Hardcover, 339 pages
English language
Published Oct. 29, 2006 by Atria Books.
High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness. Angry and alone, he takes refuge in his imagination and soon finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a world that is a strange reflection of his own -- populated by heroes and monsters and ruled by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book, The Book of Lost Things. Taking readers on a vivid journey through the loss of innocence into adulthood and beyond, New York Times bestselling author John Connolly tells a dark and compelling tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.
This book has a very powerful and meanigful conclusion. Sadly however, the conclusion did not over come the wanton violence and evil through the middle portions of the novel.
After reading a couple of whodunits by [a:John Connolly|38951|John Connolly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201288913p2/38951.jpg] I thought I would see what he wrote in another genre, and this one is fantasy of the "child entering another world" kind, like [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391204048s/6324090.jpg|55548884], or C.S. Lewis's Narnia stories, or Philip Pullman's [b:His Dark Materials|18116|His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442329494s/18116.jpg|1943518].
Unlike those other books, however, I think this one, though it has a child protagonist, is not really for child readers. I find it rather difficult to put my finger on why I think that. On the surface, at least, it looks as though it should be good for children to read. Twelve-year-old David, mourning his dead mother, resentful of his father for remarrying, and jealous of his younger half-brother, by the end of the story has learned to cope with those things in his …
After reading a couple of whodunits by [a:John Connolly|38951|John Connolly|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1201288913p2/38951.jpg] I thought I would see what he wrote in another genre, and this one is fantasy of the "child entering another world" kind, like [b:Alice's Adventures in Wonderland|6324090|Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, #1)|Lewis Carroll|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1391204048s/6324090.jpg|55548884], or C.S. Lewis's Narnia stories, or Philip Pullman's [b:His Dark Materials|18116|His Dark Materials (His Dark Materials #1-3)|Philip Pullman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442329494s/18116.jpg|1943518].
Unlike those other books, however, I think this one, though it has a child protagonist, is not really for child readers. I find it rather difficult to put my finger on why I think that. On the surface, at least, it looks as though it should be good for children to read. Twelve-year-old David, mourning his dead mother, resentful of his father for remarrying, and jealous of his younger half-brother, by the end of the story has learned to cope with those things in his life. It should surely be instructive for children who face similar conditions in their lives, which many do. But somehow this one isn't that kind of book.
The Book of Lost Things seems more violent and cruel than the other books mentioned. In the other books there is violence or bloodshed, or the threat of it ("off with his head!"), and there is cruelty ("intercision" in His Dark Materials) but here it somehow seems to be told with more relish, and seems harsher and more cruel.
In this respect it is more like [b:The Talisman|59219|The Talisman (The Talisman, #1)|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1170530286s/59219.jpg|3324421] by [a:Peter Straub|6941|Peter Straub|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1200468903p2/6941.jpg] and [a:Stephen King|3389|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg]. That book also has a twelve-year-old protagonist with a sick mother, but this one, I think, is better told, and has a more convincing fantasy world (see my review of The Talisman here). So why did I give them both four stars? On a ten-star scale I would have given The Talisman seven stars, and this one eight.
So if you liked The Talisman I think you might like this one more, but just because it is a book about a child, don't think it is a book for children.
Audible lists this book as a mystery/suspense thriller, but I definitely got the feeling that it is of the preteen fantasy genre. It is brimming with the standard fears and concerns of most preteen kids whose lives are changing and growing as they do. The fantastical experiences of the main character would actually cause any person or reader to grow mentally from them. I loved the castle of thorns and all of the challenges that it offered! And the imagination involved in the stories and nightmares imagined throughout is beautiful! Beautiful, not as in gorgeous, but as him complex and, well, truly imaginative! Definitely not a waste of time, and, although it's full of great messages and lessons, it's really not preachy!
Autant le dire, je n’ai pas fini ce livre, je me suis arrêtée à un peu avant le premier tiers, morte d’ennui. Je pense que l’arrivée des loups se tenant sur deux pattes et portant chemises et pantalons a eu raison de ma patience.
