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Re: View from the merry-go-round... (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket,  in Books
Hi Terrie!
Just popping in to say this is a well-written review with which I heartily agree. You have done a favorite book justice. I agree with Juniornocket that the descriptions of Venice were just right...not too much to be boring and yet enough to open up the third eye of imagination for the soul to do the rest. I love this book and I hope your wonderful review will encourage others to explore it.
I really enjoyed this book. I just don't remember there being such an amazing selection of children's books out there when I was his age, but time has a way of warping memory...;)
It's so good to see your name! Hope you visit more often!
Sue
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Jul 22, 2008
9:35 pm PDT
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View from the merry-go-round... (Reply to this comment)
by treeseed
Just popping in to say this is a well-written review with which I heartily agree. You have done a favorite book justice. I agree with Juniornocket that the descriptions of Venice were just right...not too much to be boring and yet enough to open up the third eye of imagination for the soul to do the rest. I love this book and I hope your wonderful review will encourage others to explore it.
Love,
Terrie
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Jul 13, 2008
11:25 am PDT
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Re: sounds relaxing and fun (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Jan,
I like how kids' books aren't bogged down with so many details. Much better than The DaVinci Code really.
You know, I like both. I can get into a big deep mystery, but then I need a break - and the sheer number of good kids books out there to whip through is amazing!
Sue, I deleted that comment in question. I agree with your criticism of the list. Thanks.
Thanks, Jan, I appreciate it.
Sue
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Jun 1, 2006
10:45 pm PDT
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Re: ollie on the rocks with a twist (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Brian,
Whereas it's kids with two healthy parents who tend to grow up and write slow, neurotic memoirs about being irreversibly damaged by their family's stifling insensitivity. Verrry interesting.
And I like those books, too! And the movies made by those people even better.
Not that your and misternocket's kids will do that; they, after all, get to grow up with a Books Lead who reads all the finest music reviews, and they'll be grateful, wait and see.
I'm thinking right now that at least one of them will be surly and angst filled for at least a while. Hopefully the other one will wait with her own angst until the first one is finished. After that they'll be grateful - after all, don't all kids think their parents are the best in the whole wide world their whole lives?
(please, don't destroy my delusions - they get me through the day.....;)
13.468 million. I checked on Google; maybe us non-orphaned kids today do have it better.
That's a lot of secrets. Here in this country, where everything is newer and covered with concrete, there are only 3.645 million secrets per average sized city. It's that kind of cultural deprivation that makes kids play video games instead of tracking down mysteries like good orphans should.
Ouch. Well-said *he says in a flat monotone, brushing realistic cheese crumbs off his realistic veiny adult hands*. It suddenly occurs to me that Dickens was writing for children. Which should've been obvious, but i didn't like him when i was a kid. I don't now either, though, so at last i'm ready to recognize his target audience.
Ouch, indeed. I know, it's painful, but we aren't interesting. They don't want to read about us, or any other adult that approaches "average" in any way. They want quirks-a-plenty. Until dinner time, when they go back to wanting someone who knows how to make macaroni and cheese out of a box. Yay, I win!
That's okay. One day he'll be old enough to recognize that Madison's mostly full of 20-year-olds who furnished their houses from curbside discards, and then he'll realize he can't be a thief lord at home. But for now, he can learn this the hard way.
One day he just may be one of those 20-year-olds furnishing his slum student housing from the curb. His parents were, it may well be genetic. I don't think they offer "Thief Lording 101" anymore here either. A shame, all the classic majors are getting dropped. Sigh.
who assumes "wonky alerts" have left you unaware of his equally random and incoherent comment on your Mr. Holland's Opus review
Ahhh, they are indeed! I shall speed over and have a look. Random incoherentness is a virtue, you know.
Sue
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Jun 1, 2006
10:43 pm PDT
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sounds relaxing and fun (Reply to this comment)
by jankp
I like how kids' books aren't bogged down with so many details. Much better than The DaVinci Code really. Sue, I deleted that comment in question. I agree with your criticism of the list. Thanks.
Jan
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Jun 1, 2006
12:11 am PDT
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ollie on the rocks with a twist (Reply to this comment)
by voxpoptart
The world of orphans ... left to fend for themselves in what is often a harsh world never fails to tug at the heartstrings, or provide a suspenseful tale, or both.
Whereas it's kids with two healthy parents who tend to grow up and write slow, neurotic memoirs about being irreversibly damaged by their family's stifling insensitivity. Verrry interesting.
Not that your and misternocket's kids will do that; they, after all, get to grow up with a Books Lead who reads all the finest music reviews, and they'll be grateful, wait and see.
Little does Victor know just how many secrets this famous city holds
13.468 million. I checked on Google; maybe us non-orphaned kids today do have it better.
The adult characters are extremely quirky, more caricatures than characters... Kids aren’t looking for realistic, well developed adult characters. They want ... interesting adults
Ouch. Well-said *he says in a flat monotone, brushing realistic cheese crumbs off his realistic veiny adult hands*. It suddenly occurs to me that Dickens was writing for children. Which should've been obvious, but i didn't like him when i was a kid. I don't now either, though, so at last i'm ready to recognize his target audience.
