tragi-comedies. Although you don't have to dig very far into Sinderby Wanderers and Harpole (which are both fabulous) to find the seam of tragedy there, eiher.(less)
a favourite from my childhood. in fact i illegally acquired it from family friends (borrowed it and never returned it). i don't still have that copy b...morea favourite from my childhood. in fact i illegally acquired it from family friends (borrowed it and never returned it). i don't still have that copy but this one is the same edition (with the C Walter Hodges illustrations), i think, and also without a dust jacket. Sutcliff's writing is never less than splendid, but i was also struck this time by how simple it is - the vocab is extensive but everything makes sense in context, and it flows like the burn the characters sail birch-bark boats down. i probably also liked it so much because Bjorn is the prototypical protaganist who is different from the rest, who nevertheless earns himself a happy ending, of a sort.
[edit: what is this 'dolphin ring cycle' nonsense? makes it sound like twilight or something.](less)
lasted a paragraph - i think that's a record. i really should have done the page 69 test in the library, but the premise sounded so intriguing i didn'...morelasted a paragraph - i think that's a record. i really should have done the page 69 test in the library, but the premise sounded so intriguing i didn't think to. i can't even tell if it was bad writing, but i do know that the pargraph i read kind of made me want to throw up a little bit.(less)
felt a little bit like it was marking time? perhaps 16-year-old Rin is a little too good to be true. otoh, i hear there's a massive plot twist to come...morefelt a little bit like it was marking time? perhaps 16-year-old Rin is a little too good to be true. otoh, i hear there's a massive plot twist to come, so maybe that's what we're waiting for.(less)
Rabotnik Fergusson is absolutely brilliant, and although i didn't like every other poem in the book, a lot of them are pretty brilliant too. Herbert a...moreRabotnik Fergusson is absolutely brilliant, and although i didn't like every other poem in the book, a lot of them are pretty brilliant too. Herbert always gives it the full wallop.(less)
terrifically wholesome (this is not a bad thing). it's nice sometimes to read about nice middle-class children engaging in nice activities in a time t...moreterrifically wholesome (this is not a bad thing). it's nice sometimes to read about nice middle-class children engaging in nice activities in a time that probably never was. and also i learnt about hound trailing (initially i thought this was a misprint for trials - that's what you get for growing up with 4 million sheep - but no). apparently this is also an Arthur Ransome thing but i must have missed it in those books.(less)
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