Customer Reviews

A Wild Ride Through the Night

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

 

 

This is not classic Walter Moers, but I really liked it. It is based around drawings by Gustave Dore. Moers has used his wild imagination to create a story to narrate the pictures. It is an early work, his later stuff; Captian Blue Bear, City of Dreaming Books, Rumo and Alchemasters Aprentice are 10/10. I would give this 9/10.

Most illustrations are built around the prose of a book. Trust Walter Moers to do the exact opposite.

In fact, Moers structures the entire story of "A Wild Ride Through the Night" around the classic, exquisite woodcuts of the late Gustave Doré (who also happens to be the book's protagonist). Most such stories would be clunky, but Moers' happily eccentric, mildly silly story fits the illustrations as if they were made for each other.

The twelve-year-old Gustave Doré barely survives a Siamese Twins Tornado, only to find himself facing Death and his sister Dementia, who decide to play dice for first dibs on Gustave. Desperate, he manages to secure a deal with Death -- if he can fulfill a series of seemingly impossible tasks, he can go ahead and live his life for a long time yet. Until 1883, anyway.

But Gustave is in for a rough ride, as a gryphon takes him to the island of (naked) damsels to slay a dragon, followed by a talking horse named Pancho Sansa who takes him to even worse places. Dealing with forest demons, drowning, dream crones, a valley full of monsters, giants, and other such creatures is only the beginning -- he must also go to Death's own house, which happens to not be on Earth.

Walter Moers specializes in the weirdest brand of fantasy out there, with endless wacky creatures and twisting storylines -- think Norman Juster on crack. "A Wild Ride Through The Night" is perhaps the simplest of these books, since it merely follows the increasingly bizarre adventures of Gustave, which get stranger and stranger as the book winds on.

Presumably these adventures are supposed to have inspired the woodcuts, which are sprinkled throughout the book -- naked girls attacked by dragons, the Grim Reaper watching a crazy-looking woman, a yawning monster attacking a knight, a falling winged figure (presumably Lucifer), a chariot with winged horses flying toward the moon, and so on.

Surprisingly they also nicely fit Moers' quirky, oddball prose ("Goethe!" "You mean... you're Goethe?" "No, the quotation from from Goethe. I'm Death...") which is sprinkled with some beautifully evocative moments ("... the entire plain looked as if it had been dusted with silver"). And he comes up with some kooky twists on the usual heroic obstacles -- such as figuring out anagrammatic giant names, or having a chat with demons about immortality.

Gustave himself is a likable little hero with a perfectly reasonable goal -- stay alive, and don't end up with his soul thrown into the sun (now I've given away one of the great mysteries of the universe!). The supporting characters provide plenty of quirk -- particularly the determinedly deadly Death ("Ever heard of an admirable Japanese custom called seppuku?") and the sarcastic horse Pancho.

"A Wild Ride Through the Night" is not as complex or long as Walter Moers' other books, but it's still a hilarious quirky, inventive little book -- and it's based on woodcuts.

I do not think I will ever read another book in my entire life as incredible as this. I've read almost all of Moers' books, this is by far my favorite. It is strikingly different than his other works, and surprisingly very dark for a children's story (another reason why I fell in love with this book). But, an unbelievably amazing, thrilling read, that actually carried a message throughout. It was, unfortunately, far too quick a read, I didn't want it to end. I will definitely reread it. I wish it was more popular.

This story was a wonderful little journey and a book that I plan to save in case I have children of my own one day to read it to.