Customer Reviews

The King of the Golden River: or the Black Brothers

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

 

 

I must have read this book when I was 7 or 8. When my familiy moved, I searched in vain for the book to re-read, but it must have been lost in the move. I discovered it on a friend's shelf a few weeks ago, and re-read it. What joy! I always thought of this as the story where a bad guy steals Holy Water, but it is much more than this. The young hero has two dreadful brothers. He takes their abuse, and repays them with kindness, rescuing them from their own greed. Ruskin's descriptions of the country side are dramatic and vivid. One warning: Some might be disturbed by the references to the brothers' drunken behavior.

Gluck is cast as the "poor younger child" of two abusive older brothers. They are all presented with a quest to find the source of the local river, and though the two older brothers fail, the younger brother suceeds because he is pure of heart. It's very classic, metaphorical and I highly recommend it, as it was a fave of mine as a child. I was glad to see it's still in print. Austrian.

THIS STORY WAS ABOUT THREE BROTHERS WHO TWO OF THEM WERE VERY SELFISH AND ONLY THOUGHT OF THEMSELVES WHERE THE OTHER ONE WAS KIND AND THOUGHT OF OTHER HUMAN BEINGS. THE LESSON IN THE STORY IS THAT IF YOU THINK OF OTHERS OTHER THAN YOURSELF, YOU MAY BE REWARDED IN THE LONG RUN. I PERSONLAY ENJOYED READING THIS STORY TO MY LITTLE BOY WHO IS FIVE.I THINK ANY PARENT OR GRANDPARENT SHOULD READ THIS STROY TO A SMALL CHILD. THERE IS A IMPORTANT LESSON TO BE LEARNED IN THIS BOOK. I WOULD READ IT AGAIN AND AGAIN.......

This is an amusing if slightly odd story. I guess that Ruskin considered himself such an intellectual jack of all trades that he'd a have a go at the genre, if only to say he'd done it.

The story is built from familiar parts. There's a Cinderella theme, built around a young boy and his two cruel brothers. There's also a theme of the wandering stranger who, after being treated well or poorly, rewards the doer equally well or poorly. In fact, that was such a cool idea that Ruskin threw in two magical beings quite independent of each other, making the front and back halves of this little creature look like thay came from two different animals.

It's a pleasant enough fairy tale, but not one that I'd spend a lot of time hunting down.

//wiredweird

PS: This reviews a different edition of the story, apparently not listed at Amazon. My 1962 edition was illustrated by Sardo Nardini. The pictures are competent and colorful but, like the story itself, forgettable.

I had it as a text book in my high school and hated it. I had to locate this book today to explain to my 9 year old how we always dont get to read interesting books, more so for class assignments. I know any number of kids who get turned off by Dickens just because they had a tyrannical teacher stuff it down, rather up their brainstems in junior high school. One is asked to read a book in so called dear time, got to read it and follow the party line to get the grades and move on. If you want to teach your child how to read for pleasure, this is not the book to start with.