The Fire-Eaters

by David Almond

The

Genres: Young Adult, Historical Fiction, Fiction, Historical, Childrens, Middle Grade, Novels

249 pages, Paperback

First published August 14, 2003

About the author

David Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults.

His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002.

His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake.

He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.

Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.

Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).

Reviews

[Caz (littlebookowl) · Rating 2 out of 5]

This just wasn't for me. I didn't connect to any of the characters, and the plot didn't keep me interested and lacked excitement.
I did somewhat enjoy the last few chapters, but the rest was pretty meh for me.

[Seamaiden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought this book from a small bookstore close to my university because it was 1/3 of its original price and because I liked the title. I read the back cover and found the story different than what I usually read so I said "let's do it".

I started the book but nothing really interesting happened. Still, I couldn't say I won't read it. Something inside me kept telling me there is more. When I did finish the book, I felt it was a wonderful book. It has no dragons, no elves, no great deeds. It is a book about two months, about ordinary lives in a period of dread.

Aisla, Bobby and Daniel were the most interesting characters and the ending was amazing. It was amazing because it was so soft and lovely. This is a book that wins you without understanding why. For me, it was the peaceful feelings it created in my heart.

[Luna De Schutter · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lovely little book

[Johanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite thing about David Almond's writing is the consistent attention to and celebration of sensory experiences, no matter how small. ESPECIALLY if they're small. This book was no different. I can't honestly say that much actually happens in his stories, but they're alive with the tiniest of moments, finding joy even while much of what's going on is very big and very scary. Knowing that this kind of thing is what I grew up reading feels like it explains an awful lot about the way I exist in the world.

[Amir Azad · Rating 4 out of 5]

یک رمان ضد جنگ برای نوجوانان. البته به گمانم پیچیدگی نیمه اولش برای نوجوان‌ها خیلی زیاد است. حتی برای بزرگسال‌ها. همچنین برای مخاطب اشاره‌ها به مسایل تاریخی صریح است اما برای نوجوانی که چیزی از این حوادث و تاریخ‌ها نمی‌داند (مثل جنگ جهانی، جنگ سرد، خطر جنگ هسته‌ای، بحران موشکی کوبا و ...) شاید به خوبی مفهموم نباشد.

[Chantelle Atkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My son read this before me. We are both David Almond fans and he couldn't wait for me to finish it so that we could discuss it. One thing we both agreed on, Almond has such a talent for writing in a flawlessly simple way which somehow manages to convey so much beauty and tragedy. For me that makes his books perfect for children and adults. The Fire Eater of the title is a homeless war veteran named McNulty who makes money by performing tricks for passerbys, such as fire-eating and escapology. The narrator is a young boy called Bobby Burns who leads a simple but happy life with his mum and dad in Keeley Bay. Life is hard for the locals, but with a true working class spirit of community, they all get by and Bobby has very little to worry about. Bobby becomes fascinated with McNulty when his father explains how he met him during the war. The man had seen such horror it had altered his mind forever. Meanwhile, the threat of World War Three is looming with the Russians and Americans threatening to launch missiles. The whole book has a sad and desperate feel to it, as the characters try to live their lives with the threat of nuclear war hanging over their heads. The fear begins to affect them in different ways and Bobby's young life is turned upside down when his father becomes ill, and he finds his new school a cruel and hostile place where one particular teacher revels in dealing out violence. The new boy in town is not fazed though, and together they hatch a plan for revenge. This is just one of many gripping storylines that make this book so touching. I also loved Ailsa and Joseph, both strong characters you can't help fall in love with. I think Almond has such a talent for weaving universal themes such as war and death and morality into a simple children's story. I was left moved, having read it in one day, transferred from my world into theirs, and wanting more. An important story of family, friendships, community and standing up for what you know is right. Highly recommended.

[Tash Junor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Almond paints the world from the view of a child so well that you forget he is not a child himself. Dealing with some heavy themes, The Fire Eaters makes you question aspects of reality that you accepted long ago. Why is the world the way it is?
What is childhood?
Is there a God?
Almond asks these questions, but never answers them. If you are triggered by heavier themes or prone to existential crises, maybe give it a miss.

