3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Echoes of Dark Tales, July 9, 2005
This review is from: Ten Thousand Charms (Hardcover)
Ten Thousand Charms transports the dark mood of a Grimm fairytale to upstate New York, but, as is the case with many fairytales, the narrative remains slight. Roddy is a young boy sold as an indentured servant to a rope factory, where he turns the crank as a rope monkey. When an ousted Germanic king and his three pretty daughters purchase a farm down the road, the paths of the family and Roddy begin to intertwine. The eccentric king is obsessed with "charms" - odd occurrences and omens. A gathering of crows provides the impetus for a series of threatening events involving Roddy, the king, and the king's treasured second daughter Thea.
The book is a mishmash of literary echoes. Queed, the despotic ropemaker, is a direct descendant of Dickens's Mr. Squeers, the cruel schoolmaster in Nicholas Nickleby. Thea's courage and beauty, as compared to the laziness of her sisters, are qualities lifted straight from Beauty and the Beast. Roddy, like so many heroes, is a virtual orphan, with the same naiveté of a David Copperfield. The strange thing with yellow eyes that lives in the woods and assumes many forms has, unfortunately, already been eclipsed by Rowling's description of the slithering Voldemort.
Many of the plot twists seem peripheral to the mood that Watts has created. In fact, the book's strengths lie in the way Watts weaves the reality of early America with the mythic sensibility built up in Europe over thousands of years of history. Roddy, Thea, and the king's inner workings are never fully explained, which fits with the dialogue, firmly planted in folktale. The plot's denouement, while atmospheric, was a little flat, and some of its elements (a ring, fire, and taking care of minor villains) had a Lord of the Rings feel.
Watts's book, which has a lovely lyrical rhythm in parts, may have been better served by a shorter story, omitting superfluous characters and descriptions and focusing on the mix of a dark tale with prosaic folk life in the Genesee Valley. Watts is the not the first to try this combination (Washington Irving can be heard muttering "Crane" from his grave), but it remains an intriguing premise.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
Lovely, April 1, 2010
This review is from: Ten Thousand Charms (Hardcover)
I loved this novel. Watts's writing is lyrical and lovely, and the story evokes a dark fairy-tale feel that I really enjoyed. Mysterious, romantic, compelling... I look forward reading to his next book!
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3.0 out of 5 stars
Okay, January 16, 2010
This review is from: Ten Thousand Charms (Hardcover)
Book was not what my teenager expected, but she said it was okay. Definitely would NEVER purchase from wonderbookandvideo again. When there was problem, they operate from a mode of denial that they are slower than other vendors. Additionally, they do not have integrity when it comes to actual dates that they shipped, etc.
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