Tag: fantasy

A Journey to the Commonwealth of Letters

Aside from my cousin Dianne, another person who got me hooked on books is my friend Tintin. Back in college, way before my book-hoarding days, I was entranced by the rows and rows of books on her shelf in her room, and she always let me borrow great books (of course, even then, I returned them already covered in protective plastic).

with Tin at the Half Blood Prince launch in ’05

Last year, while I was trying in vain to recruit her to BookMooch, she told me she was dying to find a copy of this book called Silverlock by John Myers Myers. I was curious, and ended up adding it to my wishlist because it sounded so intriguing. I totally forgot about it until Triccie put up a copy in her inventory during a special promo for local moochers last February.

Tin wanted to borrow it the last time I saw her, so I decided to bump it up on my TBR so I could lend it to her.

I started the book around Black Saturday; I read about a third then I wasn’t able to read all last week because I was working on a book project. Then I read another third during Dianne’s graduation, and read the remaining hundred-plus pages for the 24-hour read-a-thon.

Silverlock (book #59 for 2009) , written in 1949, is an epic fantasy about A. Clarence Shandon, an American who goes off for a vacation but ends up getting shipwrecked, and finds himself in the Commonwealth of Letters, a land that challenges everything he has ever known, populated by literary characters.

Shandon is dubbed as Silverlock by his guide to the Commonwealth, Golias (who embodies Orpheus, and perhaps some other storytelling characters) due to a streak of white in his black hair.

Shandon (occasionally with Golias, but more because of his own pigheadedness) gets into a lot of adventures and misadventures in his journey throughout the Commonwealth: he is turned into a pig by Circe, gets chased down by a pack of cannibals, gets involved in a love triangle because of Puck’s tomfoolery, joins Robin Hood and his merry men, celebrates with Beowulf over his triumph with Grendel, has tea with the Mad Hatter and the March Hare; and steals Huck Finn’s raft; and runs into Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, Hester from The Scarlet Letter, and Rosalind and Orlando from As You Like It.

It’s hard to explain the plot exactly, because that would take the fun out of it. Just think of it as a richer, expanded version of Shrek with more obscure characters or a more outlandish Jasper Fforde novel — more fantasy than mystery. And with a lot of songs in between.

For the most part, it was a good read, but I ranked it my least favorite in the read-a-thon, because I was pressured to finish the book. I’m not a hardcore fantasy fan, and the story was a bit more fantastic for my taste, so it was more difficult for me to get through it. Unless books with made-up maps and strange names are normal fare for you, the book is best read at leisure, because you’ll need your concentration to keep track of the characters while attempting to identify them, or you’ll get as lost as Shandon is in this strange world.

I like the message the book leaves with the reader, about the transforming power of books and reading. Shandon Silverlock certainly doesn’t start out as hero material — cowardly, rude, chauvinistic, lecherous, and even downright annoying. But as he goes through his journey in the Commonwealth, he picks up values from the literary ideals that he meets, and in the end, he becomes a hero that deserves the title role in the story.

This is the sort of book, I think, that gets better with every reading, especially after you’ve read more literature that will allow you to identify other characters and references you weren’t able to identify before. I don’t think I even recognized a fourth of the characters discussed in the book, making succeeding readings a definite possibility. I think I’ll read this again in five years or so, to see where it takes me.

Meanwhile, I’m loaning it to Tintin later :)

***
My copy: 2005 Ace trade paperback, mooched from Triccie. I want the hardcover edition with the built-in companion.

My rating: 4/5 stars

Up, Up, and Away

(blogging about another old favorite, as I’m still in the middle of reading Silverlock and am majorly swamped, hay…)

When I was in 4th grade, my dad usually picked me up after work so I had a few hours to kill while waiting. I usually read books if I didn’t have any homework to work on, or if I didn’t feel like doing it, which was more often the case.

Now in those days, we decorated the room with special corners for each subject — Christian Doctrine, Science, Math, Social Studies, etc. Of course, my favorite corner was the Reading Corner, where everyone brought a book or two to share with the class and we would have a mini-library to escape to in between classes or during DEAR (Drop Everything And Read) time, so we wouldn’t get listed down as “noisy girls”. Haha, magically by the end of the school year the books would have dwindled to a couple mo.tley ones; I lost a lot of books to the Reading Corner, although I gained some other kids’ books too, wink, wink.

One of the books I discovered in our 4th grade reading corner is the 1947 Newbery Award winner The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene du Bois, which I first read while waiting to get picked up from school one rainy afternoon at Gate 1.

