The title of this is actually 'The Weirdstone of Brisingamen'. I have no idea why it shows up otherwise. Compelling fantasy novel.
Test reading for my 7-year-old granddaughter, and I understand that I'm not really the target audience for this. It has a kind of old-fashioned charm, but it lacks complication -- I'm curious to see what my granddaughter (already a Harry Potter fanatic) would make of it.
Published in 1960, I first assumed that it was the work of an author who was elderly then, looking back with rose-coloured glasses at a time when children were polite, were delighted by suppers of "salted bread and warm milk," when they could be dumped on virtual strangers when mummy is "called to join her husband abroad for six months," and allowed to disappear to roam the countryside on their bicycles all day, with nothing more than a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of fizzy pop.
But no: Garner was only in his early 20s when this was published. That probably explains the Neverneverland quality of the setting and characters: the Cheshire he depicts was changed utterly, even as he wrote.
I keep coming back to the fact that it's charming, and typical high fantasy fun, and you might not go too far wrong, offering it to a child of 8-10. Like most High Fantasy, I come away with the feeling that the author is making it up as he goes along: Do we need to imperil the children? Just throw in some evil creatures with names like mara, and svart, and morthbrood, who periodically cry " ...we must raise the fimbulwinter at daybreak!" Do the children need rescuing? Up pop a couple of friendly dwarves, conveniently armed with swords and cloaks with names and magical powers. It's always sunny, and even in January, it stays light until early evening (huh???? Did this guy ever actually LIVE in the North of England???) and school is a minor inconvenience that doesn't get in the way of fighting svarts, morthbrood and mara, and hanging out with dwarves and wizards ...
Like most CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien clones, I felt that the author understood the tropes, but missed the memo about the subtext that give the tropes deeper meaning. Lewis' Narnia is powerful (even if I don't particularly care for it myself) because it's a metaphor for his deeply held Christian faith. Middle Earth is powerful, because it's so obvious (once you know Tolkien's story) that it was his way of working out the traumas of his childhood and the First World War. Even Harry Potter resonates with the terrors of childhood, or abandonment and powerlessness.
Garner is to be admired for retelling the legends of his part of Cheshire. There are even moments when I think he has his tongue firmly in his cheek ...
"And you say as you need to get our Bridestone to the top of Shuttlingslow by Friday morning? Well, that wunner be difficult. You two con ... catch the bus from Macclesfield to Wildboarclough, and then all you'll have to do is climb up the hill and meet your wizard.
"We must take no chances," said Fynodyree> "That would be a dangerous course ..."
Spoken like someone who regularly took the bus from Macclesfield to Wildboarclough. But knowing the territory, and nostalgia for a lost past doesn't really give his dwarves and wizards the depth that they need.
Full disclosure: one reason I was tempted by this, and tempted to offer it to Granddaughter, is that my husband grew up only about 10 miles from Alderley Edge, an area which he delighted to inform me has now been completely yuppified and turned posh, and the home of overpaid footballers and their Wives and Girlfriends ... Oh, where are those svart and morthbrood when you need them ... !!
Published in 1960, I first assumed that it was the work of an author who was elderly then, looking back with rose-coloured glasses at a time when children were polite, were delighted by suppers of "salted bread and warm milk," when they could be dumped on virtual strangers when mummy is "called to join her husband abroad for six months," and allowed to disappear to roam the countryside on their bicycles all day, with nothing more than a couple of sandwiches and a bottle of fizzy pop.
But no: Garner was only in his early 20s when this was published. That probably explains the Neverneverland quality of the setting and characters: the Cheshire he depicts was changed utterly, even as he wrote.
I keep coming back to the fact that it's charming, and typical high fantasy fun, and you might not go too far wrong, offering it to a child of 8-10. Like most High Fantasy, I come away with the feeling that the author is making it up as he goes along: Do we need to imperil the children? Just throw in some evil creatures with names like mara, and svart, and morthbrood, who periodically cry " ...we must raise the fimbulwinter at daybreak!" Do the children need rescuing? Up pop a couple of friendly dwarves, conveniently armed with swords and cloaks with names and magical powers. It's always sunny, and even in January, it stays light until early evening (huh???? Did this guy ever actually LIVE in the North of England???) and school is a minor inconvenience that doesn't get in the way of fighting svarts, morthbrood and mara, and hanging out with dwarves and wizards ...
Like most CS Lewis and JRR Tolkien clones, I felt that the author understood the tropes, but missed the memo about the subtext that give the tropes deeper meaning. Lewis' Narnia is powerful (even if I don't particularly care for it myself) because it's a metaphor for his deeply held Christian faith. Middle Earth is powerful, because it's so obvious (once you know Tolkien's story) that it was his way of working out the traumas of his childhood and the First World War. Even Harry Potter resonates with the terrors of childhood, or abandonment and powerlessness.
Garner is to be admired for retelling the legends of his part of Cheshire. There are even moments when I think he has his tongue firmly in his cheek ...
"And you say as you need to get our Bridestone to the top of Shuttlingslow by Friday morning? Well, that wunner be difficult. You two con ... catch the bus from Macclesfield to Wildboarclough, and then all you'll have to do is climb up the hill and meet your wizard.
"We must take no chances," said Fynodyree> "That would be a dangerous course ..."
Spoken like someone who regularly took the bus from Macclesfield to Wildboarclough. But knowing the territory, and nostalgia for a lost past doesn't really give his dwarves and wizards the depth that they need.
Full disclosure: one reason I was tempted by this, and tempted to offer it to Granddaughter, is that my husband grew up only about 10 miles from Alderley Edge, an area which he delighted to inform me has now been completely yuppified and turned posh, and the home of overpaid footballers and their Wives and Girlfriends ... Oh, where are those svart and morthbrood when you need them ... !!
