Each clump is in no real order, but the clumps are in order. If that made sense. I'll talk about each of these books at some point in time throughout the running of this blog, but this should let you know what you're getting into if you read this thing :) Also, I didn't put the Bible on here, but if I had to pick one book to keep, that would be it. So, technically, this should be "My Favorite Books Not Including the Bible," but regardless, enjoy. Also, it should be noted that I am not including series in this list (so LOTR, Harry Potter, Millennium, Percy Jackson, ect, are missing); this list will be making it's appearance sometime.
My Top Six Favorite Books:
Sir Cedric Rides Again by Roy Gerrard
Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
East by Edith Pattou
Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott
The Hobbit by JRR Tolkien
Next Five:
The Stand by Stephen King
Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
Beauty by Robin McKinley
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Next Five:
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgston Burnett
Mattimeo by Brian Jacques
The Screwtape Letters By CS Lewis
The Three Musketeers by Alexandre Dumas
Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine
Also deserving of mention: The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley, Timeline by Michael Crichton, Holes by Louis Sachar, A Ring of Endless Light by Madeline L'Engle, Metamorphosis: The Sorcerer by Jack Whyte, King of Wind by Marguerite Henry, Little Women by Louisa May Alcott, Matilda by Roald Dahl, The Giraffe The Pelly and Me by Dahl, Avalon High by Meg Cabot and The Morning Gift by Eva Ibbotson. And actually, Marguerite Henry and Roald Dahl are genius'. So you will read more about them :)
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
In Memory of One of My Favorite Authors
I was actually going to write about crime dramas next (because I love them so much), but then I heard the news that Brian Jacques died on February 5th, 2011 and I decided to change my topic. Brian Jacques was an English author who grew up in Liverpool and showed talent as an author from a very young age. He was the author of many novels, but I think of him mainly as the author of some of my favorite books, the Redwall Series.
I don't know if any of you read the Redwall Books; they were kind of awesome. I think they never really caught on as much as Harry Potter, and never reached the popularity of LOTR or Narnia, but at the same time they really are classics and in my school at least had quite a following. I read Redwall in fifth grade, and used my pig money that next summer to buy the complete series (up to Long Patrol) and loved them (yes, I had a 4-H pig. And yes, I used my money to buy books on occasion. Surprise).
The Redwall Books are similar to LOTR and other epic quest books, but have their own unique take; the least of this is the fact that they typically star mice, with an occasional badger, hedgehog or squirrel. Redwall takes mice, moles, otters, voles, hedgehogs and squirrels as the heroes who live in Redwall Abbey, along with the warrior Badger Lords of Salamandastron, a mountain on the coast and their patrols of Hares, the long Patrol. Villains include foxes, rats, stouts, weasels and ferrets. Also snakes and cats. This fits in with nature (though I believe that Taggerung plays with that a bit and there are good cats occasionally).
In order of publication, the series goes:
* Redwall (1986)
* Mossflower (1988)
* Mattimeo (1989)
* Mariel of Redwall (1991)
* Salamandastron (1992)
* Martin the Warrior (1993)
* The Bellmaker (1994)
* Outcast of Redwall (1995)
* The Pearls of Lutra (1996)
* The Long Patrol (1997)
* Marlfox (1998)
* The Legend of Luke (1999)
* Lord Brocktree (2000)
* The Taggerung (2001)
* Triss (2002)
* Loamhedge (2003)
* Rakkety Tam (2004)
* High Rhulain (2005)
* Eulalia! (2007)
* Doomwyte (2008)
* The Sable Quean (2010)
Chronically, it's another story. So really, Mr. Jacques was very prolific. Personally, I stopped reading after The Legend of Luke. Not because I wasn't interested in the books that followed, but because I really didn't like Legend of Luke and Lord Brocktree didn't look as interesting to me. However, the other later books (mainly Rakkety Tam, about a kilt-wearing squirrel mercenary. Yes, you read that correctly) really intrigued me. Then I had no money, so Redwall went back on the shelf, both my shelf and the Borders/Wal-Mart Shelf.
