Weirdstone of Brisingamen
Jun. 3rd, 2019 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mme_n_bJust finished reading subj. Too bad I didn't read it as a kid, but even as an adult it's wonderful. The rare book that cannot be read diagonally - too much information is packed into each line. Yes, Tolkien's ears stick out by a mile, there's character exposition but no character development, and yes the story is a very typical one, but:
1. It's just a great read, and I say it who would normally skip right past the 10 pages of "and then they moved form point A to point B underground as fast as they could"
2. Adults act ethically! It's like Ivan's Childhood in reverse! The strong and powerful magician to whom eager kids come to offer help says things like: "Go home, I'll make sure you're safe there". The guy in charge of the kids says things like: "Well, since they aren't safe here I'm going to come along"
3. It takes place deep in Kipling's England. Just reading the first few pages made me go and google "walking tours of England" like one possessed.
4. There is a strong female protagonist. I mean - it's 1960 (time of publication, time of action can be anywhere 1920-1995), and the fact that one of the protagonists is a girl is only relevant because she wears a bracelet. This isn't a standard even now.
5. Small thing, but I loved it - kids are not made to do amazing feats of acrobatics. None of that "And then Billy scaled the rock face just like he had when playing at home" - an adult comes along and tells them where to put their feet and hands and they do get dead tired. Generally, the kids, even though they are main characters, are not the Chosen Ones. Their role is very realistic - two hindrances to the actual fighting guys, taken along because they'd be dead otherwise.
6. All good guys and most of the bad guys (and even the kids' moms' old nurse who appears in barely two pages) has an interesting backstory
1. It's just a great read, and I say it who would normally skip right past the 10 pages of "and then they moved form point A to point B underground as fast as they could"
2. Adults act ethically! It's like Ivan's Childhood in reverse! The strong and powerful magician to whom eager kids come to offer help says things like: "Go home, I'll make sure you're safe there". The guy in charge of the kids says things like: "Well, since they aren't safe here I'm going to come along"
3. It takes place deep in Kipling's England. Just reading the first few pages made me go and google "walking tours of England" like one possessed.
4. There is a strong female protagonist. I mean - it's 1960 (time of publication, time of action can be anywhere 1920-1995), and the fact that one of the protagonists is a girl is only relevant because she wears a bracelet. This isn't a standard even now.
5. Small thing, but I loved it - kids are not made to do amazing feats of acrobatics. None of that "And then Billy scaled the rock face just like he had when playing at home" - an adult comes along and tells them where to put their feet and hands and they do get dead tired. Generally, the kids, even though they are main characters, are not the Chosen Ones. Their role is very realistic - two hindrances to the actual fighting guys, taken along because they'd be dead otherwise.
6. All good guys and most of the bad guys (and even the kids' moms' old nurse who appears in barely two pages) has an interesting backstory
