Customer Reviews

Gudgekin, the Thistle Girl, and Other Tales

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I have had this book since my childhood, but never read it until my kids were in elementary school. These stories are fables but strange in a sort of James Thurber fashion. They are funny and odd and slightly disturbing. Gudgekin's story is similar at heart to Rumplestilzkin, but everything else is deeper and sort of funny. The Griffin tale is a very strange story. Please forgive this description but it's sort of funny and cerebral. I hate that terminology but there's no other way to describe it. It's a tale of an intellectual battle between a selfishly disruptive griffin and a meekly and un-confident philosopher. It's almost as though the author were making fun of people who try to make everything intellectual. The Shape-shifters story leaves me without anyway to descibe it but funny and disturbing. I can't even tell you what the basic plot is because I'm not sure except maybe a reflection on -- No, I'm not even going to try. The Sea Gulls is about the consequences of making a promise too hastily. This is a weird and slightly disturbing read. It's funny, though. You may be asking yourself, after this review, why I would even rate it as high as 3 stars. Well, it's one of those books that is weird enough that you should read it. Gudgekin is, by far, the best story in the book. Regardless of what kids are allowed to watch and read these days, I would not have a child under the age of 14 read this without an adult reading along. There are just too many things that will stir strange questions that children should not have to struggle with until they are older. Before you read this, I suggest you read James Thurber's "The thirteen Clocks" so that you can get the feel of this humor. Then read this with the understanding that it's the same humor just MUCH darker.

The second story in this volume covers an important problem in subatomic physics, but you'll only spot it if you have encountered it before. My kid, on the other hand, laughed several times at the characterizations and the fun of the story, as she did at the other stories.

One of the best books of my childhood. This is great stuff. Find it. Read it.