[Alicia · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is the worst thing I've ever read!!!!
It's not even propper english, and u can NOT understand a word they say. It makes no sense what so ever. And the plot is completely useless. It is something I would NEVER recommend to anyone. It is a disgrace to all those GOOD books out there! And I hope no-one ever has to go through the torture of reading this book.

[jennifer · Rating 1 out of 5]

yo be honest, i hadn't even finished the book. i couldn't ever understand what the characters were talking about and they spoke in old timely/British style which was confusing. i do not advise this book to anyone.

[Vivone Os · Rating 4 out of 5]

Uh ova me je baš rastužila. Priča o siromašnim ljudima, bolesti, smrti, strahu od rata, posljedicama rata. Isprva mi je bila malo dosadna, ali kako je radnja napredovala sve me je nekako više zanimalo što će se do kraja dogoditi. Baš baš me dirnula.
Autor je dobitnik Andersenove nagrade za dječju književnost.

[Andy Verschoyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

Almond has the ability to make me care about his characters. There is enough here to interest a range of 10 to 15 year olds, dependent on reading and emotional maturity. The mad fire-eater is another edge-of-reality character - the sort we all can be entertained by.

[Simon Pressinger · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’ve always admired David Almond’s ability to convey so clearly and poetically the small wonders and beauties in everyday realities, and to show how important compassion and forgiveness are — especially in a world devoid of certainty and full of strife and turbulence.

[Helen Hadley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful!

[Quinten Kempf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response
I like the book, The Fire-Eaters by David Almond, because of how historically accurate it is. I like all the different characters’ personalities and how they all evolve throughout the book. I also really like how the author emphasizes how much power religion has during this time period.

Plot Summary
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it becomes starts to fall apart he, protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or supernatural causes.

Characterization
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it starts to fall apart, he protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or other supernatural causes.

Bobby's childhood friend Alisa is a really down to earth character, and she is the big reason Bobby has a newfound belief in God. She really does not change much throughout the book, but she really supports Bobby throughout the storyline.

Setting
The Fire-Eaters takes place in Northern England in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This plays a big role in the book because even though Keely Bay is nowhere near Cuba and the United States, the Cuban Missile Crisis is thought to be the end of the world. This causes Bobby to look beyond this world and into the next, to question the existence of God and other supernatural beings.

Personal Recommendation
I would recommend The Fire-Eaters to ages 12 and up because the book makes many historical references that younger kids may not know about. This book is suitable for fans of historical fiction, and slice-of-life novels because the book is set in the 1960s, but it mainly focuses on the daily life of the main character.

[Ruhama · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bobby is growing up during the years of nuclear fear and worries about America and Russia starting another war. The book opens a few weeks before school starts, and Bobby has managed to get into an exclusive prep school, and he wonders how he will fit in—Bobby lives in a blue collar section of England—Keely Bay, a coal mining town. Bobby also has to deal with his father having a bit of a medical scare, a contortionist who seems to defy the laws of nature, a girl he’s known all his life becoming more than just a neighbor (friendship/love but
nothing more than a walk on the beach) and an abusive head teacher.

This is a book similar to Skellig, though not quite as bizarre. Almond has created a story that captures life perfectly—there is no one thing going on in someone’s life (especially when they’re around middle school age), and everything does seem to blend together sometimes. We don’t see a lot of character development with Bobby, but he does grow and change a bit through the novel. He struggles with friendships, his father’s mysterious illness (that no one will tell him about—they just say everything will be fine) and a strict school that uses corporal
punishment. Plus the allure of the fire eater, the Cuban Missile crisis and the worry of everyone getting everything they need in life. There are a couple of spots that made me a bit squeamish—the contortionist/fire eater does a trick where he sticks a needle through his cheeks, and this is described quite well. There also may be a bit of a language barrier—some words and phrases are quite strange to Americans. Otherwise it was a well written novel, and I don’t usually like David Almond...

[Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review of The Fire-Eaters and The Colour of the Sun.

It took about a page of The Colours of the Sun to remember why I love David Almond. Somehow I didn't expect his less well-known books to be quite on the same level as Skellig and Kit's Wilderness but neither of these two magical novels disappointed. He writes with beguiling simplicity, the sparseness of J.M. Coetzee combined with the social awareness and emotional bareness of Ken Loach. His depiction of Newcastle and the Tyne area is mythical and grimly realistic and his sense of history and memory merges seamlessly into the present. Both of these books retrace his favourite themes, amplify and combine them to turn his works into a satisfying and unified mythology of his own. Class systems and education are under scrutiny like in My Name is Mina; his Blakean imagery reappears, as well as his penchant for a Shakespearian retelling like in Ella Grey; his obsession with our anatomy, the internal workings of the human body, like in Skellig; old, mysterious men who blur the lines between angel and devil; characters that create art, poetry and other forms of expression; a dark, Gothic sense of romance that blurs gender lines. If you like David Almond, there's nothing to dislike about these books.

The Colour of the Sun tells the story of Davie, a boy in a coastal town who has recently lost his father. A murder occurs in his town, a boy killed in a knife fight with a rival family, and Davie roams the streets and the moorland of his hometown interviewing and being interviewed by the various inhabitants of the town. There are ghosts galore that populate his wanderings - the voice of his father, a strange errant man with one leg - as well as doubting priests and old washer women who tell folktales about babies kidnapped by birds. Religion and folklore merge into sweeping descriptions of Northern landscapes. At times the setting is quite magnificent. The story itself is relatively lean and dreamlike with little central thrust, but the murder story develops into a Tyneside Romeo and Juliet in which the two rival boys form a violent love triangle with a local girl, love, youthful passion and aggression converging with a sense of social frustration and not fitting in. One particular scene on the moorland above the town sums up Almond's talent for capturing a magical moment, as a brief kiss at a kissing gate sends Davie's soul reeling.

There is also plenty of humour in The Colours of the Sun, shown by the jovial and surprising ending, like one of Ken Loach's rare happy films, but it doesn't remove the fact that Davie grows up in a restrictive, difficult environment. Like many of Almond's characters, he shows his release through his artwork, sketching the characters and scenes of the book as he goes. Almond frequently plays with the sense of authorship in the creative process, Davie more than once wondering if he is part of a story. If he is, he thinks, there's not much he can do about it anyway so he might as well just keep walking. In his grief, Davie's wanderings capture some of the beautiful loneliness of a solitary walk, the landscapes wrapping him up in their stories and their magic. Almond writes in dialectal English, increasing the sense of authenticity. More than other books, The Colour of the Sun expresses his deep love for the places that he grew up in and the stories that informed his growing up.

The Fire-Eaters is also a beautiful ode to his place of birth, combining many of the stylistic elements of The Colours of the Sun and Kit's Wilderness. Together, the three books make for a fascinating trilogy. Of the main characters, however, Robert Burns in The Fire-Eaters is perhaps the best and most sympathetic. The story is also the most conventional, a true Ken Loach social adventure. Robert is a working class boy who is accepted into a private school. His father isn't well and his friends are accept their fates - to stay in their coal town. He meets McNulty on a trip to Newcastle with his mother, a mad street performer who can skewer his cheeks and breathe fire. It turns out McNulty is an old war acquaintance whom he believed dead (another ghostly older demon). Robert befriends a boy called Daniel who has moved into the area because his father is attempting a photograph study of the working class. The two boys come together to protest against the violence shown by teachers towards the pupils at their school. Told in the first person, The Fire-Eaters is direct, clarion clear and infinitely believable. It allows Almond is delve into past traumas, look at how the war affected his parents' generation, and analyse that period of tension and opportunity that followed the war. Class barriers are beginning to break down, kids from coal towns can go to university, and middle class gentlemen from Kent are taking photographs of the working class, as if studying a different species.