However don't get the idea that I am more mature than I am; my copies of Mattimeo (which had to get re-glued) and Redwall are both on my comfort shelf; the books that travel with me when I am replanted in a new place (if I can fit others, Mossflower and Marlfox come too).
So, obviously, Mattimeo is my favorite of the series, followed by Redwall, then Marlfox, Mossflower, The Outcast of Redwall, The Pearls of Lutra, The Bellmaker, Mariel of Redwall, The Long Patrol, Martin the Warrior, Salamandastron , The Legend of Luke. I was very disappointed in Salamandastron; but that's mainly because I was expecting and wanting to read the story I got in Outcast. Maybe I should reread Salamandastron.
Other than the heroic escapades of animals who try to live in their Abbey in peace but are often forced by circumstance to fight (and they kick major bad-guy-butt), the Redwall books don't fail into the trap of repeating the same story over and over again. Even if heroes share a struggle, they arrive at their struggle (and resolution) in different ways. This keeps it fresh. Also, the descriptions are beautiful.
This quote describes better than I could rewrite Mr. Jacques' inspiration for this series: "Brian wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations." Jacques' old English teacher showed Redwall to a publisher without telling him, this was followed by a contract for the first five Redwall Books, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This reminds me of Rick Riordan, who, years later published a little story that he had told his sons. You may have heard of it, a little thing called Percy Jackson and the Olympians (a five book series with a second series of five picking up where Last Olympian left off). End of tangent. But after you read the Redwall Books, check out Percy Jackson and the Olympians (all 5 released), Heroes of Olympus (first released, second due 10-11-11), and the three book Kane Chronicles (first out, second 5-2-11). Back to Brian Jacques.
Here is a Brian Jacques quote taken from his website: "A mouse is small and can go unnoticed: but there is no limit to what a brave heart and a fearless spirit can achieve." I don't know if he intended it this way, but to me this makes me think of the fact that we can all be timid and small; especially those of us who prefer the background; but that if we have a brave heart and a bold spirit our timid personality can still do great things. Like a warrior mouse.
In addition to the Redwall Series, Jacques wrote three plays; Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies, and Scouse; The Flying Dutchman (Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, The Angel's Command, Voyage of Slaves),Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales, The Ribbajack: And Other Curious Yarns, several Redwall picture books and , with illustrator Alex Natchev; The Tale of Urso Brunov: Little Father of All Bears, Urso Brunov and the White Emperor.
Again, these books are well worth the time it'll take you to read them. The characters are believable (if you can get over the fact that they are animals) and you can really get invested in their struggles, the plots are riveting and exciting and the villains are, for the most part, very hate-able. If you haven't yet, go to your local library and borrow Redwall. Or pick one that sounds good to you and enjoy a few hours of escape into an animal kingdom unlike any you've been in yet. That’s another great thing about these books; you don’t have to read them in order, although some characters and conflicts are referenced (I’d read Redwall before Mattimeo, for example).
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go reread Mattimeo.
Brian Jacques, thank you for letting me share in your imagination. Rest in Peace.
All information was taken from my own mind or from Brian Jacques' Official Website (check it out, it's a great site):
http://www.redwall.org/
I don't know if any of you read the Redwall Books; they were kind of awesome. I think they never really caught on as much as Harry Potter, and never reached the popularity of LOTR or Narnia, but at the same time they really are classics and in my school at least had quite a following. I read Redwall in fifth grade, and used my pig money that next summer to buy the complete series (up to Long Patrol) and loved them (yes, I had a 4-H pig. And yes, I used my money to buy books on occasion. Surprise).
The Redwall Books are similar to LOTR and other epic quest books, but have their own unique take; the least of this is the fact that they typically star mice, with an occasional badger, hedgehog or squirrel. Redwall takes mice, moles, otters, voles, hedgehogs and squirrels as the heroes who live in Redwall Abbey, along with the warrior Badger Lords of Salamandastron, a mountain on the coast and their patrols of Hares, the long Patrol. Villains include foxes, rats, stouts, weasels and ferrets. Also snakes and cats. This fits in with nature (though I believe that Taggerung plays with that a bit and there are good cats occasionally).