I know that juniornocket didn’t up and hop a plane for Venice to live a life of thievery after reading the book
That's okay. One day he'll be old enough to recognize that Madison's mostly full of 20-year-olds who furnished their houses from curbside discards, and then he'll realize he can't be a thief lord at home. But for now, he can learn this the hard way.
cheers,
- Brian,
who assumes "wonky alerts" have left you unaware of his equally random and incoherent comment on your Mr. Holland's Opus review
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May 31, 2006
11:19 pm PDT
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Re: A great read aloud (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Jenscookie,
One of our 4th grade teachers read this book aloud to the class. They loved it and had a deep fondness for it.
Ooh, this would be a great read aloud! Especially with some of the moral quandaries that run through the story.
There is a little Huck Finn/Tom Sawyer-ish quality to the characters, isn't there? The little rogues....;)
Thanks for stopping to comment!
Sue
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May 31, 2006
11:16 pm PDT
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Re: Re: Re: Hi (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Marie,
Well that could be interesting.
Juniornocket seems to think so - he asks me everyday if it's come out yet. I don't even know if it's in production yet.
Well..that's very true. I probably couldn't have either. And it is nice to read different things at times too.
A little YA orphan levity goes miles toward breaking the monotony of murder and mayhem. Which of course is what I'm reading now.....
Sue
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May 31, 2006
11:13 pm PDT
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Re: . (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Munkus,
My problem with these books is they make being an orphan so frightfully jolly, what with all the starvation and child prostitution and gang violence and scurvy and things. And Venice! Why can't they be really scummy street urchins in somewhere less decorative, like Rotterdam or Gdansk.
Yeah, the glamourizing of all things orphan is a problem. I blame that damn Oliver Twist for starting the whole thing. It's all been down hill from there. At least this author made Venice a little seedy and grimy and, well, sort of rotting and ugly. Not to say that it isn't beautiful in every way, of course, just with a nice, seedy underbelly - like any proper city.
The perfect place for the little jolly urchins. They actually, I believe, refer to themselves as urchins at one point. They do not, however, discuss the possibility of developing scurvy.
Sue
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May 31, 2006
11:11 pm PDT
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Re: Great analysis (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Spuds,
of this book, especially your comments on character development or lack thereof. Sometimes cut out characters are all that is needed to further the story and complement the meaty characters.
Thanks! And yes, especially in books for kids. Some (not all, of course) of whom have, shall we say.....less than extensive patience with deep character analysis? Of course, I really liked it too, so that trait is apparently not restricted to her target audience....;)
Sue
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May 31, 2006
11:06 pm PDT
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A great read aloud (Reply to this comment)
by jenscookie
One of our 4th grade teachers read this book aloud to the class. They loved it and had a deep fondness for it. It has some similarities to Huckleberry Finn (especially the way Tom Sawyer reacts to the idea of rescuing Jim, it reminds me of the title character in this book).
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May 31, 2006
7:01 pm PDT
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Re: Re: Hi (Reply to this comment)
by dragonfire88
It's good! I think they may be turning it into a movie.
Well that could be interesting.
True enough! But Juniornocket insisted that I must read it because he really liked it - I can't withstand that kind of pressure! It's also good to take a break between Bloody Knife books with something a little more innocent.
Well..that's very true. I probably couldn't have either. And it is nice to read different things at times too.
It was either this or Glamour magazine. I'm saving the Glamour.....;)
Ahh..ok. :)
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May 31, 2006
1:45 pm PDT
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. (Reply to this comment)
by munkus
My problem with these books is they make being an orphan so frightfully jolly, what with all the starvation and child prostitution and gang violence and scurvy and things. And Venice! Why can't they be really scummy street urchins in somewhere less decorative, like Rotterdam or Gdansk.
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May 31, 2006
5:00 am PDT
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Great analysis (Reply to this comment)
by nagels, in Books
of this book, especially your comments on character development or lack thereof. Sometimes cut out characters are all that is needed to further the story and complement the meaty characters.
spuds
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May 31, 2006
3:21 am PDT
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Re: Hi (Reply to this comment)
by millinocket, in Books
Marie,
This one does sound interesting.
It's good! I think they may be turning it into a movie.
You know, if you keep reading all of your children's books, you won't get through your own pile. ;)
True enough! But Juniornocket insisted that I must read it because he really liked it - I can't withstand that kind of pressure! It's also good to take a break between Bloody Knife books with something a little more innocent.
It was either this or Glamour magazine. I'm saving the Glamour.....;)
Sue
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May 30, 2006
9:48 pm PDT
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Hi (Reply to this comment)
by dragonfire88
This one does sound interesting.
You know, if you keep reading all of your children's books, you won't get through your own pile. ;)
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May 30, 2006
9:17 pm PDT
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