The Twenty-One Balloons one of the best escapist stories I have ever had the pleasure of reading, and I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve read it and how many copies I’ve worn out and lost (e.g. loaned and never returned to me! grr).

I really love the premise: Professor William Waterman Sherman decides to retire from teaching arithmetic to grubby kids, and decides to fly off on a grand vacation — drifting aimlessly on a hot-air balloon! I loved the detailed description of how The Globe (Prof. Sherman’s hot air balloon) was constructed — a small wicker house with an observation deck, and everything made from the lightest materials — even a small library of paper-bound books in tiny print!

Professor Sherman left San Francisco intending to fly across the Pacific Ocean, and three weeks later, he mysteriously turns up floating in the Atlantic Ocean, in a wooden wreckage with 21 balloons!

Where exactly has he been? On the island of Krakatoa (he flies over the Philippines!), which turns out to be an extremely wealthy island-nation of eccentric citizens!

The Diamond Mines

I love the idea of Krakatoa in The Twenty-One Balloons, and this book has made me daydream about living there, and given the choice, I’d drop everything and go. The island has an expansive diamond mine right under the volcano Krakatoa. According to Krakatoan history (as narrated by Mr. F), a sailor got shipwrecked on the island and discovered its treasures. As soon as he was able to return to America, he handpicked 20 families of diverse talents and interests. Each family was renamed with a letter of the alphabet, e.g. Mr. A, Mr. B, A-1, and A-2 and so on until the Ts, and the small nation lives a leisurely life financed by discreetly selling a small load of diamonds each year.

The Coat of Arms of Krakatoa: “Not New Things, but New Ways”

What’s most interesting about Krakatoa is its “Gourmet Government.” Each day of their 20-day calendar (A through T) is assigned to a specific family, who is tasked to serve meals at their house, which functions as a restaurant specializing in a particular cuisine — A for American, B for British, C for Chinese, D for Dutch, etc. It’s a lot of fun, as each house resembles the architecture of the country too — from an Egyptian pyramid to a Russian tea house to an Italian Bistro and a miniature Versailles! — and the families are very competitive in coming up with great dining experiences for one another, and they have theme months too, like “Month of Lamb,” depending on their surplus stock. I imagine every day to be a gastronomic adventure!

There are also a lot of imaginative Krakatoan inventions in the book, including a bed that automatically changes sheets, a collapsible dining room, living room bumpcars, sky beds, and flying merry-go-rounds. William Pene du Bois is not only a gifted writer, he illustrated the book as well, and the illustrations are great fuel for the imagination.

M-1 and M-2’s Sky beds

Of course, you will have to read the book to find out how Professor Sherman ends up in the wrong ocean with 21 balloons. It’s a great book for all ages; kids and adults alike will appreciate the rich experience that Pene du Bois lays out for the reader.

Interesting factoid: the story came out around the same time as F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “A Diamond as Big as the Ritz” in 1947, which has a similar plot although very different ideas. William Pene du Bois writes a horrified note as an introduction and quips,”The fact that F. Scott Fitzgerald and I apparently would spend our billions in like ways right down to being dumped from bed into a bathtub is altogether, quite frankly, beyond my explanation.”

***
My copy: trade paperback. Looking for a hardcover copy!

My rating: 5/5 stars

Mosca Mye, Saracen and Eponymous Clent

When I saw this book on a bookstore shelf, I was instantly intrigued by the description at the back of the book: “Frances Hardinge’s breathtaking debut novel has at its heart an inspiring truth — that the power of books can change the world.”

I instantly added it to my BookMooch wishlist, waited several months for a copy to turn up, and finally mooched one from the UK. I was quite eager to read this book, but it didn’t turn out to be how I expected…

Fly by Night by Frances Hardinge (book #58 of 2009) is set in a world called “The Fractured Realm,” an alternative 18th-century world that is “shattered” by the loss of a ruling monarch.

Mosca Mye is the twelve-year old heroine, an orphan who runs away from her oppressive aunt and uncle, taking with her a snow-white goose named Saracen. Mosca applies for employment under the shady and notorious Eponymous Clent, and as they make their way on a perilous journey, Mosca finds herself at the heart of a dark plot looming over the capital city.

Mosca and Saracen make quite a team — Mosca is spunky and headstrong with an insatiable thirst for knowledge, and Saracen can be quite fearsome, known to single-handedly (single-web-footedly?) capture sailing vessels and bring grown men to their knees.