In order of publication, the series goes:
* Redwall (1986)
* Mossflower (1988)
* Mattimeo (1989)
* Mariel of Redwall (1991)
* Salamandastron (1992)
* Martin the Warrior (1993)
* The Bellmaker (1994)
* Outcast of Redwall (1995)
* The Pearls of Lutra (1996)
* The Long Patrol (1997)
* Marlfox (1998)
* The Legend of Luke (1999)
* Lord Brocktree (2000)
* The Taggerung (2001)
* Triss (2002)
* Loamhedge (2003)
* Rakkety Tam (2004)
* High Rhulain (2005)
* Eulalia! (2007)
* Doomwyte (2008)
* The Sable Quean (2010)
Chronically, it's another story. So really, Mr. Jacques was very prolific. Personally, I stopped reading after The Legend of Luke. Not because I wasn't interested in the books that followed, but because I really didn't like Legend of Luke and Lord Brocktree didn't look as interesting to me. However, the other later books (mainly Rakkety Tam, about a kilt-wearing squirrel mercenary. Yes, you read that correctly) really intrigued me. Then I had no money, so Redwall went back on the shelf, both my shelf and the Borders/Wal-Mart Shelf.
However don't get the idea that I am more mature than I am; my copies of Mattimeo (which had to get re-glued) and Redwall are both on my comfort shelf; the books that travel with me when I am replanted in a new place (if I can fit others, Mossflower and Marlfox come too).
So, obviously, Mattimeo is my favorite of the series, followed by Redwall, then Marlfox, Mossflower, The Outcast of Redwall, The Pearls of Lutra, The Bellmaker, Mariel of Redwall, The Long Patrol, Martin the Warrior, Salamandastron , The Legend of Luke. I was very disappointed in Salamandastron; but that's mainly because I was expecting and wanting to read the story I got in Outcast. Maybe I should reread Salamandastron.
Other than the heroic escapades of animals who try to live in their Abbey in peace but are often forced by circumstance to fight (and they kick major bad-guy-butt), the Redwall books don't fail into the trap of repeating the same story over and over again. Even if heroes share a struggle, they arrive at their struggle (and resolution) in different ways. This keeps it fresh. Also, the descriptions are beautiful.
This quote describes better than I could rewrite Mr. Jacques' inspiration for this series: "Brian wrote Redwall for the children at the Royal Wavertree School for the Blind in Liverpool, where as a truck driver, he delivered milk. Because of the nature of his first audience, he made his style of writing as descriptive as possible, painting pictures with words so that the schoolchildren could see them in their imaginations." Jacques' old English teacher showed Redwall to a publisher without telling him, this was followed by a contract for the first five Redwall Books, and the rest, as they say, is history.
This reminds me of Rick Riordan, who, years later published a little story that he had told his sons. You may have heard of it, a little thing called Percy Jackson and the Olympians (a five book series with a second series of five picking up where Last Olympian left off). End of tangent. But after you read the Redwall Books, check out Percy Jackson and the Olympians (all 5 released), Heroes of Olympus (first released, second due 10-11-11), and the three book Kane Chronicles (first out, second 5-2-11). Back to Brian Jacques.
Here is a Brian Jacques quote taken from his website: "A mouse is small and can go unnoticed: but there is no limit to what a brave heart and a fearless spirit can achieve." I don't know if he intended it this way, but to me this makes me think of the fact that we can all be timid and small; especially those of us who prefer the background; but that if we have a brave heart and a bold spirit our timid personality can still do great things. Like a warrior mouse.
In addition to the Redwall Series, Jacques wrote three plays; Brown Bitter, Wet Nellies, and Scouse; The Flying Dutchman (Castaways of the Flying Dutchman, The Angel's Command, Voyage of Slaves),Seven Strange and Ghostly Tales, The Ribbajack: And Other Curious Yarns, several Redwall picture books and , with illustrator Alex Natchev; The Tale of Urso Brunov: Little Father of All Bears, Urso Brunov and the White Emperor.
