I cannot avoid Wales, and apparently have never been able to. It has been looming over me, since The Prisoner as a four year old, and in the sixth grade, when I first read The Book of Three. This book and the other books in the Prydain series are based on The Mabiginion, and all the names refer to Welsh heroes or Arthurian legends. For that alone it is wonderful to read: Taran means “Thunder.”
But reading these in my forties, these are so very clearly books for children: as much as everyone loves them, as much as I love them, some things distracted me from the pleasure of reading them. The repetitive character ticks are annoying, although a young child would probably not notice them. The heroes, Gwydion and Adion especially, are so cartoonily noble that it became hard to take those characters seriously. Also, sometimes the simple sentence construction aids the story, and sometimes it hinders it. And did I mention that the important action scenes very often take place off stage?
But I still love these stories, although sometimes nostalgically. I do.
Lessons learned? Ah, this is hard. As much as I love a The Book of Three and all of these other stories, the characters, and their settings, it is clear that Craft supports and strengthens a story. It should not be showy and obvious (and in the next book, I think it is, but that is also part of the story, so it works for the most part). Why? I steal from “Writing Great Sentences“ – Style is not meant to impress; it is meant to express!
Lloyd Alexander, with affection.
But reading these in my forties, these are so very clearly books for children: as much as everyone loves them, as much as I love them, some things distracted me from the pleasure of reading them. The repetitive character ticks are annoying, although a young child would probably not notice them. The heroes, Gwydion and Adion especially, are so cartoonily noble that it became hard to take those characters seriously. Also, sometimes the simple sentence construction aids the story, and sometimes it hinders it. And did I mention that the important action scenes very often take place off stage?
But I still love these stories, although sometimes nostalgically. I do.
Lessons learned? Ah, this is hard. As much as I love a The Book of Three and all of these other stories, the characters, and their settings, it is clear that Craft supports and strengthens a story. It should not be showy and obvious (and in the next book, I think it is, but that is also part of the story, so it works for the most part). Why? I steal from “Writing Great Sentences“ – Style is not meant to impress; it is meant to express!
Lloyd Alexander, with affection.
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