The Tale of Despereaux

The Tale of Despereaux: I love this book. I bought it, not because it was a Newbery winner, but because of the cover art. A mouse with incredibly big ears, running across the floor with red thread and a needle tied around his neck. Timothy B. Ering is the illustrator. He doesn’t have a website that I could find, but if you click here you’ll find out a little about him.

I began reading the book, thinking that I was going to love the illustrations, which I did and do, but I quickly discovered a beguiling story that I couldn't put down. I read the book in one sitting. This sweet tale of hardship, love, desire, and courage twists and turns, capturing the reader’s heart.

When it comes to fantasy books, one of the things that I look for is the overarching metaphor. In Despereaux, it is light (love/good) and dark (hate/evil). Despereaux wants to hear the music and be a courageous knight; he loves Princess Pea. Against the wishes of his family and community, he seeks the light of the castle and the music; he reads stories of courageous knights; those closest to him betray him. Roscuro, a.k.a. Chiaroscuro, is a rat, who is supposed to love the dark but loves, longs for, and dreams of the light. Mig, an abandoned, abused child, wants to be loved and to be like the pretty princess. Her journey into the dark dungeon helps to bring her into the light. Each character follows their heart's desires, going against cultural norms and expectations to follow their dreams and aspirations. They risk everything for the light. It’s a magical tale.

Warning: there is a book called The Tale of Despereaux that is patterned after the movie but is NOT Kate Dicamillo’s tale and pales in comparison. Don’t accidentally pick up the movie version. You will not be so enchanted. Hollywood always believes it can tell a better story—they cannot! Get the real thing.

Kate Dicamillo: Storyteller Extraordinaire

Kate Dicamillo is a children’s book author extraordinaire. If you haven’t read her books, you should. I discovered her and her magical storytelling when I read The Tale of Despereaux. I sat down to read a chapter or two; I read the book in one sitting. Her children’s books include two contemporary, realistic books—Because of Winn-Dixie and The Tiger Rising— and two fantasy books – Tale of Despereaux and The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. On her website she describes herself: “I am short. And loud. I hate to cook and love to eat. I am single and childless, but I have lots of friends and I am an aunt to three lovely children (Luke, Roxanne, and Max) and one not so lovely dog (Henry).”

Why am I recommending Kate Dicamillo? Because I believe she is one of the most talented children’s book authors of our time. She is young and still at the beginning of her career. I’m looking forward to reading anything that she writes. I taught children’s literature to future teachers for 15 years, and her books stand out among the best of today’s authors. She writes from her heart about basic human needs and emotions.

Children love her books. Not long ago, my niece was visiting me. The Rising Tiger sat next to my computer. I’d planned to read it that night. My niece saw the book, grabbed it, and hugged it to her chest. With an exclamation of delight, she asked, “Is this for me? I love her books.” What higher praise could a children’s author receive?

When I teach literature, I always begin a term by saying, “Great literature tells us what it means to be human. We read Shakespeare because his writing reflects back to us what it means to be human. When we watch or read Macbeth, we see how a good man is corrupted and transformed into a ruthless, cold-blooded murderer, a monster. We learn all this from the safety of a theater seat or from our reading space. And, perhaps, we understand something more about ourselves.”

I read children’s literature because when it is honest and well written, it can be some of the most honest literature we will encounter. Kate Dicamillo is such an author.

Okay, I'm Back.

In the last month, I've had five people write and tell me that I'm not posting. So, I'm back. Originally, I intended this blog as a review of YA and children's books. However, I've decided to change the focus. I'll write about BOOKS. All kinds of books. The reason? I'm not reading as many children and YA books as I once did.

Inkheart

I've just finished reading the young adult novel Inkheart by Cornelia Funke. Funke is a Germany author, whose books are translated into many languages. A couple of years ago, I read The Thief Lord, which is another book that I would recommend.

I was wondering how to talk about the story without giving away some of the fun parts of the book. This problem was solved for me when I went to see a movie and saw the preview for the new film Inkheart, and they gave away the part I wanted to talk about.

I liked this book because it explores books, characters in books, and the results of violence. There's even a look at the responsibility authors have for their creations. Because I love books, I identified with it easily. The unusual happening in the book is that one of the characters can read characters from books into reality. There is a price to pay for this ability, and that I won't give away. Bringing characters to life causes many problems and explores what happens when very evil characters from a fiction world are brought into our world. Not all the characters from the book world are evil, but there are plenty of "bad guys."

I think that everyone has read a book and come to know and love the characters. Often I've come to the end of a book and feel that I'll miss the characters. This books explores those characters coming to life in our world. Perhaps it's a good thing to close a book and have the characters stay in their world.

The book is fun. The characters are engaging. It's a fun read.

I'd rate the book a 3 on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the best.