Hardinge’s prose is rich and musical, a cacophony of sounds and textures that roll off your tongue and are a pleasure to savor:

“Around and through the village, water seethed down the breakneck hillside in a thousand winding streamlets. They hissed and gleamed through dark miles of pine forest above the village, chafing the white rocks and learning a strange milkiness. Chough itself was more a tumble than a town, the houses scattered down the incline as if stranded there after a violent flood.”

I think, though, that the nvel was weighed down by too many plot components that made it difficult to understand. I found that there was so much political conflict (and too many pages) revolving around characters that were of no concern to the reader, and the novel suffered whenever the focus was taken away from its heroine, because it became difficult to follow. I couldn’t tell you the details of the political uprising in a way you can understand, because even I didn’t get it… Perhaps a bit more exposition on the setting, and an insight on the other characters and their significance to the story would have elicited more sympathy towards the political cause.

Obviously, I was also looking forward to the part about the power of books, and I was sorely disappointed that it was only vaguely covered (read: huh???) throughout the book.

If the language wasn’t well crafted I would probably have thought less of the book; it was an okay read, although it had the potential to be so much more.

***
my copy: trade paperback, mooched from the UK

my rating: 3/5 stars

One heck of a sleeping pill…

The Dream Merchant by Isabel Hoving

Book #26 of 2009

I can’t believe I actually finished this book, because I fell asleep thrice while reading it, and had some very strange dreams too.

I saw this book at National Bookstore and was attracted by the handsome cover — deep red with a gilt pattern, with red jewels embedded in front. I searched it on BookMooch and found a copy of the exact edition and mooched it, and was excited to read it as soon as it got here.

I tried starting it a few times last year but I couldn’t spark a connection with the book. Finally, because I stayed home all weekend, I decided to stick it out, and for a six-hundred page book in fairly small font, with lots of vague mumbo-jumbo, I really am surprised I managed to finish it.

The Amazon reviews are high, all either 5 star or 4 star, but considering there are only 8 reviews in total, I shouldn’t have been too confident (haha, I really shouldn’t believe Amazon reviews).

The story is weird — 12 year old Josh Cope is hired by Gippart, a trading company that operates in dreamworlds called umaya. Due to a complication created by some overzealous Gippart employees in one of their operations, Josh and his team are trapped in the umaya and they must travel backwards in time.

It sounds hokey, I know. The ideas were there, but they weren’t sufficiently expressed , and it frustrated me. I hate it when fantasy books introduce strange concepts but don’t give you substantial information or context and expect you to automatically accept and understand its strangeness. Up to the last page of the book, I still couldn’t understand the point of the book and half the things they were saying!

Reading the amazon info, I found out the book was translated from Dutch. Perhaps its real merit was lost in translation.

I want to give this book away because my frustration with it irritates me, but it’s so pretty I still want it on my shelf.

***
My copy: hardcover

My rating: 2/5 stars

Nothing like the magic of reading the book

(the review I wrote, published today in Manila Bulletin, Students and Campuses section)

The film adaptation of Cornelia Funke’s fantasy bestseller Inkheart hits the big screen this weekend, after almost two years of giddy anticipation for the book’s fans.


Produced by New Line Cinema, the outfit that brought to life J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Philip Pullman’s The Golden Compass, and packing an all-star cast led by Brendan Fraser (Mortimer “Mo” Folchart), Paul Bettany (Dustfinger), Helen Mirren (Elinor Loredan), Andy Serkis (Capricorn), Jim Broadbent (Fenoglio), Sienna Guillory (Resa), and newcomer Eliza Bennett (Meggie Folchart), the theatrical release of Inkheart promised to be a feast for fantasy lovers.

A book about a book
Inkheart is the first book in the Ink Trilogy, a series of fantasy novels by the famous children’s book writer, Cornelia Funke, often tagged as Germany’s answer to J.K. Rowling. Funke has written well-loved fantasy stories such as Dragon Rider (1996), which was on the New York Times bestseller list for 78 weeks, and the Dickensian The Thief Lord (2000), which immediately cornered the #2 spot on the New York Times bestseller list for 19 weeks.

First published in Funke’s native German (originally entitled Tintenherz), Inkheart was published in 2003 by Scholastic (translated by Anthea Bell), and went on to gain worldwide readership, critical accolades, and bestseller status, with the sequels Inkspell (2005) and Inkdeath (2008) following suit.

Inkheart revolves around an obscure book, also entitled “Inkheart,” a medieval tale that becomes entwined with the lives of the Folchart family.