Almond handles this social tension very well. Ailsa's family is particularly well portrayed. She has been accepted into the same school but doesn't want to go in order to continue in the family tradition. This masculine, working life is dissected with a mixture of rebellious disdain and mythical admiration. Again, Almond's description of the setting is amazing, culminating in a fire-side beach scene that combines the best of his work. Sometimes you stare in wonder at the brilliancy of a single sentence, or stop and check when he last used an adjective. He rarely needs them. When he uses them they are ringed with poignancy. Like Skellig, his best book, his characters and settings are described with deliberate, poetic repetitions that resonate like mantra in your head. He writes of young love and friendship in such a way that the characters throb with pain and longing, as well as the intangibility of those memories of youth. It makes you want to experience it all again. It makes you glad it's all behind you. The Fire-Eaters in particular is for older readers, although some of the themes in The Colour of Sun are also quite dark and difficult. If you were to criticise, one could say that his books are thematically very similar. The Fire-Eaters, loosely, treads the same path as Skellig. For me, Skellig was so perfect I was glad to have it retold and restructured. It allows Almond to expand upon his mythology and his themes.

Both of these books swept me up. Neither is better than Skellig but both are so much better than anything else out there. For me, there is no better writer today. It doesn't matter how old you are. If I had to choose, The Fire-Eaters is the better book, but The Colour of the Sun is perhaps a little more adventurous in style and more original. David Almond could probably tell me anything; he simply is the most consummate poet and storyteller there is.

The Colour of the Sun: 9
The Fire-Eaters: 10

[Homa Lezgee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nothing too obviously about reincarnation and angels this time but a lot of too obvious and glaring messages against war and weapons of mass destruction. I can’t appreciate this book as much as "Skellig" or "My Name Is Mina" but I still appreciate David Almond’s simple yet strong writing style.

I guess young minds will be drawn to pray after reading this book. He encourages praying, “even if you don’t believe in anything”.

Was it Bobby and Ailsa’s prayers that saved the fawn, that cured Bobby’s dad and stopped world destruction?

QUOTES:

From About the Author: “Writing can be difficult, but sometimes it really does feel like a kind of magic. I think that stories are living things – among the most important things in the world.”

You got to believe, don’t you? Or nowt’d ever happen. Nowt worthwhile.

‘What if there’s no God?’ I said.
‘Mebbe that doesn’t matter. And mebbe it doesn’t mater to God if you think he’s there or not.'

‘Is it always right to protest,’ I said, ‘even if you think it’s hopeless?’
‘Aye,’ he said. ‘Especially then, when the odds seem stacked against you, when it seems you’re yelling in the dark.’

[Linda Lipko · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one is set in a sleepy, off the beaten path, coal town near New Castle, England. As usual, Almond writes of coming of age experiences with a cast of characters both soft and hard, gritty and kind.

As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to charm, and harm!

As the world approaches disaster, Bobby's father, who is mysteriously ill, is a survivor of WWII and knows all too well the terrors of war. Bobby and his friends and family find a way to believe in miracles that have the power to heal.

As in his book Skelling, Almond weaves a motley group of characters who, through reaching out to the unknown and different, find the power of love and redemption.

[Amy Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reading this book made me remember what I liked so much about the first David Almond book I read, "Skellig." His stories are full of rich characters and so much wisdom you feel like your head might explode after reading it. This book follows young Robert Burns, an English boy starting a new school in 1962 at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In a world that's already been scarred by a terrible war and remains teetering on the brink of destruction, he tries to grow up and attain the life any normal boy should. Through it all, he deals with family illness, cruelty, budding friendship and first love. He also finds himself through the compassion he's able to show for a man who's never really been given a chance at life. Bobby grows and changes not through the fear that buckles the rest of the world but through faith and hope. This was an incredible book - it's eerie and frightening while being truly beautiful at the same time.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An even deeper, richer pleasure on re-reading than the first time.

