Customer Reviews

Hapless Child

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This is one of Gorey's best stories, about the sad life of a sickeningly sweet orphan. Some people might prefer "The Gashlycrumb Tinies", but I think "The Hapless Child" is superior. This book is the epitome of Gorey's weird style, a parody of Victorian fiction, and always funny in a gruesome way, or gruesome in a funny way, depending on how you look at it. "The Hapless Child" is also collected in the first "Amphigorey" collection, but any serious collector of Goriana will have to own this edition as well.

The funniest tragedy ever written. With illustrations. I have owned, and loaned out or given, several copies. Lately, I've had to rely upon Amphigory to supply my bile. Now it's back again in a single volume! The perfect gift for weddings, Bar Mitzvahs and birthdays!

I got my copy of A Hapless Child without really knowing the story. I have been familiar with Edward Gorey's books for some time, and this one appealing because of the exquisite drawings. When I read the book, I was expecting a happy conclusion. I was taken in by the Hollywood standard of not killing off your hero. Certainly, the last two pages are both shocking and oddly humorous at the same time. I had to remember that Mr. Gorey was foremost a satirist with a tilt toward the macabre. In The Hapless Child he takes on Victorian novels like Oliver Twist where orphans have a miserable time until their lives are turned around by some rich distant relative or (as with Mr. Gorey's story) are discovered by a parent thought to be dead.

The Hapless Child was out-of-print for several years. This re-issue by Pomegranate is very good. The drawings are beautifully reproduced, the paper is superb and the binding and covers are meant to last.

This book is just awesome. I bought this for my daughter. I read it, laughed, and realized I would never read this to a small child. It's so miserable it's funny. The drawings are morbidly beautiful, the story is tragic and hilarious, Edward Gorey is like the Tim Burton of adult children's books.

This is the first book I ever read by Gorey. After becoming a bit of a fan and exploring his writings further, I think this story holds up as having the best narrative and shock value. A great little yarn and a must for the collector.

Gorey's The Hapless Child may appear to be a children's book at first glance, but this is hardly the case. Upon opening the plum-purple cover, you will find a genre savvy and witty piece of dark humor. Obviously, Gorey had to read a lot of Victorian literature to come up with this idea; The Hapless Child reads like a parody of an old orphan story in the vein of Oliver Twist or Jane Eyre. The book itself follows a little girl named Charlotte Sophia, who suffers many dramatic hardships in rapid succession, leading to her eventual death. But don't be fooled by this dark sounding summery; The Hapless Child never truly takes itself seriously, and mocks the forlorn orphan subgenre viciously and humorously. The language that Gorey uses is very old fashioned sounding, and reads as if a sarcastic English Gentleman from the 1800s were telling you the tale. Charlotte Sophia's life is made morbid and dark to ridiculous levels; in fact, it makes Oliver Twist look like "Goodnight Moon". Unlike protagonists in Victorian Orphan novels, Charlotte Sophia does not get a happy ending, which is more than likely what would have happened in the rigidly structured Victorian society.

One of the most interesting features of this book is the way the illustrations and text work together. With minimal wording and big, lush black and white illustrations, The Hapless Child takes on the guise of a children's book, but it is so much more than that. The text is short and scarce because it is not the primary storyteller: Gorey's illustrations are. And they do the job just fine. Because of their detail, the pictures by themselves tell a sequential story, the way a comic book would. While the words themselves help to clarify some of the stories details, the pictures themselves show all that can possibly be shown visually. This combination of picture and text makes for a fun and interesting reading experience.

I really like the way that this book is presented. I like that there was a picture on every page. It was actually very nostalgic because it did remind me of the way children's books are written and illustrated. I think that the pictures play a very important role in this book. To me, the illustrations are almost more important than the words themselves. Without the pictures, I do not think that the satire would be as clear or delivered as effectively. I think this book is a very good example of the use of graphic novels to help educate and learn about different stories. Studying the pictures really helps in learning the story and what the story is actually about. I felt like it is delivered in a child like way, but possesses a deeper meaning that requires closer reading. I am not a huge fan of the graphic novel or comic book, but I really enjoyed the visual rhetoric of this book. I really enjoyed the satire Gorey uses, especially in the ending of the story. The first time I read it, I never saw the ending coming. I think it is delivered very effectively. I feel like Gorey's personality is very dry, somewhat creepy humor and I think this really shows in The Hapless Child. I think that he delivers his satire in such a perfect way. I have never read satire that is that well executed in quite a while. I do not think that this book would be able to exist without the use of satire. I think if he had not written it the way he did, it would have failed.

I bought this as a required text for a class, and looked at its cover for weeks puzzled over to what exactly it entailed. What precisely was I to read? Who was the intended audience: children, teens, adults, or all or none of the above? Now having read it, I can safely say I'm still not entirely sure. It's a fascinating book, without any particular pre-made niche to fill that I'm aware of. (Of course, I could just be in the dark here.)

The 64 page tale of Charlotte Sophia's increasingly miserable life is a delight, be it for schadenfreude or the sheer ridiculousness of how dark the content gradually becomes. Inversing the typical "orphan becomes fabulously wealthy socialite" tale, poor innocent Charlotte's descent from grace uses irony for simultaneously horrific and comedic effect. At one point, I found myself actually wondering how far Gorey was willing to go, and actually laughed when the obvious set-up for Charlotte's fate is seemingly avoided only for other horrible things to persistently make her life miserable in other ludicrous manners.

What stands out most of all is Gorey's visuals, instrumental in setting tone and setting. The use of color-devoid darkness and light throughout the picture book makes for haunting and surreal imagery while still keeping tones contradictorily light-hearted and heavy-handed at the same time. It's certainly an interesting read, one I'd recommend for someone looking for something different.

Edward Gorey's The Hapless Child
Published: November 16, 2011

The first thing that one notices when setting eyes on the book The Hapless Child is how small it is. Although it comes in many different versions, it is easy to tell that this novel will be a short and easy read. It may be easy, but the actual context of the book is deep.

The author, Edward Gorey, uses both text and pictures to get his story across throughout the book. It is a nice change to have pictures in book because there aren't many picture books outside of the children's section in the library. By combining the use of text and pictures when storytelling, Gorey allows the reader to interpret the story in a different way.

The interesting use of pictures and text within the story makes Edward Gorey unique. They seem to work together in perfect harmony to allow the reader to understand the story fully. Although both the pictures and the texts may stand alone, the have more power when they are used properly together like in The Hapless Child.

The Hapless Child is a sad story with dark and ominous themes. The young child, Charlotte Sophia, lived a wonderful life with her parents when series of events led to her unfortunate downfall. She encounters many people along her life journey and just when you think that the story is going to take a turn for the better, it doesn't. The ending leaves the reader hanging with no clues to what happens next.

Edward Gorey writes in a way that sets him aside from many other authors. Most authors write in a way that finishes with a happy ending. Gorey tends to focus more upon the gloom and doom style of writing. There always seems to be a dark shadowing following Charlotte Sophia throughout the story. If you look closely, maybe you can find it hidden in the pictures.

The Hapless Child is a very powerful story written by Edward Gorey. The elements that he uses work together to create a perfect storyline. He seems to use just enough detail without drowning the reader in words. His use of intertextuality allows a fun and simple way of reading a story and is perfect small read to get the mind thinking about the possible downfalls and obstacles one may encounter in life. His strange use of humor among his satires make readers only want more of Edward Gorey and his unique writing styles.