11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Come follow follow follow follow follow follow me, June 3, 2005
This review is from: Journey to the Bottomless Pit: The Story of Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Cave (Hardcover)
Let's say you hear about a historical figure that strikes you as so interesting that you'd like to write a book about them. A book for children, say. When you make the decision to write such a book, two possible ways of proceeding are open to you. You can make your book a fascinating work of non-fiction that adheres strictly to the facts of the case. Or, you can take the already existing facts and use fictional dialogue to cushion the details of this person's life, thereby making it more interesting to your intended audience. Now, if you decide to go with the latter you've placed your book in a peculiar position. On the one hand, your story is about a real person who really existed. On the other hand, because you made up dialogue and situations that may never have happened in the way you've described them, your book is doomed to the fiction shelves of the library. Author Elizabeth Mitchell, when she learned the details of explorer Stephen Bishop's life, decided to go the fiction route. Personally, I feel that this was bad decision to make on her part. For while this book contains a multitude of wonderful details and facts about a fascinating man, Mitchell has couched her book in stilted dialogue and poor writing. She would have done better to stick to the facts.
Stephen Bishop was born a slave in the state of Kentucky in 1821. His owner Frank Gorin, owned the Mammoth Caves and needed a tour guide to schlep tourists in the busy summer months. Enter Stephen. Fascinated with the caves, Stephen proceeded to explore beyond the usual paths. As he did so, he would find more and more beautiful areas and hidden passages. He discovered blind cave fish (never before seen), huge gypsum caverns, and miles and miles of caves stretching under the land of Kentucky. He even created maps of the areas he had found that helped others explore as well. Though he died a short time after he was freed (at the young age of thirty-six), Bishop is remembered as being the first and most important guide of the impressive Mammoth Caves today.
The story is, as Elizabeth Mitchell rightly says, captivating. Cleverly, she has included Stephen's maps on the front and endpapers of the book. Mitchell also tells the reader, right off the bat, that she has reproduced his life with as much accuracy as possible and that the dialogue, "is not reproduced from any source". I commend Mitchell for her choice of subject. Stephen Bishop, rightly, deserves to be remembered for his great life and magnificent accomplishments. I personally believe, however, that an entirely factual book of this fellow would not have been out of place. Consider similar books about other people who lived in the 1800s. There is the book, "Phineas Gage", by John Fleischman. Here we have a beautiful non-fiction text with color photographs and engravings that is the perfect way to tell the story of a 19th century life. Think how wonderful, "Journey to the Bottomless Pit" would have been, had it been done in a similar format. When you read this book, you hear about eyeless fish and beautiful stalactites. Wouldn't it be great to see beautiful color photographs of them as well? Instead, you must rely on illustrator Kelynn Alder's black and white drawings. These pictures are nice, no question, but you can't help but wish that you could see the caves for yourself in a far more lively format.
You might argue that good non-fiction subjects have been given a similar fictional treatment to Stephen Bishop and that those books have been good. This is true, of course. There's just one small problem. Mitchell, for all that she is great at choosing the best details to highlight in her story, is not a good writer. Her language is stilted and cloying. Though the book is ostensibly written for kids between the ages of 9-12, the tone of voice taken here would be better for a seven-year-old reader. Stephen constantly is describes as being grateful to his master, proud that he has been chosen, and hoping that he'll do a good job. The wry sense of humor that Stephen had is mentioned here, but Mitchell's not adept enough to give us a taste of it. Worse, there are some truly unbelievable moments that are written solely to spell things out to child readers. Take this for example: "When he first heard the name `Underground Railroad,' Stephen wondered what kind of train could run for so many miles below ground". Mitchell doesn't seem to give Stephen much credit, and his abject gratitude and innocence makes him seem a very different person from the intelligent guide described by his contemporaries. Had Mitchell been a talented enough writer to pull off the additional passages in this text, the book might have worked brilliantly. As it stands, I yearn for the beautiful glossy-paged non-fiction text this could have been.
Will kids read this book? Not without some prodding. It's a fine story and a good adventure tale at times, but children will only ask for this if urged to do so. There is great potential in this material. I can only hope that a future author sees it and capitalizes on it themselves. A great story in a mediocre package.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Mammoth Review, November 13, 2004
This review is from: Journey to the Bottomless Pit: The Story of Stephen Bishop and Mammoth Cave (Hardcover)
I thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful book for people of all ages. Stephen Bishop was a great American explorer that most people have never even heard of. His adventures and discoveries deep in Mammoth cave are vividly described in a manner that will captivate the young readers of this book. This is a story of a man born into slavery who deserves the recognition he finally receives in this finely written story of his brief life. The detailed descriptions of Stephen Bishop, Mammoth cave and the turbulent pre-civil war era are enhanced by the excitement of his underground exploits and his quest for knowledge. Two thumbs up!
FL Booklover
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