Again, these books are well worth the time it'll take you to read them. The characters are believable (if you can get over the fact that they are animals) and you can really get invested in their struggles, the plots are riveting and exciting and the villains are, for the most part, very hate-able. If you haven't yet, go to your local library and borrow Redwall. Or pick one that sounds good to you and enjoy a few hours of escape into an animal kingdom unlike any you've been in yet. That’s another great thing about these books; you don’t have to read them in order, although some characters and conflicts are referenced (I’d read Redwall before Mattimeo, for example).
Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go reread Mattimeo.
Brian Jacques, thank you for letting me share in your imagination. Rest in Peace.
All information was taken from my own mind or from Brian Jacques' Official Website (check it out, it's a great site):
http://www.redwall.org/
Saturday, February 5, 2011
My Favorite Book Ever!
Or, at the very least, in the top five. Seriously. If I was told that I could have my Bible and five other books for the rest of my life, this would be in the pile. Hands down, no questions. I mean, it's really that good. So, for your reading pleasure, one of the best books ever written and adored,"Sir Cedric Rides Again" By Roy Gerrard. This is actually an epic poem (that rhymes!) paired with some beautiful, detailed and downright fun illustrations. I still see new things in those pictures. This is also a book that I have, very nearly, memorized. Or had, at any rate. My parents told me once that when I was very small I could recite the first page in my high-pitched little voice, with proper poetic inflections. Yay!
I think part of my love for this book stems not only from the aforementioned reasons, but also because my dad's dog was named Cedric (from Cedric the Saxon in Ivanhoe, but I didn't know that). I loved that dog, and he loved me too (well, everyone did. I was, frankly, adorable). But not only did I have the book memorized, but my parents loved it too (or at least faked it really well). When they read it, they had voices for each character and different inflections at the proper dramatic parts. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve listening to this story being read aloud (before you judge me for being pathetic, I said some. Not nearly all). Also, it's set in England and later Jerusalem during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. I'll tell you this again later.
A couple of other points to make:
First of all, I don't know if this book is actually mine, or truly belongs to one of my parents. I have a few beloved books like that, that I borrowed so many times that they eventually ended up on my bookshelf. To be fair, this is one of the only books I have that has a sticker inside (it's a reading mouse looking at an open book that says "This book belongs to Bailey Cavender"). So I'm likely keeping it.
Secondly, just from looking at the thing you can tell it's been given lots of love. I think it had a book jacket once, but that is long since gone. The binding is seriously wounded (in fact, the next time someone offers to fix it for me, I'll let him). The cover has scratches, dents, discoloration, water stains, worn corners and, like I said, it looks like the book will fail out of the cover at any minute (like my old copy of Return of the King. But that's another story). But you open the book, and it is clean and pristine. I kept the pages in mint condition; well, as mint as a twenty-five year old beloved book can look.
OK, now, I have forced friends to read this book, because I love it so much, but in case you escaped, I did include some samples. It's hard to appreciate the wonder of it without reading the poetry :) Again, this is the property of Roy Gerrard.
"Sir Cedric and Lady Matilda
had a daughter, Edwina the Fair,
A beautiful child, but a little bit wild
and she walked with her nose in the air."
These are the opening lines, and he goes on to describe Edwina and talk about how she "caught mice in her hat, she tormented the cat and she loved playing practical jokes...and among other habits was breeding pet rabbits which chewed all her clothing to bits." The illustration in two pages of green leaves with little pictures scattered around it. These include Edwina with her ridiculous hair, an unhappy Matilda and a beaming Cedric, a frog hopping (you can almost not see him), and some of the aforementioned pets. Alright, I'm hooked already.
Then we meet the second best character (after Cedric, of course), who has the bad luck to fall in love with Edwina. His name? Hubert the Hopeless of course! "He was tall, he was skinny, a bit of a ninny, but quit a nice lad all the same. He was frightened of heights and of getting in fights and was totally useless at games. So Edwina, who thought that boys ought to like sport, used to call him some terrible names." Personally, I think Hubert is a really fun character, and he's going to love Edwina always, or so our poet tells us. Also, she does admit that he is cute, although a dork. This page has a picture of Edwina, sitting in a tree poking Hubert's awful (orange, tall and with a huge feather) hat with a stick. Her mom is disapproving, and Sir Cedric isn't paying attention. He does that a lot.