Le début du roman est joliment écrit, de manière (trop) simple, et nous raconte le chagrin d’un petit garçon qui vient de perdre sa mère, et qui doit subir le remariage de son traître de père. Joli certes, émouvant même, mais du réchauffé.
Une fois que le petit David est passé « de l’autre côté », j’avoue que j’ai décroché complètement, bien qu’un aspect glauque et noir semblait sur le point d’apparaître.
Je ne suis pas spécialiste des romans jeunesse, mais là il me semble qu’on reste dans le basique à tous les niveaux, que ce soit avec ces fameux héros de contes pour enfants (qui …
Autant le dire, je n’ai pas fini ce livre, je me suis arrêtée à un peu avant le premier tiers, morte d’ennui. Je pense que l’arrivée des loups se tenant sur deux pattes et portant chemises et pantalons a eu raison de ma patience.
Le début du roman est joliment écrit, de manière (trop) simple, et nous raconte le chagrin d’un petit garçon qui vient de perdre sa mère, et qui doit subir le remariage de son traître de père. Joli certes, émouvant même, mais du réchauffé.
Une fois que le petit David est passé « de l’autre côté », j’avoue que j’ai décroché complètement, bien qu’un aspect glauque et noir semblait sur le point d’apparaître.
Je ne suis pas spécialiste des romans jeunesse, mais là il me semble qu’on reste dans le basique à tous les niveaux, que ce soit avec ces fameux héros de contes pour enfants (qui ne m’ont jamais laissé un impérissable souvenir, étant donné que je n’ai même pas le souvenir d’en avoir lu), ou avec le style d’une simplicité affligeante.
Je deviens peut-être difficile, mais si quelqu’un a des titres de romans jeunesse de l’envergure de His dark Materials je suis preneuse.
This creepy fairy tale is the story of one twelve year old boy named David, who is deeply troubled by the recent loss of his mother. On top of this, David's father becomes intimate with another woman just months later, remarries, and the two of them have another son. When David and his father move into his stepmother Rose's old family home, David is still mourning his mother and feeling resentful and jealous of his stepmother and new baby brother. In addition, his country is at war (WWII), which for his father means late nights at work, and Georgie, the new baby, keeps both parents sleep deprived and on edge. It's a rough time in general, and David's emotional problems make this domestic scene worse.
David and his mother shared a love for books, and with this knowledge, the good-intentioned Rose gives David the room that once belonged to her …
This creepy fairy tale is the story of one twelve year old boy named David, who is deeply troubled by the recent loss of his mother. On top of this, David's father becomes intimate with another woman just months later, remarries, and the two of them have another son. When David and his father move into his stepmother Rose's old family home, David is still mourning his mother and feeling resentful and jealous of his stepmother and new baby brother. In addition, his country is at war (WWII), which for his father means late nights at work, and Georgie, the new baby, keeps both parents sleep deprived and on edge. It's a rough time in general, and David's emotional problems make this domestic scene worse.
David and his mother shared a love for books, and with this knowledge, the good-intentioned Rose gives David the room that once belonged to her great uncle Jonathan, because it still contains so many of the books her uncle loved, and David seems to be so much like him. David later learns that Jonathan, along with an adopted little sister, wandered off one day and the two were never seen again. It was a family tragedy that was never explained.
Until now. This is a coming-of-age fairy tale in which a boy is lured away by an evil force, but fights his way back to return as a young man. David's character is transformed through his adventures and the lessons he learns about life and himself along the way. The adventures that John Connolly conjures are very scary, the characters fascinating. I'm impressed. Many of the situations are recognizable distortions of familiar fairy tales; take one of the Grimm stories and turn it into a more adult, grotesque nightmare, and you get the general idea. This tale is paced well, and I enjoyed reading it. I was in the mood for something very different and I found it!