Meggie Folchart is a bookbinder’s daughter, and has spent all twelve years of her life surrounded by books. One thing puzzles, her however: as much as her father shared her love for books and reading, he has never read her a story. One fateful night, a mysterious stranger named Dustfinger and his horned marten Gwin show up at their house, and Mo’s secrets begin to unravel.

Nine years ago, Mo read the book “Inkheart” to his wife Teresa and three-year old Meggie, and suddenly, the characters from the book turn up in front of them: the black-hearted Capricorn and his henchman Basta, with the fire-eater Dustfinger in tow. Mo discovers he has an unusual talent: he can read things in and out of books. Unfortunately, this talent came at a price – as the “Inkheart” characters jumped out from the pages of the book, Teresa disappeared into them.

Mo manages to ward off the villains and saves Dustfinger’s life, but he cannot read Teresa out of the book. Capricorn, however, needs Mo to carry out his dastardly plans, so Mo leads a nomadic lifestyle to escape from his clutches.

Soon after Dustfinger returns into the Folcharts’ lives, Capricorn soon catches up with them and keeps Meggie captive to get Mo to cooperate. The fate of the Folcharts lies with Meggie, and it’s up to her to defeat Capricorn.

Inkheart is a book lover’s fantasy, drawing on the power of the written word and teeming with a love for books and reading.

The chapters are marked by passages from well-loved books, including Shel Silverstein’s Where the Sidewalk Ends; R.L. Stevenson’s Treasure Island; J.M. Barrie’s Peter Pan; T.H. White’s The Sword in the Stone; Eva Ibbotson’s The Secret of Platform 13; Roald Dahl’s The BFG; J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings; Maurice Sendak’s Where the Wild Things Are; William Golding’s The Princess Bride; C.S. Lewis’ The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; and many more.

Tall order
As much as the movie tried to capture the magic of Inkheart, hardcore fans of the book will be disappointed as it leaves out the richness of details that made the book an enchanting page-turner. The film does not sufficiently establish the infectious, and almost-fanatic celebration of the written word that was the cornerstone of the series, failing to bring it to a level beyond the run-of-the mill adventure flick.

Certain liberties were also taken in the screenplay that are glaringly different from the book, particularly in the final action and the resolution, which also makes it harder to reconcile the film with the next book in the series.

It is interesting to note that the character of Mo Folchart was modeled after Brendan Fraser. The Inkheart movie producers wanted a bigger star for the role, but Funke had her heart set on Fraser, as she always imagined him as Mo. Funke even dedicated Inkspell to him and sent him a signed copy. Fraser soon found himself bringing Mo to life in the trilogy’s audiobooks, and finally, in the film adaptation.

The hitch, however, is that Fraser fails to deliver. He sticks out like a sore thumb in the film, especially since his American accent is starkly different from his onscreen daughter’s (and the rest of the cast’s) crisp British tones.

Characterization was also lacking, as Fraser did not look bookish enough in playing a man who loves books. Neither did he embody the reverence of a book binder stroking the pages of old tomes in need of new dress, nor the hunger of a bereaved husband who has spent the past nine years in search of a copy of the obscure “Inkheart” in the hopes of reuniting his family. Fraser is too commercial, calling on the trademark treatment he has given roles in a long list of action-adventure starrers, unable to give the sensitivity required for Mo’s character.

Eliza Bennett makes a dismal Meggie — not bad, but not memorable either; and Andy Serkis is a tad too sleek and sinister for Capricorn, who is supposed to be a one-dimensional book villain that is wicked simply for the pleasure of being evil.

Saving the film are the stellar performances of the support cast, in particular Helen Mirren as the book-mad Elinor, perfectly capturing the batty but lovable old aunt; Jim Broadbent as Fenoglio, the author of Inkheart who is fascinated at seeing his characters brought to life; and Paul Bettany as the distraught Dustfinger, the fire breather who wishes to return to his world and change his fate.

Ultimately, perhaps making a movie about the magic of reading books is an impossible task, as the principle is contradictory in itself. Nothing beats the experience of getting lost in book, oblivious to one’s surroundings, turning the pages one after the other as the adventure takes place in one’s imagination, enjoyed for the moment but remembered long after.

***
Postscript

Reread Inkheart for the review, Book #17 for 2009.

While my favorite Cornelia Funke book is The Thief Lord, I’ve always found Inkheart fascinating. The book may be long-winded for a lot of readers — yep, much of the book is spent going in and out of Capricorn’s village — but the escapist in me relished it for the adventure it offered, the wonderful scenery, and the high it gave me every time books were being described :)

My rating: the book 4/5 stars; the movie 2/5 stars

My copy: hardcover mooched from the US