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Arlene Sardine
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From: lhendr at unm.edu <lhendr>
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 21:49:11 -0600 (MDT)
At last I have my copy of Arlene Sardine, and I love the book. I have thought about what I'd say if I were writing a review,. It would be harder than writing a personal response and interpretation, because I would feel I'd have to present a somewhat balanced perspective, and also warn readers that the book is unusual and it might not appeal to everyone. Writing criticism or interpretation of a book for an audience that has already read the book, on the other hand, allows much more freedom than writing a "review" does.
I was struck by the wonderful colors of the book. For some reason the cover reminded me of dyed Easter eggs. I wondered why the dedication "for my grandparents." Knowing before starting to read that Arlene dies halfway through, I am wondering already if the book has something profound to say about life and death. I loved the picture of fjord and the way it goes down deep beneath the surface, something I'd thought about when driving along the precipitous edges of fjords, but never seen.
I like the little labels that identify Arlene for us. I want to point with a child in my lap and say, "There's Arlene," and wait for the child to find her on the next page. I'm curious about why some of the pages are lined with colors, especially noticeable is the bright red on the pages where "First they swam THIS way. Then they swam THAT way." That is not only characteristic of schools of fish, but the phrasing reminds me of
"Did you ever see a lassie?" and Raschka's musicality.
But in contrast to the nursery story rhythms, alliteration, repetition, and internal rhymes, the book has elements of the informational book, with its brisling (highlighted), purse net, thronging, and so forth -quite technical terms.
The pages with the purse net first scooping them up and then dumping them out is lovely in its design and contrasts. On the page where
"Arlene died" the usually colorful color block behind the text is a drab muddy color, but yellow follows on the next page as we move into a new mode.
My husband read the book at my insistence, and he thought it was terrible. I, however, love it, and I'm not sure some quite young children with a philosophical bent wouldn't love it, too. It seems to me it is all about the cycle of life. Arlene lives a good life -- swimming this way and that way with her thousands of friends. Then what happens?
Then what happens to all of us? Do we become transformed into something else in an afterlife, is there something useful that comes from our deaths? If only enriching the sprouting grass or the leafy trees? One phrase that jumped out at me that made me think my religious or philosophical take on this book was not entirely in my imagination, was the "on the third day" when the net is lifted out of the water.
The face overlooking the "final inspection" strikes me as benign. There are more examples in the rest of the book, but I'm running out of time. All in all, my reaction is that one could do much worse than to live one's life as a sardine.
The sequel, of course, would be what happens to Arlene after the can is opened and she is eaten! Ah, the life cycle continues! These are all things that couldn't be written in a review, at least not at this length, but that can be discussed or written about in some other way.
Linnea Hendrickson Lhendr at unm.edu
Received on Wed 23 Sep 1998 10:49:11 PM CDT
Date: Wed, 23 Sep 1998 21:49:11 -0600 (MDT)
At last I have my copy of Arlene Sardine, and I love the book. I have thought about what I'd say if I were writing a review,. It would be harder than writing a personal response and interpretation, because I would feel I'd have to present a somewhat balanced perspective, and also warn readers that the book is unusual and it might not appeal to everyone. Writing criticism or interpretation of a book for an audience that has already read the book, on the other hand, allows much more freedom than writing a "review" does.
I was struck by the wonderful colors of the book. For some reason the cover reminded me of dyed Easter eggs. I wondered why the dedication "for my grandparents." Knowing before starting to read that Arlene dies halfway through, I am wondering already if the book has something profound to say about life and death. I loved the picture of fjord and the way it goes down deep beneath the surface, something I'd thought about when driving along the precipitous edges of fjords, but never seen.
I like the little labels that identify Arlene for us. I want to point with a child in my lap and say, "There's Arlene," and wait for the child to find her on the next page. I'm curious about why some of the pages are lined with colors, especially noticeable is the bright red on the pages where "First they swam THIS way. Then they swam THAT way." That is not only characteristic of schools of fish, but the phrasing reminds me of
"Did you ever see a lassie?" and Raschka's musicality.
But in contrast to the nursery story rhythms, alliteration, repetition, and internal rhymes, the book has elements of the informational book, with its brisling (highlighted), purse net, thronging, and so forth -quite technical terms.
The pages with the purse net first scooping them up and then dumping them out is lovely in its design and contrasts. On the page where
"Arlene died" the usually colorful color block behind the text is a drab muddy color, but yellow follows on the next page as we move into a new mode.
My husband read the book at my insistence, and he thought it was terrible. I, however, love it, and I'm not sure some quite young children with a philosophical bent wouldn't love it, too. It seems to me it is all about the cycle of life. Arlene lives a good life -- swimming this way and that way with her thousands of friends. Then what happens?
Then what happens to all of us? Do we become transformed into something else in an afterlife, is there something useful that comes from our deaths? If only enriching the sprouting grass or the leafy trees? One phrase that jumped out at me that made me think my religious or philosophical take on this book was not entirely in my imagination, was the "on the third day" when the net is lifted out of the water.
The face overlooking the "final inspection" strikes me as benign. There are more examples in the rest of the book, but I'm running out of time. All in all, my reaction is that one could do much worse than to live one's life as a sardine.
The sequel, of course, would be what happens to Arlene after the can is opened and she is eaten! Ah, the life cycle continues! These are all things that couldn't be written in a review, at least not at this length, but that can be discussed or written about in some other way.
Linnea Hendrickson Lhendr at unm.edu
Received on Wed 23 Sep 1998 10:49:11 PM CDT