It's a long poem, so I'll just sum up. Sir Cedric decides that they all need a vacation. They decided to go to Jerusalem, which is "somewhere around Palestine." Oh, ps, this is sometime during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. No Robin Hood cameos, sadly. So the merry band heads out and there are beautifully detailed pictures of the countriside, Edwina annoying people and small animals, a very inaccurate (I assume) picture of the distance and water between France and England, and some fabulous poetry.
Well, when they're in Palestine, the men go hunting. This leaves Edwina, Lady Matilda and some guards. "Edwina was blue that she couldn't go too so she sulked and then wandered away. She went for a ramble and started to scramble up rocks, and was soon out of sight." This is what we call 'bad news bears,' so her mom and the guards are trying to find her. Unfortunately, no soon is Edwina found than "out of their hiding fierce bandits came striding, all hairy and lacking in charm." The illustration shows the fierceness of the bandits, as well as the truly trapped nature of our heroines. To throw us for a loop, these English women fought back (the fight picture is brilliant, that's all that can be said about it). Sadly, two versus ten isn't exactly fair (and they didn't have Inigo Montoya, Fezick or the Man in Black) so the two ladies are captured.
The villain is called Abdul the Heavy and he is so, as the illustration will attest to. Also, yes, there are two fat topless women. There is also a leopard, and many other more fun and fascinating things to see. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I don't that was ever a big deal to me. Look for the villain with a band-aid. That's a fun game. Anyway, Abdul has twenty two wives, and wants to make Edwina wife twenty three and Matilda a cook. This is the next bit, and one of my favorite parts of the book:
"But Edwina was not to be bullied-she had courage and true British grit. Despite being small she stood very tall (full four foot six and a bit) and cried, 'Don't suppose that this sweet English rose would marry a monster like you. I'd rather be dead!' And Matilda then said, 'I'm declining the cooking job too.'" Abdul has a temper tantrum and looks them in a tower. Also, maybe being 5'4" isn't too bad. It could be worse.
Luckily, Sir Cedric and Hubert are on the case and find their footprints, which lead them to a castle, then they see the tower. Someone has to scale the wall and no one really wants to. It's dangerous (he also uses the words 'braggart' and 'anon,' so that was a good lesson in vocab).
Hubert volunteers, climbs the wall, Edwina realizes that my-my-gosh-I've-liked-him-the-whole-time-and-WOW-he-looks-good-in-armor,o they all get down, but it's time for the FINAL SHOWDOWN! They were being excited t loudly, and Abdul heard them. Good job guys. Cedric decides that it's his turn to be awesome and in one page makes up for his inactivity in the rest of the poem. He stomps on Abdul's toe. This makes Abdul cry and "his men were distraught, for really he ought to have acted with daring and dash. So in sad disarray they lead him away, defeated by Cedric's panache" (another vocab word!)
They make it to Jerusalem, turns out Abdul is just a violent bully, Hubert is knighted (by the King, no less!) and gets the girl. Again, we have beautiful illustrations, beautiful framing of the illustrations...in some ways it looks illuminated, like medieval texts. I will leave you with a parting quote, the last lines of the book:
"And thus we leave Cedric triumphant
his womenfolk saved from their plight,
With Abdul brought low by a pain in his toe-
a lesson to all those who fight"
I always took that to mean that bullying and fighting just because you stronger is a bad thing. Again, the poetry is great; I shared some of my favorite bits here, and the artwork is truly fabulous. I don't know if there might be some hidden anti-feminist undertones here, but I never saw them. It seems to me to be both about being yourself, even if you are different (like Hubert) and that bullies are often easier to beat than we expect. But those are just my thoughts. Regardless, if you can track down a copy, it is totally worth it. Highly, highly recommended.
OK, well, I'm not sure how to do this right, but this story is the property of Roy Gerrard and was published by Farrar Straus Giroux. And just to be OCD about copyrights and stuff,this was copyrighted and published in 1986. Written and illustrated by Roy Gerrard, first published in Britain in 1986 by Victor Gollancz, first American edition in 1986, printed in Hong Kong.
