I'm just finishing up a fantastic helping of T's beef stew. As I enjoyed it, I had been wondering about why I haven't been able to find anything blog-worthy in the last month. (Yes it's been 31 days since Dash has been to the dashboard.)
I can't really say that I've been unusually stressed - or especially busy at work - or even all that melancholy; but I suspect it has a lot more to do with a change in my routine than anything interesting. With nothing else to expound on, I guess I will continue with my somewhat inconsistent trend of reviewing the books that I "read" on my way back and forth to work.
My latest adventure is 'The Witch's Boy' by Michael Gruber. I should start by telling you that I was embarrassed when the Librarian told me that the reason I couldn't find the title in the CD audio section was that it was in the "juvenile" area. This made me feel silly for trusting that silly NPR book reviewer, Nancy Pearl. It turns out though that Pearl was right and the Witch's Boy has been a delightful read.
The story starts with (what else) a witch finding an abandoned - and quite ugly - baby in the forrest. She names him Lump and raises him as her own balancing her new mothering duties with her magical ones (think cat's in the cradle .... but more literally). Lump grows up in her house with a she-bear for a nurse and a malevolent-though imprisoned jinn for a schoolmaster. These colorful characters, along with the aforementioned cat make up his universe. He never meets other people, never knows a world without magic, and all the stories he sees acted out on his enchanted bedroom walls are filled with handsome heroes that look just like him.
Not surprisingly, when Lump does meet other human children the results are rather disastrous and in the chaos and resulting magical council, Mom loses most of her powers. She along with a now transformed cat-become-coachman perform at circus shows with acrobatics and parlor tricks throughout the kingdom.
If you thought the bit about a cat turning into a coachman sounded familiar ... add to it the fact that he drove a carriage made from a pumpkin ... and the carriage was pulled by two rats that were made into horses ..... and you'll catch on to the fact that the Witch's boy is liberally sprinkled with classic fairy tales. So far I've caught: Cinderella, Rapunzel, Hansel and Gretel, Red Riding Hood, Aladdin, Snow White (which is really funny) and Rumplestiltskin. Each story is rather turned on it's head in an almost "fractured fairy-tale" way reminiscent of the old shorts on Rocky and Bullwinkle. I won't give away too much here other than to say that the reader should remember that Lump's mother is quite sensible and knows most if not all of the people in these stories (she's is red riding hood herself) and has a decidedly practical take on their behavior.
As is too often the case, I've not waited until finishing the book to write my little blog entry. So, keep in mind that it might end terribly - but I hope not.
Not sure how the stew-spot on my shirt got me here. But it was certainly yummy.
8 comments:
so you ate the stew spot on your shirt? I didn't notice a hole? HUM, I'll have to check it out later. Was the extra fiber good? I have started watching what I eat this week, but I haven't advanced to shirts for extra fiber yet! :) :)
(If you are confused, it's okay...I'm just taking the last sentence literally to bug dash!) Welcome back (again) babe!
the book sounds interesting.
When I pick up a book, movie, or other such thing at a store, rental place, or the library I often wonder if the person behind the counter is trying to assess what type of person I am based on my pick. I think I would if I were behind the counter.
Dust - make sure you go back to the same person over and over so they can get a well rounded idea of who you are.
I love to read, but I just finished the day before yesterday a particularly long read. For me it was long because it is non-fiction, THe Ghosts of Spain. While it was very insightful into the culture and why things are certain ways and the history, I felt like I'd never get done. I'm not good at reading history/non-fiction. I'm celebrating now that I can pick out a novel to read again. How come I can read a fat novel in a week or two but Ghosts took me months?!
I didn't often wander into the "juvenile section" at the library or bookstore in the U.S. But when I did there was something intense and creative about it. So many illustrations and so many evocations of wonder...
Forest, when I tried that the librarian turned me in for being a stalker.
Update .... I finished "The Witch's Boy". Lump does not quite live happily ever after (since even those in love quarrel now and then) but all ends well.
Also, Sleeping Beauty and Bluebeard made it into the story along with a happy little bit on Goldilocks and the three bears.
Post a Comment