Customer Reviews

Spring-Heeled Jack

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

 

 

I've just finished reading it to my 6 and 8 year olds. "Read, read," they roared when I threatened to stop and put them to bed. With some of the narrative drive of Raold Dahl, Pullman leavens his darkness with a brilliant combination of cheeky humor, self-satire, post modern machinations all set in a Dickensian London. My only complaint: the kids were so excited they couldn't fall asleep. Me too.

It's a Dickensian Batman, a Victorian Superman. Up on the roof: It's a bird! It's a cat! It's Spring-Heeled Jack, the devil-costumed defender of truth and justice. Unfortunately, while Jack has some intriguing possibilities, they're never used enough in this lackluster little novel.

Rose, Lily and Ned have escaped from the rotten orphanage (their mom is dead and their father is missing), with plans to sell a valuable locket and travel to America. But they are attacked by Mack the Knife, "the most evil villain in London," who kidnaps Ned. Lily and Rose are rescued by a mysterious figure who resembles the devil. But it's not a devil, it's Spring-Heeled Jack, who perkily informs them, "I'm good. I catch villains. I avenge wrongs. I do all kinds of stuff." (But does he slice, dice, and freshen your breath while you sleep?)

Jack takes Lily and Rose to his friend Polly, unaware that the sinister boss and amoral old maid from the orphanage are after the three children, intending to steal the locket as well. Will Spring-Heeled Jack rescue the incredibly outspoken Ned from a gang of thugs? Will he rescue the girls from Mr. Killjoy and Miss Gimlet?

One of the problems with "Spring-Heeled Jack" is the narrative. It's split between comic-strip-style cartoons and regular text -- and unfortunately neither the text or the cartoons can stand alone in telling the story. This jarring transition might be exciting for very young children, especially if a parent is reading the story out loud, but older kids will probably find it jarring. And unfortunately while corny dialogue can be stomached in the cartoon format, the regular narrative just makes it sound trite.

This cutesy arrangement also harms the characters, as every one of them is essentially a stereotype except Spring-Heeled Jack himself. There are the kindly young lovers, the evil orphanage owners, the unusually patient murdering robbers, the loyal pooch and the plucky preteens. With the exception of a very witty cartoon kitchen cat, Jack himself is the only interesting character in the bunch. He's also the most underexposed, since he is present perhaps a fourth of the time that the bland Polly is.

Fans of Philip Pullman's charming "I Was A Rat!" and "Firework-Maker's Daughter" will be disappointed in this calculatedly cutesy tale. One to pass by.

This book is a fun, Victorian sort of superhero tale. It's not a long book at all, but that seems like it would be perfect for young readers. I like that some parts of the dialogue are done in comic form, and that there are little funny illustrations on a lot of the pages. I thought that was a great idea, and well-executed. The story is simple, three orphans trying to escape from their dodgy wardens and get on a ship to America. I like that you never find out very much about Spring-Heeled Jack, even at the end of the book, which means that the character still has a lot of mystery to him. I feel like this character could easily become part of a series, and I hope that Pullman will consider writing more adventures for Spring-Heeled Jack.

From the author of "His Dark Materials" a great diversion from ordinary crime drama. You get suspense, intrigue, real bad guys and good guys and gals who refuse to compromise on their values. Oh! and yes a real neet super hero. Spring-Heeled Jack is worth a look.

IT was wonderful i read it many times it was very easy but lovable. I even read it to my kids.

Great fun! This is a children's book, but as an adult reader I found lots of chuckles and plenty of laughs.
Spring-heeled Jack looks like a "devil." As "the scourge of evil" he wants the villains to know where they're going.
The star is a little girl, and she's accompanied by her little sister and brother. And a stray dog. All Orphans:-(
Of course, Spring-heeled Jack saves the day (just barely) and the kids sail off with their father (Jack just found him) to the far lands of adventure.
A pleasant change of pace for an adult. I'm donating this book to the local library, and I'm curious to see the reactions of American children to this British writer's "graphic novel."

Spring-Heeled Jack is a British superhero who was legendary long before today's popular comics: here his adventures and mishaps come alive with stories by Pullman and comic-strip illustrations by David Mostyn. The blend of graphic novel elements with paragraphs of text will encourage elementary-level readers in grades 4-6.

The book was interesting only because of the interesting way that Pullman combines cartoon strips and story plot into one work. The plot wasnt all that great. The story is about three orphans who escape from an orphanage, and get kidnapped by an evildoer in london. Spring heeled jack is the hero, except he is also grotesque according to pullman's description of him as a "devil" and ppl fear him. It does have a typical happy ending though. I recommend pullman's other novels if you are looking for a good plot and interesting characters! :)

This is not the Spring-Heeled Jack that jumped really high and spat blue flames in England. Not the evil Spring-Heeled Jack that all of us paranormalists love. They just totally changed Jack's personality! How frustrating!