animals, assorted
Aug. 17th, 2008 05:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
cyphomandraI am attempting to motivate myself into going running before it starts raining again, so this is likely to be the first of a series of updates.
Eleanor Estes, Ginger Pye. Family with dog. A bit too much homage to a particular sort of childhood for me and there’s a certain amount of wilful dimness on behalf of all the characters when the dog goes missing, but it’s nicely done. I think the problem I have with this and Roller Skates (around here somewhere not quite finished – I’m kind of reading through the Newberies ) is that the leads behave as if they know they are the lead characters, as does every single other character in the book, which is terribly convenient for the leads but makes me feel as if the world of the book is warping around them. To pick a comparison with Eleanor Estes chosen largely because I used to mix the authors up as a child (usually next to each other on library shelves; possibly I am therefore triggered to mildly dislike Estes due to that moment of “Oh, a new – damn.”), I don’t get that feeling with Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy series, for example; the characters are entitled, yes (in a social setting), but they do have to fit in to their world. In Spiderweb for Two, for example, life goes on around, over and through the treasure hunt, and it’s a much stronger book for it.
Doreen Tovey, Donkey Work. I have someone else’s copy of her earlier “Cats in May” somewhere, which is very very funny and highly recommended; this one, although enjoyable, doesn’t have quite the same rich source material (also, nothing catches fire). The author and her husband, not content with their eccentric Siamese cats, acquire a donkey (also eccentric). Mild chaos ensues.
Dan Stanford, The horsemasters. American girl does intensive demanding horsemanship course in UK. Very good at getting across the grinding effort involved, although largely at the expense of character; this is not all that obvious (or crucial) because the book focuses mainly on the level of team conflict rather than individual. Enjoyable. I'm still not sure why the lead had to be American, although I suspect it might have been to dodge issues of class.
And it's still refusing to rain, so I guess I should go find my sneakers.
Eleanor Estes, Ginger Pye. Family with dog. A bit too much homage to a particular sort of childhood for me and there’s a certain amount of wilful dimness on behalf of all the characters when the dog goes missing, but it’s nicely done. I think the problem I have with this and Roller Skates (around here somewhere not quite finished – I’m kind of reading through the Newberies ) is that the leads behave as if they know they are the lead characters, as does every single other character in the book, which is terribly convenient for the leads but makes me feel as if the world of the book is warping around them. To pick a comparison with Eleanor Estes chosen largely because I used to mix the authors up as a child (usually next to each other on library shelves; possibly I am therefore triggered to mildly dislike Estes due to that moment of “Oh, a new – damn.”), I don’t get that feeling with Elizabeth Enright’s Melendy series, for example; the characters are entitled, yes (in a social setting), but they do have to fit in to their world. In Spiderweb for Two, for example, life goes on around, over and through the treasure hunt, and it’s a much stronger book for it.
Doreen Tovey, Donkey Work. I have someone else’s copy of her earlier “Cats in May” somewhere, which is very very funny and highly recommended; this one, although enjoyable, doesn’t have quite the same rich source material (also, nothing catches fire). The author and her husband, not content with their eccentric Siamese cats, acquire a donkey (also eccentric). Mild chaos ensues.
Dan Stanford, The horsemasters. American girl does intensive demanding horsemanship course in UK. Very good at getting across the grinding effort involved, although largely at the expense of character; this is not all that obvious (or crucial) because the book focuses mainly on the level of team conflict rather than individual. Enjoyable. I'm still not sure why the lead had to be American, although I suspect it might have been to dodge issues of class.
And it's still refusing to rain, so I guess I should go find my sneakers.
