Well now, I think it's high time I reviewed Coraline and The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents, don't you? I must say, I enjoyed them both immensely. So, where to begin? I guess I shall review them in alphabetical order of author, because I certainly couldn't dream of sorting them by preferance.
Neil Gaiman's Coraline was not quite as scary as I imagined it to be. According to Neil, adults seem to be finding the book scarier than children are; I'm not quite sure what this means for me, but I'll take it as a compliment to my inner child. As I read it, I found that it reminded me of Clive Barker's Thief of Always, except that I enjoyed it more than Mr. Barker's book.
Coraline is a child both practical and imaginative. She has been described by some reviewer as a modern-day Alice, but unlike Alice she seems to take her adventure a little more in stride. Gaiman's writing style, using a third person narrator, keeps us viewing the story from the perspective of a girl about eight while at the same time allows a few more sophisticated language choices than an eight year old might make. One of my favorite observations from the book is this:
"Coraline was woken by the midmorning sun, full on her face.For a moment she felt utterly dislocated. She did not know where she was; she was not entirely sure who she was. It is astonishing just how much of what we are can be tied to the beds we wake up in in the morning, and it is astonishing how fragile that can be."
As Coraline's story begins, she is a bored and frustrated little kid, fed up with the world she inhabits. On her journey into the world of the Other Mother, she uses the skills, tools and love that she has from her own world to meet the challenges. On her return to normal life, her experiences allow her to feel new savor and adventure in her own life and surroundings.
Coraline co-stars people, rats, mice, cats, and terriers.
Terry Pratchett's The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents is also a book written for younger readers than the usual Pratchetts novel and also stars Rats, cats, people, and a terrier (there is a mouse, but it just has a walk-on role). Set on Discworld, it is a Pied Piper story...with a twist. (Would it be a Terry Prachett story if there weren't a twist?)
It all starts with a cat...that talks. And rats....that talk. And a kid...who plays the flute. Throw in a girl with a fairytale obsession, a town with a Ratcatcher problem, and you got a story that will keep you turning the pages.
Even though it is billed at Pratchett's first story for younger readers, the only difference I noticed between it and his other work was lack of sexual innuendo and human death. Yet for me, it managed to be evendarker than CoraIine. I must say, I will never look at the Rat King from the Nutcracker the same way again.
It is hard to pick a best line, but I am rather partial to, "The trouble with thinking was that, once you started, you went on doing it."
Both books get a hearty thumbs up from me, and a suggestion that you go buy them.
