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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1172955.Mister_Pip?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Mister Pip" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181628237m/1172955.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1172955.Mister_Pip?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Mister Pip</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/299121.Lloyd_Jones">Lloyd Jones</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/13489101?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 3 of 5 stars This book is at its best when told from the child Matilda's point of view; for me it loses its way when it brings in her adult perspective. Towards the end, it seems to get a bit lost and wanders around for a while before deciding that's enough.
 
 There's a lot here to enjoy, though. Matilda, the narrator, lives a simple life under constant threat from both sides in a civil war. The closer the war comes to her village, the more Mr Watts, the sole white person in residence, tries to buttress the village children against it by reading them Great Expectations. Watts is deliberately kept as an enigmatic figure, and what Matilda learns about him in later life disappoints her rather than enhancing his memory.
 
 At times, the book lacks the light touch that's needed to present the child's perspective. There's a point where Matilda, faced with the "redskin" troops, comments that the village had "willed them there". It's a marvellous observation that the narrative then spoils by spending a paragraph explaining what she means. I knew what she meant without that, and the explanatory paragraph only served to dilute the impact of her statement. A shame.
 
 Further, I thought the careful handling of the scene where Matilda's mother is raped was spoilt by the intrusion of a clinical, adult redaction. Yet these are only small flaws in a beautifully-imagined book.
 
 Samedaybooks deal.
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/305220?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

SCIENCEFICTION SQRL's review
rating:
bookshelves: 100-books-2008, allfred, fiction, mundanes
recommended for: people who like children

** spoiler alert ** This book is at its best when told from the child Matilda's point of view; for me it loses its way when it brings in her adult perspective. Towards the end, it seems to get a bit lost and wanders around for a while before deciding that's enough.

There's a lot here to enjoy, though. Matilda, the narrator, lives a simple life under constant threat from both sides in a civil war. The closer the war comes to her village, the more Mr Watts, the sole white person in residence, tries to buttress the village children against it by reading them Great Expectations. Watts is deliberately kept as an enigmatic figure, and what Matilda learns about him in later life disappoints her rather than enhancing his memory.

At times, the book lacks the light touch that's needed to present the child's perspective. There's a point where Matilda, faced with the "redskin" troops, comments that the village had "willed them there". It's a marvellous observation that the narra...more

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message 1: by SCIENCEFICTION SQRL

01/25/2008 05:29AM

£4.00 from http://samedaybooks.co.uk with free delivery. Awesome!