I think part of my love for this book stems not only from the aforementioned reasons, but also because my dad's dog was named Cedric (from Cedric the Saxon in Ivanhoe, but I didn't know that). I loved that dog, and he loved me too (well, everyone did. I was, frankly, adorable). But not only did I have the book memorized, but my parents loved it too (or at least faked it really well). When they read it, they had voices for each character and different inflections at the proper dramatic parts. Some of my favorite childhood memories involve listening to this story being read aloud (before you judge me for being pathetic, I said some. Not nearly all). Also, it's set in England and later Jerusalem during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. I'll tell you this again later.
A couple of other points to make:
First of all, I don't know if this book is actually mine, or truly belongs to one of my parents. I have a few beloved books like that, that I borrowed so many times that they eventually ended up on my bookshelf. To be fair, this is one of the only books I have that has a sticker inside (it's a reading mouse looking at an open book that says "This book belongs to Bailey Cavender"). So I'm likely keeping it.
Secondly, just from looking at the thing you can tell it's been given lots of love. I think it had a book jacket once, but that is long since gone. The binding is seriously wounded (in fact, the next time someone offers to fix it for me, I'll let him). The cover has scratches, dents, discoloration, water stains, worn corners and, like I said, it looks like the book will fail out of the cover at any minute (like my old copy of Return of the King. But that's another story). But you open the book, and it is clean and pristine. I kept the pages in mint condition; well, as mint as a twenty-five year old beloved book can look.
OK, now, I have forced friends to read this book, because I love it so much, but in case you escaped, I did include some samples. It's hard to appreciate the wonder of it without reading the poetry :) Again, this is the property of Roy Gerrard.
"Sir Cedric and Lady Matilda
had a daughter, Edwina the Fair,
A beautiful child, but a little bit wild
and she walked with her nose in the air."
These are the opening lines, and he goes on to describe Edwina and talk about how she "caught mice in her hat, she tormented the cat and she loved playing practical jokes...and among other habits was breeding pet rabbits which chewed all her clothing to bits." The illustration in two pages of green leaves with little pictures scattered around it. These include Edwina with her ridiculous hair, an unhappy Matilda and a beaming Cedric, a frog hopping (you can almost not see him), and some of the aforementioned pets. Alright, I'm hooked already.
Then we meet the second best character (after Cedric, of course), who has the bad luck to fall in love with Edwina. His name? Hubert the Hopeless of course! "He was tall, he was skinny, a bit of a ninny, but quit a nice lad all the same. He was frightened of heights and of getting in fights and was totally useless at games. So Edwina, who thought that boys ought to like sport, used to call him some terrible names." Personally, I think Hubert is a really fun character, and he's going to love Edwina always, or so our poet tells us. Also, she does admit that he is cute, although a dork. This page has a picture of Edwina, sitting in a tree poking Hubert's awful (orange, tall and with a huge feather) hat with a stick. Her mom is disapproving, and Sir Cedric isn't paying attention. He does that a lot.
It's a long poem, so I'll just sum up. Sir Cedric decides that they all need a vacation. They decided to go to Jerusalem, which is "somewhere around Palestine." Oh, ps, this is sometime during the reign of Richard the Lionhearted. No Robin Hood cameos, sadly. So the merry band heads out and there are beautifully detailed pictures of the countriside, Edwina annoying people and small animals, a very inaccurate (I assume) picture of the distance and water between France and England, and some fabulous poetry.
Well, when they're in Palestine, the men go hunting. This leaves Edwina, Lady Matilda and some guards. "Edwina was blue that she couldn't go too so she sulked and then wandered away. She went for a ramble and started to scramble up rocks, and was soon out of sight." This is what we call 'bad news bears,' so her mom and the guards are trying to find her. Unfortunately, no soon is Edwina found than "out of their hiding fierce bandits came striding, all hairy and lacking in charm." The illustration shows the fierceness of the bandits, as well as the truly trapped nature of our heroines. To throw us for a loop, these English women fought back (the fight picture is brilliant, that's all that can be said about it). Sadly, two versus ten isn't exactly fair (and they didn't have Inigo Montoya, Fezick or the Man in Black) so the two ladies are captured.
