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About the mouse tale
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From: lindan lee <lindanlee>
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:59:31 +0000
In response to the post asking for additional feedback on ?The Tale of Despereaux, I can offer my own reading experience. I do want to say that I particularly enjoyed Kate DiMillo?s last book ?Winn-Dixie? and that my comments here are not meant to cast any aspersions on her established talent as a writer or to act as a back-seat driver for her narrative choices.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes
"> My reactions and impressions are those of a reader- an adult reader, at that, who struggles a lot at the conceptual level.
There were wonderful examples of whimsy like the king banning soup... and soup bowls... and soup spoons. The writing was lyrical and there was a lot of energy in the story.</FONT
However, I found myself caught in a twixt and tween space with this book. It had the intrusive narrator like a Lemony Snicket book, t he battle between the good forces of the light and the evil forces of the dark like Philip Pullman?s triology, and a fairytale format with animals and humans like a Grimms? or Anderson?s story. In any story, I try and understand the world the story takes place in? often, the demands for fantasy are even greater because it goes beyond just describing the neighborhood and the reader is asked to step into a completely different world.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes
"> In Despereaux, I found myself bounced around and never sure of what kind of a world the characters inhabited.
Naturally, I begin reading any book with my own existing biases. And I think my awareness of certain things has changed over the years.<SPA N style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I have read fairytales for years, and the violence in the more accurate translations did not bother me then? but it does now. I am troubled about child abuse?and animal abuse, too?and so I found myself feeling ver y sorry for Miggery Sow and glad she got out of that terrible situation. Then it turns out that Migg continues to be beaten, and turns into a very fat stupid girl that want to be a sparkly princess and is convi nced by a rat to go at knife-point to the princesses bedroom, kidnap her and force her down to the dungeon. And then there?s the kitchen episode where I thought she was trying to give Despereaux a c hance to escape only to have her bring down a huge knife and cut off his tale!
I enjoy dark humor, and as an adult, understand the great Edward Gorrey books. Lemony Snicket has created a world where we know that just when we think it couldn?t get worse for the poor orphan children- it does- but I still know that no matter how bad it seems, all the kids will make it through every adversity in time for the next book in the series. &nb sp; In this tale it was difficult for me to go from the great royal edict to ban soup to kidnapping a princess at knife-point.
I wondered if all the characters were humans instead of the animal/human mix if people would feel differently about the story. In an animal story do we hold the humans to different behavior standards? Because a bad rat chewed through the rope that kept the jailor safe and so he died<SPAN style="ms o-spacerun: yes"> (the very one who was instrumental in saving the mouse) it was supposed to be okay. However, if a kid gone wrong had taken his pocket knife and did the same thing it would have a very different effect.
Again, these are only my personal impressions? I?m constantly reminded that we don?t live in a black and white world but I look forward to those sparkly moments that take us out of the
ever-widening shades of darkest grey. There are many books written for children and young adults that deal with murder, abuse, broken families, children without anywhere to go and I know these are important an d have a place in our culture today.
The end of Despereaux ends with Miggery Sow being sent back the same man who had beaten her until she was deaf and sold her for a tablecloth and a chicken.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: ye s"> I do prefer fantasy books for children (and myself) to have happy endings and if happy just isn?t possible, it would be nice if the ending could at least do no harm.
Lindan Johnson
lindanlee at hotmail.com
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between "lightening" and "lightening bug." -Mark Twain
Check out the new MSN 9 Dial-up ? fast & reliable Internet access with prime features!
Received on Mon 19 Jan 2004 03:59:31 PM CST
Date: Mon, 19 Jan 2004 21:59:31 +0000
In response to the post asking for additional feedback on ?The Tale of Despereaux, I can offer my own reading experience. I do want to say that I particularly enjoyed Kate DiMillo?s last book ?Winn-Dixie? and that my comments here are not meant to cast any aspersions on her established talent as a writer or to act as a back-seat driver for her narrative choices.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes
"> My reactions and impressions are those of a reader- an adult reader, at that, who struggles a lot at the conceptual level.
There were wonderful examples of whimsy like the king banning soup... and soup bowls... and soup spoons. The writing was lyrical and there was a lot of energy in the story.</FONT
However, I found myself caught in a twixt and tween space with this book. It had the intrusive narrator like a Lemony Snicket book, t he battle between the good forces of the light and the evil forces of the dark like Philip Pullman?s triology, and a fairytale format with animals and humans like a Grimms? or Anderson?s story. In any story, I try and understand the world the story takes place in? often, the demands for fantasy are even greater because it goes beyond just describing the neighborhood and the reader is asked to step into a completely different world.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: yes
"> In Despereaux, I found myself bounced around and never sure of what kind of a world the characters inhabited.
Naturally, I begin reading any book with my own existing biases. And I think my awareness of certain things has changed over the years.<SPA N style="mso-spacerun: yes"> I have read fairytales for years, and the violence in the more accurate translations did not bother me then? but it does now. I am troubled about child abuse?and animal abuse, too?and so I found myself feeling ver y sorry for Miggery Sow and glad she got out of that terrible situation. Then it turns out that Migg continues to be beaten, and turns into a very fat stupid girl that want to be a sparkly princess and is convi nced by a rat to go at knife-point to the princesses bedroom, kidnap her and force her down to the dungeon. And then there?s the kitchen episode where I thought she was trying to give Despereaux a c hance to escape only to have her bring down a huge knife and cut off his tale!
I enjoy dark humor, and as an adult, understand the great Edward Gorrey books. Lemony Snicket has created a world where we know that just when we think it couldn?t get worse for the poor orphan children- it does- but I still know that no matter how bad it seems, all the kids will make it through every adversity in time for the next book in the series. &nb sp; In this tale it was difficult for me to go from the great royal edict to ban soup to kidnapping a princess at knife-point.
I wondered if all the characters were humans instead of the animal/human mix if people would feel differently about the story. In an animal story do we hold the humans to different behavior standards? Because a bad rat chewed through the rope that kept the jailor safe and so he died<SPAN style="ms o-spacerun: yes"> (the very one who was instrumental in saving the mouse) it was supposed to be okay. However, if a kid gone wrong had taken his pocket knife and did the same thing it would have a very different effect.
Again, these are only my personal impressions? I?m constantly reminded that we don?t live in a black and white world but I look forward to those sparkly moments that take us out of the
ever-widening shades of darkest grey. There are many books written for children and young adults that deal with murder, abuse, broken families, children without anywhere to go and I know these are important an d have a place in our culture today.
The end of Despereaux ends with Miggery Sow being sent back the same man who had beaten her until she was deaf and sold her for a tablecloth and a chicken.<SPAN style="mso-spacerun: ye s"> I do prefer fantasy books for children (and myself) to have happy endings and if happy just isn?t possible, it would be nice if the ending could at least do no harm.
Lindan Johnson
lindanlee at hotmail.com
"The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between "lightening" and "lightening bug." -Mark Twain
Check out the new MSN 9 Dial-up ? fast & reliable Internet access with prime features!
Received on Mon 19 Jan 2004 03:59:31 PM CST
