Gripping fairy tale for adults

books:


	• The Book of Lost Things: A Novel John Connolly Washington Square Press, 2007 - 480 pages average customer review:based on 102 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Captivating!

This book is so beautifully written. It transports you to another world -- you will not be able to put it down and once you do, you will be thinking about it for days after.

an adult fairystory

Which do you think will be read and savoured in 100 years time, the fairy stories of the Grimm Brothers with their roots in the old darkness of firelight nights or the latest Jodi Picoult about a life that the children of parents yet to be born will have no knowledge or interest in. Yet the same children when meeting the stories of world long faded even when written down by the Grimm Brothers will still be amazed and scared. Don't believe me? Well I do story telling in pubs to adults and have known an entire bar go quiet and listen intently as a story of woods, princes and monsters enfolds in their mind.

It is from this deep well that John Connolly's The Book of Lost Things draws on as he tells the story of 12 year old David's losing fight to keep his mother and family he knows a alive. His anger and grief causes him blackouts and a wish for revenge as his father deals with grief by marriage and work. David discovers the presence of the Crooked Man who can move between the world of living and story. Books start talking to him and boundaries blur so that when his anger and that of his struggling step-mother collide it sets into train his explosive entry into land of story.

Once there we meet traditional fairyland characters but from an adult and darker angle... Red riding Hood hunts out the wolf for sex and worse! It becomes clear that the adventures reflect David's fears and the choices he must make as he struggles to deal with his grief and anger. To make the wrong choices will leave worlds destroyed but so will the right ones as he learns that happy endings are for fairy stories. But as heaven is what we make it, his death when it comes is not the end of the story.

This is not a children's story but an adult story about when childhood ends and what life is made as we grow up. Its portrait of David trying to keep his mother alive and his feelings made me cry in the first 10 pages such was the lyrical nature of the writing. The stories within stories are not distractions as some reviewers suggest but insights into the characters that David meets and his own feelings and choices that he has to make. It has lots of comic moments as well as the Snow White and communist dwarfs' episode shows. However, ultimately it's a story about growing up and letting go of illusions, which makes it very sad and poignant. So if it gets to be a film think David Lynch or Tim Burton rather then Disney and you are on the right track about the tone of the book. Recommend for an easy enjoyable and moving read.

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Brings Back The Magic

This was the first John Connolly book I read, and I absolutely adored it. It was magical and brings back elements of childhood that strike a universal chord. The twisting of fairy tales brought an edge of humour to what could have been otherwise depressing book. I started off the New Year reading this book, and I thought it was a great way to usher in a new year, with a great new book. It rapidly joined the ranks of my very favourite books. I'm quite excited to read his other work!

Gripping fairy tale for adults

The Book of Lost Things starts out very similar to a lot of other classic fantasy tales. David in an ordinary boy who has a connection with another world, that he finally enters. This is a melding of some of the most beloved fairy tales, folk tales, and stories of our childhood. Part Narnia and part Never Ending Story, David's story is a much darker twist to a familiar tale. Childhood stories like Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, and Beauty and the Beast are turned on its head, made more adult and very pertinent to David's own life. The Book of Lost Things was completely engrossing and I couldn't stop reading. Some have complained at the 150 pages of notes at the end, which retold the stories used in the book with some explanation for the changes. While very self-indulgent on Connolly's part, I found his notes very interesting because it offered a lot of insight into David's thought processes and journey, and ultimately made me see a whole other layer in the story.

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My first John Connolly novel.

This novel was recommended to me and I had never read any of John Connolly's books. I found it to be very intriguing look at fairy tales and their more grim side. This is definitely not the Disney version of the fairy tales. It was fun to think through all the characters in the book and how I've seen them portrayed before. It was difficult to put down and kept me interested throughout the entire book.

reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mournsthe death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf forcompany. But those books have begun to whisper to him in thedarkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imaginationand soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. Whilehis family falls apart around him, David is violently propelledinto a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populatedby heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps hissecrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things.

Taking readers on a vivid journey through the lossof innocence into adulthood and beyond, New York Timesbestselling author John Connolly tells a dark and compelling talethat reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.

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