The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
Neil Gaiman, the author of Coraline and The Graveyard Book, once said, "Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us dragons exist, but because they tell us dragons can be beaten." The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly is an excellent example of a fairy tale teaching us that our inner demons can be beaten. The author mixes children's stories with mature issues such as accepting the death of a loved one and change at a young age. In this fashion, John Connolly crafts an excellent tale that is intended to be read deeper than face-value.
When I first read this book, I was in a dry spell of reading. Nothing seemed worth reading as everything sounded the same. Books were predictable. However, John Connolly offers a strange new view of classic fairy tales that will pull at the heartstrings. His novel follows a young boy named David. He lost his mother at a young age and struggles to find acceptance. In the months following his mother's death, he turns to books as they remind him of his mother. I love how David's mother explained books. I really connected with her love and reverence of stories. The books David surrounds himself with soon begin to speak. As David's mental stability weakens, his father is moving on and the change upsets David.
They move houses. His father and Rose, his new girlfriend, have a baby. His father begins working longer and longer hours as the war effort against Nazi Germany intensifies. Now, David must deal with having a woman he feels his trying to replace his mother and a younger brother that he wants nothing to do with. John Connolly explores the theme of acceptance and the struggle with change as a young person.
As time progresses, David begins to have black outs and see a strange Crooked Man lurking in his bedroom. One night, he hears his mother's voice calling him from the garden and as a flaming fighter jet is falling from the sky, David goes through a tree and enters into a world just as damaged as his own.
The world he enters is filled with the fairy tales he loves to read. Using his previous knowledge, he uses them to get out of tricky situations such as the troll's bridge and the Huntress's lair. Along the way, he meets some interesting new friends such as the Woodsman, the Dwarves, and Roland. However, the reader soon learns, that this journey to find the King that will hopefully help David get home is a bildungsroman. By the end, David has grown into a more mature boy and learns to accept his mother's passing and the changes in his life.
Now, I won't spoil the ending, but I definitely recommend this book! I have read it twice now and each time I notice something new whether it is a plot point I missed in my first reading or something about John Connolly's craft. I just love how he combines a bildungsroman format with the typically childish fairy tales. The book itself is beautiful and so is John Connolly's writing. I recommend this book if you love a good twisted fairy tale, but are looking for one with a more "grown-up" theme.
And just saying, the ending will make you cry, but in a good way.
To close, here are a few of my favourite quotes:
"[Stories] lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read, David's mother would whisper."
"And in darkness David closed his eyes, as all that was lost was found again."
When I first read this book, I was in a dry spell of reading. Nothing seemed worth reading as everything sounded the same. Books were predictable. However, John Connolly offers a strange new view of classic fairy tales that will pull at the heartstrings. His novel follows a young boy named David. He lost his mother at a young age and struggles to find acceptance. In the months following his mother's death, he turns to books as they remind him of his mother. I love how David's mother explained books. I really connected with her love and reverence of stories. The books David surrounds himself with soon begin to speak. As David's mental stability weakens, his father is moving on and the change upsets David.
They move houses. His father and Rose, his new girlfriend, have a baby. His father begins working longer and longer hours as the war effort against Nazi Germany intensifies. Now, David must deal with having a woman he feels his trying to replace his mother and a younger brother that he wants nothing to do with. John Connolly explores the theme of acceptance and the struggle with change as a young person.
As time progresses, David begins to have black outs and see a strange Crooked Man lurking in his bedroom. One night, he hears his mother's voice calling him from the garden and as a flaming fighter jet is falling from the sky, David goes through a tree and enters into a world just as damaged as his own.
The world he enters is filled with the fairy tales he loves to read. Using his previous knowledge, he uses them to get out of tricky situations such as the troll's bridge and the Huntress's lair. Along the way, he meets some interesting new friends such as the Woodsman, the Dwarves, and Roland. However, the reader soon learns, that this journey to find the King that will hopefully help David get home is a bildungsroman. By the end, David has grown into a more mature boy and learns to accept his mother's passing and the changes in his life.
Now, I won't spoil the ending, but I definitely recommend this book! I have read it twice now and each time I notice something new whether it is a plot point I missed in my first reading or something about John Connolly's craft. I just love how he combines a bildungsroman format with the typically childish fairy tales. The book itself is beautiful and so is John Connolly's writing. I recommend this book if you love a good twisted fairy tale, but are looking for one with a more "grown-up" theme.
And just saying, the ending will make you cry, but in a good way.
To close, here are a few of my favourite quotes:
"[Stories] lay dormant, hoping for the chance to emerge. Once someone started to read them, they could begin to change. They could take root in the imagination, and transform the reader. Stories wanted to be read, David's mother would whisper."
"And in darkness David closed his eyes, as all that was lost was found again."
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