The Compass in Review

Well, I saw The Golden Compass yesterday. I was prepared to HATE it. I’d read so many bad reviews and known that the ending was changed, so my expectations were low. What happened is the opposite of when you hear a movie is great and are told that you have to see it. You go and are disappointed because it didn’t meet your expectations. You expected the greatest movie ever made, and it fell flat for you.

I expected awful, terrible, horrible, and surprisingly, I liked it. Yes, it is different from the book. There were some changes that I’m not certain I agree with, and of course a lot is left out or compressed. I expect compression and cutting in a film because it’s impossible to fit a book into a two-hour time slot.

Even though Chris Weitz, the director/writer, was too chicken to leave the “church” in the film, the Magisterium is a thinly veiled substitute for the church and has many trappings that scream: this is really the CHURCH.

If you love the book, which I do, go see the movie expecting it to be changed. The film does not follow the order of events as they unfold in the book. Several events are reverse, especially near the end. These changes didn’t bother me because I could see the cinematic reasoning. Expect it and go with the flow. Although there many changes, very few of them annoyed me, and I got over it pretty quickly. My daughter hadn’t read the book, and she loved the film, said she would buy it. She did borrow the book from me.

The biggest change was the ending. I knew it was different and so expected it. If they are planning a sequel, which they probably are, they have set the ending up perfectly. I know. I know. That sounds like heresy. My guess is that the next film will begin with the ending of the book and move into the second book. So, although the ending is changed, I can see why. Lyra is going to bring Lord Asriel what he wants, and as we know, it’s not the golden compass! The film gives a little closure to the audience, and I can live with that.

Visually the film is beautiful. I love the way the alternate universe is portrayed. The daemons are well done. It was fun to see the daemons with their humans, and it looked very much as I had imagined it. The actor playing Lrya, Dakota Blue Richards, was excellent. Nicole Kidman was a perfect Mrs. Coulter. In some ways she was more sinister and evil and in other ways not as evil as in the book. In the book, her character is more subtle and thus more chilling than in the film. Ian McKellen as the voice of Iorek Byrnison–our most beloved Gandolff–was excellent. Iorek is my favorite character, and I liked the way he came to life in the film.

Without stating it, the film shows that dust runs the alethiometer, and I enjoyed the way the film used the graphics to show Lyra’s interaction with the alethiometer.

Here are the negatives and where the film falls short for me:

The characters and their relationships weren’t as developed as I would have liked, not nearly as developed as in the book. I wanted to see the relationship between Lyra and Iorek developed, but it wasn’t; it happened too quickly. In the book, the reader shifts between like and dislike for Lord Asriel; that is missing from the film. In the book, he’s a live, vibrant shadow and the reader hopes that he is the father Lyra wants and needs; in the film, he is merely a shadow. Unlike the Harry Potter movies that did a better job of developing character, this one fails. In some ways the film felt rushed, and I think short changing character development accounts for much of that problem. I would have preferred that a longer film that took time to develop the characters and the relationships. The Gyptians weren't developed, not just in character development, but in substance and time. This was compressed and although they are some of my favorite characters, and I longed to see them in the film, I can see why it was done. On the one hand, Lyra’s time at Bolvangar was cut short and the evil, sinisterness of the place gets short changed a little. On the other hand, the film manages to create an evil feel, often using minor characters effectively to create a spooky, evil, suspense and atmosphere.

On a scale of 1 to 4, with 4 being fantastic and 1 being poor, I’d rate the book a 4 and the film a 3.3. I think it’s a fun film and worth seeing. So, go see it and have fun. Try to put the book out of your mind. Take the kids. I was worried about the fight scene between Iorek and Iofur (whose name is changed to Ragnar Sturlusson–probably a good move since the names are so similar). I wasn’t sure how ripping the heart out and eating it would play out on screen, but they wisely cut that part out. I’d think even with computer-generated graphics that would be R rated and disturbing for kids. I know, it’s in the book, but it’s different reading it than it is seeing it, at least for me.

No News Isn't Necessarily Good News

I haven't seen The Golden Compass yet. My intention was to see it Friday, but things got shifted around, and I'm seeing it on Tuesday. However, with that said, see the comments on my last blog entry. Kyle, a former student and insightful commentator on books, wrote a brief review of the film. If you take his advice, you won't pay money to see it. I am going to see it because I have to see what they have done to a beloved book. If anyone else has seen it, feel free to comment. At this point you can't spoil it for me. If there's anything good to say, please tell me.

The Golden Compass: Hope Sagging

Well, The Golden Compass comes out in a couple of days, and the reviews aren't promising. I'll go see it because it's my favorite children's book, but it seems unlikely to meet my expectations. Apparently they have changed the end and given it a sappy Hollywood ending. So much for the second book being made into a movie: if they've changed the ending, I see no way to make the second book into movie. It looks as if there were bad choices and apparently VERY bad directing. It always amazes me that film takes a perfectly delightful book and turns it into crap!!