The villain is called Abdul the Heavy and he is so, as the illustration will attest to. Also, yes, there are two fat topless women. There is also a leopard, and many other more fun and fascinating things to see. Maybe it's because I'm a girl, but I don't that was ever a big deal to me. Look for the villain with a band-aid. That's a fun game. Anyway, Abdul has twenty two wives, and wants to make Edwina wife twenty three and Matilda a cook. This is the next bit, and one of my favorite parts of the book:
"But Edwina was not to be bullied-she had courage and true British grit. Despite being small she stood very tall (full four foot six and a bit) and cried, 'Don't suppose that this sweet English rose would marry a monster like you. I'd rather be dead!' And Matilda then said, 'I'm declining the cooking job too.'" Abdul has a temper tantrum and looks them in a tower. Also, maybe being 5'4" isn't too bad. It could be worse.
Luckily, Sir Cedric and Hubert are on the case and find their footprints, which lead them to a castle, then they see the tower. Someone has to scale the wall and no one really wants to. It's dangerous (he also uses the words 'braggart' and 'anon,' so that was a good lesson in vocab).
Hubert volunteers, climbs the wall, Edwina realizes that my-my-gosh-I've-liked-him-the-whole-time-and-WOW-he-looks-good-in-armor,o they all get down, but it's time for the FINAL SHOWDOWN! They were being excited t loudly, and Abdul heard them. Good job guys. Cedric decides that it's his turn to be awesome and in one page makes up for his inactivity in the rest of the poem. He stomps on Abdul's toe. This makes Abdul cry and "his men were distraught, for really he ought to have acted with daring and dash. So in sad disarray they lead him away, defeated by Cedric's panache" (another vocab word!)
They make it to Jerusalem, turns out Abdul is just a violent bully, Hubert is knighted (by the King, no less!) and gets the girl. Again, we have beautiful illustrations, beautiful framing of the illustrations...in some ways it looks illuminated, like medieval texts. I will leave you with a parting quote, the last lines of the book:
"And thus we leave Cedric triumphant
his womenfolk saved from their plight,
With Abdul brought low by a pain in his toe-
a lesson to all those who fight"
I always took that to mean that bullying and fighting just because you stronger is a bad thing. Again, the poetry is great; I shared some of my favorite bits here, and the artwork is truly fabulous. I don't know if there might be some hidden anti-feminist undertones here, but I never saw them. It seems to me to be both about being yourself, even if you are different (like Hubert) and that bullies are often easier to beat than we expect. But those are just my thoughts. Regardless, if you can track down a copy, it is totally worth it. Highly, highly recommended.
OK, well, I'm not sure how to do this right, but this story is the property of Roy Gerrard and was published by Farrar Straus Giroux. And just to be OCD about copyrights and stuff,this was copyrighted and published in 1986. Written and illustrated by Roy Gerrard, first published in Britain in 1986 by Victor Gollancz, first American edition in 1986, printed in Hong Kong.
Friday, February 4, 2011
I Was Thinking...
...which is often dangerous (a dangerous past-time, I know), that I like to read. A lot. So, this will be my place to review books, movies (mostly the stuff I like, animation, action/adventure, classics, westerns, ect) some lovely television shows (you'll be reading about Castle) and poetry. OK, maybe not(much) poetry. Also, I might occasionally post my poetry on here...so be warned. I'll let you know before that happens so you can be prepared (yes our teeth and ambitions are barred).
But I figured, since I have all this time on my hands (this is me being sarcastic, can't you tell?) and that if I could, I would review stuff on my "real blog," thereby turning it into even more of a "witty stuff said by other people" than it already is, here we have it. This is my "stuff by other people" blog. So, love it, hate it, I don't really mind either way :)
Wow, that was ramble-filled. I promise that normally this will not be the format.
But I figured, since I have all this time on my hands (this is me being sarcastic, can't you tell?) and that if I could, I would review stuff on my "real blog," thereby turning it into even more of a "witty stuff said by other people" than it already is, here we have it. This is my "stuff by other people" blog. So, love it, hate it, I don't really mind either way :)
Wow, that was ramble-filled. I promise that normally this will not be the format.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)