PhoenixFalls -
Helpful Score: 2
Given the pedigree of the authors included in this collection, I expected much more magic. Unfortunately, most of the stories were frankly mediocre: either completely mundane or simplistically horrifying. There were a couple standouts: Sherman Alexie's "A Strange Day in July" was wonderfully bizarre; Cory Doctorow's "Another Place, Another Time" was pure magic and surprisingly bittersweet at its core. Chris Van Allsburg's own contribution felt right (obviously) but annoyed me with its extremely outdated gender roles. But beyond those stories, the entire collection was sadly forgettable.
Leigh reviewed The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales / With an Introduction by Lemony Snicket on + 378 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Three and a half stars.
The entire premise of this book sucked me in, having been somewhat smitten with The Mysteries of Harris Burdick since I first picked it up sliding over the Return Desk at the library. My imagination ran away with these incredible stories to extraordinary places; imagine my disappointment when I realized these authors primarily stuck to the ordinary.
There were exceptions; notably, Sherman Alexie's story, "A Strange Day in July," which sent shivers through me. Beautifully crafted and an excellent interpretation of that illustration. Also of note was Linda Sue Park's "The Harp," which paid incredible attention to detail. Clearly this woman took in the entire illustration. I missed something when I initially saw it. The other stand-outs were MT Anderson's "Just Deserts" (still not sure about the veracity of that one), Jon Scieszkas "Under the Rug" (oh, Grandma), and Chris Van Allsburgs Oscar and Alphonse" (perfect ending to the story, perfect ending to the book).
The other stories contained writing which either didn't appeal to me or fell flat boring. The infinite number of stories one could have written to those illustrationsI think an injustice was done.
I loved Lemony Snicket's introduction because it felt so true and put a spark in my head as to the provenance of the stories.
The entire premise of this book sucked me in, having been somewhat smitten with The Mysteries of Harris Burdick since I first picked it up sliding over the Return Desk at the library. My imagination ran away with these incredible stories to extraordinary places; imagine my disappointment when I realized these authors primarily stuck to the ordinary.
There were exceptions; notably, Sherman Alexie's story, "A Strange Day in July," which sent shivers through me. Beautifully crafted and an excellent interpretation of that illustration. Also of note was Linda Sue Park's "The Harp," which paid incredible attention to detail. Clearly this woman took in the entire illustration. I missed something when I initially saw it. The other stand-outs were MT Anderson's "Just Deserts" (still not sure about the veracity of that one), Jon Scieszkas "Under the Rug" (oh, Grandma), and Chris Van Allsburgs Oscar and Alphonse" (perfect ending to the story, perfect ending to the book).
The other stories contained writing which either didn't appeal to me or fell flat boring. The infinite number of stories one could have written to those illustrationsI think an injustice was done.
I loved Lemony Snicket's introduction because it felt so true and put a spark in my head as to the provenance of the stories.
Kest S. (kesterbird) reviewed The Chronicles of Harris Burdick: Fourteen Amazing Authors Tell the Tales / With an Introduction by Lemony Snicket on + 28 more book reviews
Most of the stories are three star stories. There's a smattering of 2 stars, and a smattering of four stars, and even a few five and ones. Averages out to a solid three. I am subtracting a whole star though, because the illustrations that are supposed to be the thread tying this whole thing together are pretty terrible. Not even bad enough to be interesting, just.... really and truly and utterly missable. No one will remember these drawings after the book is closed
