Final Thoughts

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Now that you are done, what do you think? Here are some ideas from the "with a good book" blog to get you started on discussing:
What do you think the audience is for this book? A story about fairy tales would seem to be directed towards a younger audience, but the darker nature of the story seems to change that.
There are many themes touched upon in the book. (Grief, loss, coming of age, family, fears, dreams, death) Which do you feel was the main theme? What message did you take away from the book?
If you could change the ending... would you?

[Kendall H]

I think the audience of this book is solidly adult, maybe older teen, but definitely not young teens or children - despite the fairytale aspects. I don't think it's the darker aspects that exclude a younger audience, but more the psychological depth of the book. It seems like only adults would get the underlying points of the book, not just a story about a boy who was sad and jealous and dreamed.
I felt the main theme of the book was the coming-of-age theme. How we all must face life as it is, including our fears and the bad things that happen to us, and make the best of them. That running away from life only causes more pain.
What did you all think?

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

Almost done! Camping out for the Avengers got me a little behind on reading!

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

I am not sure what to think of the ending. Poor David's life when he came back to the real world just seemed sad. When he goes back to the other world and the Woodsman is his dad that was nice. And his wife and child are there. But was David young again? It's like David missed the point of coming back to the real world. Trying to enjoy the life he had. I guess the book started with Once Upon a Time... and then the ending wasn't a happily ever after ending like I expected. David’s dad and Rose get divorced, Georgie dies in a war, David’s wife and child die, and he lives alone for the rest of his life.

The ending felt rushed. The rest of the book was so detailed and then in the end David wakes up from a coma, lived and died.


I think this is a young adult book. But it has to be a mature young adult. It is very descriptive and takes thought and time. Some young adult books to me can be fast and the language is for basic high school (think of the Twilight writing). A lot of teens like that though so those will sell more. Some of the material is tough to read about.. though not graphic at all. The torture chambers, sexual references, are for older teens/adults only.

The title... The Book of Lost Things.. has so much more meaning to me now. It is about life. When we are young we all think things are perfect and nothing can happen to us. Jonathan and David both become men in the other world and lost that childhood innocence. I believe that is what the title means.

I am still a little confused on the whole entering the other world and that plane. That scene was odd. And whatever happened to that piece that went into the other world... and how did the tanks and items get in there? Other portals?

[Grace]

Angie wrote: "I am still a little confused on the whole entering the other world and that plane... And whatever happened to that piece that went into the other world... and how did the tanks and items get in there? Other portals? "

I think the answer to this is in what we learn at the end about the Loups. They came into existence when Jonathan entered the world because he brought his fears, his nightmares, into the world. The same thing happened with David. The canopy of the plane entered right after David because, at that moment, he feared the crashing plane the most. The tank from WWI was also a product of David's fear. The other things he encountered that weren't from fairy tales, such as the harpies and the beast, are products of his psyche.

[Grace]

Angie wrote: "Poor David's life when he came back to the real world just seemed sad..."

It does seem sad, but there are hints that he experienced happiness and fulfillment in his life as a writer. The bottom line is that it's realistic - that is what life is; it's happiness, joy, love, fulfillment, interspersed with pain, grief, unhappiness, suffering. You need to learn to enjoy the good while it lasts and endure the bad when it comes.

[Grace]

I believe the main theme is "coming of age". David's experiences in the fairy tale land help him to come to terms with his grief over his mother's death. In the process he gains an understanding of love, life, death and forgiveness that allows him to reconcile with Rose when he returns to the real world.

The ending is perfect, in my opinion. I think it would be wise to take to heart the words of the Crooked Man, which he had meant as a threat, "Those whom you care about...will fall by the wayside, and your love will not be enough to save them." To me, these words mean I should cherish the people I love for as longs as I am able but I should be prepared to let go when it's time for them to move on - in life or to death.

I'd definitely recommend this to a mature teen - mature in attitude if not in age.

[Oscar]

I would certainly say this book is probably best for high school age teens to probably enjoy something along the likes of dark fantasy and what have you.

I did enjoy the book and think that there’s a lot beneath the surface regarding the place that fantasy and fairy tales have in a child’s life. It also works as a retelling and reinterpretation of the fairy tale format and pursues the idea that the world beyond is not always wonderfully magical.

The ending was indeed sad, I mean there were some good things that happened, but everything just seems to take a melancholy tone. In my opinion it plays opposite of the lived happily ever after endings in fairy tales. And some of what he experiences is tragic, but on the other hand, he did lived through war, and got older like everybody, so he did have to face death. However, the fact that he gets to go back to the world seems to add some hope at the end of the book.

[Tatiana]

I think it is a strictly adult book. Yes, it has a young boy as a main character, but I think it is written about something that adults would be more inclined to ponder on, specifically, the time in their childhood when they gained more self-awareness and also awareness of an outside world, the greyness of it, and general lack of HEA in people's lives. I am not sure that children or teens are interested in these themes yet. To me, it requires some distance (in time) to appreciate David's experience.

I wouldn't personally change the ending. It is reflective of real life, which for the majority of people is not a fairy tale ending in happiness, but a journey full of pain and challenges and occasional happiness. But even as such, this is a journey worth taking.

[Grace]

Tatiana wrote: "I am not sure that children or teens are interested in these themes yet. To me, it requires some distance (in time) to appreciate David's experience."

You make a good point here. I agree that teens aren't interested in aging - they're aware that it happens but they don't believe it will happen to them. In a sense it doesn't - time passes so slowly when you're young and speeds up exponentially as you get older. You don't notice that you're aging until you find that you can't do something simple that never required thought or effort before (like getting up after you've gone on your knees to look for your shoes under the sofa). Suddenly, you realize that you're old and it all happened overnight.

Although teens probably won't like the ending, I feel it's important to convey the message that life continues beyond the end of the story. There is no happily ever after. You can expect to experience happiness and you WILL experience happiness but that isn't all that you'll find in life.

In fact, I sometimes wonder if people would be happier overall if they had a more realistic idea of what life has to offer so that they don't overreact to challenges and disappointments that inevitably occur in their lives.

[Angie, YA lovin mod!!]

You put this just right... when I said it is for mature teens above I guess I meant ones who would be interested in a story about what life is really like. Not always rainbows and doesn't always end how you would want it to.