Maybe I'm biased, because I too grew up in England in the 1960s, under the constant shadow of nuclear war. But this small, dark diamond of a book, about a boy growing up on the North Sea coast during the Cuba Missile Crisis, is an extraordinary accomplishment, and gets my vote for one of the best middle grade novels ever written. Oh, forget middle grade: this is a book for adults to read, just because it is simple yet intricate, emotionally pitch-perfect, and beautifully, brilliantly written. (Authors: ask yourselves, how does he do so much, with so little? If you figure it out, please let me know.)

[Tatyana Naumova · Rating 5 out of 5]

Моя первая детская книга о том, как Карибский кризис выглядел со стороны. Алмонд удивительно хорошо, трезво и жестко говорит о том, как огромен и прекрасен мир, как за него стоит бороться, как важно, чтобы войны не было.
Главный герой обладает этой наивной верой в то, что все может измениться, если ты пообещаешь миру что-то. А может, поможет Бог. А может, мир так странно устроен, что в нем будут исцеления, оленята и хорошая бесконечность. Трагедии будут, ужас будет, будет жестокость и травля слабых - но ей можно будет противостоять - и в этом победа и смысл.

[SanaBanana · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Sometimes," said Ailsa, "the world's just so amazing."
I looked into her eyes.
"It is," I said.
It is these type of books that remind me why i love reading so much.
David Almond has this spectacular ability to twist the most simplest prose and transform it into a piece of poetic heartfelt wonder and every book of his that I have read has just crawled into a warm nook in my heart and has and will stay there forever and keep me content with everything life throws at me.

[Susan · Rating 5 out of 5]

An important period of recent history is brought to life through the eyes of a boy in Northeast England.

The threat of nuclear war, brought about by the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis. A memsmerising performance by a fire-eater, playing to the crowds of spellbound, slightly fearful people.

[Liaken · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not at all what I was expecting. The author's ability to express a coming-of-age male, without turing the book into a "growing up" book and without relying on the usual path, is excellent.

[Austin Phadoungsyavong]

I think right book and make sure think about fire-eaters kid name Bobby was in school just first and his friend tell about story or ask about yourself then he know about his family but he don't know father is mystery and mom know about father.

[Jamie · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite Almond novel.

[SallyandBooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another amazing Almond book :-)

[Gerri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book!!! The kids did as well, so beautiful so brilliant!

[Rob Frampton · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book of mythic wonder, of death avoided and life regained. Of fire breathed out and drawn back in. Of life at the brink saved by the simplest of kindnesses and bravery.
Utterly wonderful.

[Ameya · Rating 4 out of 5]

1962 – Nuclear war build-up
It is 1962. Robert (Bobby) Burns lives in Keely Bay, not too far from Newcastle in England. The world is gathering to a knot formed by the nuclear build-up between USA and USSR, John F. Kennedy and Kruschev. The potential of world war 3 builds up in the last quarter of the story.

In Newcastle, Bobby meets Mr. McNulty, a fire-eater, an escapologist, who eventually makes his way to Keely Bay. Coincidentally, Bobby’s Dad remembers McNulty from Burma, in 1945 during the war.

Other characters are Ailsa Spink and her family of father and two brothers who bring coal out of the seabed, her mother having recently died. Joseph Connor, a few years older than Bobby, a school-wagger and lout, is Bobby’s oldest friend. Then there’s the new boy, Daniel, and his family. Daniel will go to Sacred Heart as a new boy with Bobby. They’re more educated than the rest of Bobby’s friends.

PTSD is hinted at, but never defined, which makes the telling smoother. There’s illness and survival. There’s miracles like the fawn that Ailsa rescues. There’s bullies like the teachers at Sacred Heart. There’s rebellion, in the world by the nuclear disarmament crowd, and in Keely Bay.

It is a lyrical and emotional story, with some unresolved threads. For example, how Daniel and Bobby resolve the huge differences evident in their bringing up is not really told, other than they are on the same side at school. I didn’t really get how the fire-eating motif related to the nuclear war theme. It is a tale that stays with you.