I put off reading this book until the very last minute. I'm not really sure why but, this book has never appealed to me. I like to own Newberry and Caldecott Award books. However, when this one came out I made a conscious choice not to buy it which is saying something. Some women buy shoes. I buy children's books. Yes, I have always been a nerd. Now that I am older I am a little proud of my nerdom. Anyway, I digress.
It was, unfortunately, as I had feared. This is not "my kind" of book. The most unappealing aspect of the story was the voice in which it was written. I have always enjoyed reading as an escape from reality. As a child when I was bored or lonely or both I would read to alleviate these feelings. I would be someone else, somewhere else for awhile. The author of Despereaux did not allow for that escapism. She refered to us, the "reader" throughout the book, requesting that we look up words, warning us of an approaching flashback, and asking our opinion of characters and events. These constant reminders that I was reading made it impossible to become emersed in the plot.
I have a great desire, a need if you will, to be reminded of the good in people. We see the weaknesses and ugliness of our species around us all the time. When I am reading for pleasure I do not want to be forced to stare directly into the faults that lie within each of us. That is not to say that I have a problem with villians or obstacles in storylines, these things are what make up a good story. However, by the end of the story I want everything set right with the world. The "bad guys" should always get their "come uppance" and the "good guy" while he need not be perfect must at least make significant personal growth at the conclusion.
In The Tale of Despereaux, we were surrounded by characters who were barely tolerable and who made no significant self discoveries during the book. The list of dislikeable characters is long, starting with Despereaux's own family all the way down to the castle cook. Despereaux himself left a little something to be desired. There were sparks of goodness in each character. But there was not enough "light" to make a difference in the "dark". Overall, I could not recommend this book as a great read. It left me a little cold.
3 comments:
Your comments are insightful, and I never argue with a person's feelings. If the story left you cold, it left you cold.
I regret that you did not enjoy the enchantment that I felt as I was drawn in and teased by the author. I loved the book.
I, too, love to escape into books, and I felt I was able to because DiCamillo pulled me in with her commentary. I find it quite interesting that you had the opposite reaction to the same thing!
I can definitely see your perspective that the "dark" parts of each character were overwhelming and distasteful, however I felt a sense of empathy toward them because I knew what had made them "dark." I also enjoyed being able to see some "light" in even the most villainous character.
We definitely had opposite reactions to the book, but I was glad to read about a reaction so different from my own.
I very much like reading your honest reaction and perspective on The Tale of Despereaux. It was not my favorite book, although I did very much find the manner that DiCamillo chose to write in interesting and fresh. I think that as a reader, I felt that it kept me engaged at times when I would have put the book down for the time being. I had tried to get into this book by reading the first chapter about a year ago, and then honestly put it on my shelf to tackle at another time. The most recent DiCamillo book that I read was The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane. I feel like that book, in its own way and within its own storyline, has a similar strand of needing to trust in the story that is being weaved for you. As a sidebar, I smiled when I read that you were a "book buyer." I think our whole grad. class is full of people who could form an encouraging support group for this fixation! A great thing!
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