Bad Horsey
Written: May 09 '06
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Product Rating:
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Pros: This was a great series
Cons: This book is a bad end. Unrealistic, unbelieveable and racist.
The Bottom Line: The Black Stallion series is a great series … except for this one.
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| Darkmistress's Full Review: |
Am I annoyed, disappointed, or disillusioned? Probably all of the above.
The Black Stallion Legend was published in 1983. It is the only Black Stallion Book written entirely by Walter Farley that I did not read and reread as a child giving me a perspective I cannot have on the others. It was released after he had been writing for 40 years so he should have gotten better or quit (Anne Rice take note, get better or quit already.) It was also released in a completely different political climate than the one he grew up in. So, what was right with the book?
Well, it was another "Alec and the Black must overcome incredible odds to stay together and stay alive" story. There is some adventure, some suspense, some genuine distress. That pretty much ends what was right here.
And what was wrong?
It was unrealistic. Alec suffers a psychotic break due to some bad (very, very bad) news at the beginning of the story. He is at the farm when this happens and there is a fair amount of screaming involved. Where the heck is everybody? Ok, Henry is at the track and his parents are away from the house, but wouldn’t there be stable boys or somebody around at some point during the hour that spans the time Alec gets his news and the time he leaves having loaded the Black into a horse trailer. Wouldn’t somebody have said, "Hey boss, what the heck are you doing? Why are you crying?"
It was racist. A great deal of the story revolved around a tribe of Native Americans who believe Alec and the Black have come to protect them from a great calamity that is coming. Every one of these Natives acts like an idiot. I was completely offended by the 19th century portrayal of these people. In the 40’s they may have believed that the "Savages" weren’t very smart and the white-eye had to spoon feed them everything. That notion has been overturned, repeatedly. If this book had been written in the 40’s I would have judged it by its time and not mine. Unfortunately, this book was written in the 80’s so it’s time is my time. Farley was living in Florida during the writing of this book, wasn’t there a clever Seminole around he could have talked to to give him some grasp of what Native Americans are really like, even if they were a completely different tribe? Failing that could he have read a book? Possibly watched a movie? Something?
It was far fetched. This is actually beyond unrealistic. At the end of the book there is the foretold calamity. Most of the United States is involved in this disaster. And yet, we have no idea what it was. Hmm. There seems to have been a major geophysical upheaval. Earthquakes, volcanoes. All at once? Now, I’ve read a lot of disaster fiction. I love the stuff actually. The likelihood of this happening at all without, say, the magnetic poles moving, is incredibly slim. Worse yet, this plot would have made a much better story than the one Farley came up with. Imagine, Alec and the Black trying to get home to New York from Arizona in an ecological disaster. Now that would have been a story!
I suppose I should have been tipped off by the only quote on the cover. "The Black Stallion is the most famous fictional horse of the century." – New York Times. That is a given, and not glowing praise. I still love the other stories. They aren’t spectacularly written, but they’re good solid stories (as far as I remember.) With this one, Farley’s reach exceeded his grasp. He tried something he wasn’t prepared for. Write what you know. Don’t write about Native Americans if you don’t know any or aren’t willing to do a little research. And for heaven’s sake don’t do disaster fiction unless you understand it.
Final word: Steer clear of this one. It’s liable to annoy adults and give children prejudiced ideas.
Recommended:
No
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Darkmistress
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Location: Concepcion, Chile
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