Lloyd Alexander Message Board
kristenskywalker posts on 2/20/2006 10:06:21 AM
Well I checked out the Gawgon and the Boy. Haven't read it yet though. I tell you guys what I think of it once I've read it.
Lady posts on 2/10/2006 5:22:20 PM
yes, they all seem the same level. and i LIKE how innocent and straigtforward they are. it's part of alexander's distinctive style. i think if he got any more complex i'd hate him. gipsy rizka was amusing. i know i read the cat who wished to be a man, i just don't remember what happens. the iron ring, the arkadians, and the R. J. Of Prince Jen all seemed to have very similar components. main guy on quest. main girl picked up along quest. quirky companions, diverse people met and moved on from, and personal revelation on character made in the end. lloyd alexander is marvelous.
Burrahobbit posts on 2/9/2006 10:49:47 PM
well partialy why I like The Gawgon and the Boy was because I was going through a "phase" and I really really really wanted a Gawgon. I had forgoten about the exsistence of Gipsy Riska! My (evil) sister took it back to the library before I got my hands on it and then I never got around to it again. I didn't really care for Time Cat, but I didn't find anything particularly "Younger reader" about The Arkadians. I mean not anymore that The Remarkable Journey of Prince Jen or the Iron ring or Prydain for that matter. He said he likes writting children's books better because they're more honest. Another one I really liked was The Cat Who wished to be a man.
Lady posts on 2/9/2006 7:08:37 PM
yep, i've read all the books you mentioned, aswalker. i've never noticed abrupt endings, but that might be because i haven't read one of his books in a long time. i liked his vesper holly books a lot. they probably are geared towards a younger audience, but i remember liking them a lot. (well... yeah, i was younger when i read them) it rather made me think of sherlock holmes, mixed with a quirky heroine, a regis blackard, and traveling. Exploding sausages and all that. now strike me dead where i stand, burra, but the gawgon and the boy... i think it bored me. i could be remembering wrong--i read it four years ago. i just have this rememberance of reading it behind the couch (i was shirking duties) and wishing there were more spark to it.
kristenskywalker posts on 2/9/2006 12:13:21 PM
I've never even heard of the Gawgon and the Boy. I'll check it out though.
Maybe it's just me but it seems like most of Alexander's books have very abrupt endings. Or they seem like that part of the ending is missing.
Have you ever read The Arkadians or TIme Cat? Those were both interesting, though I think they were for younger readers.
One of his books I really enjoyed was The Iron Ring. The book was based in India. You really get a good look at the whole caste system and stuff like that.
The remarkable journey of Prince Jen was also good.
Gurgi posts on 2/9/2006 8:40:06 AM
I really liked the Gawgon and the Boy too. It was different from the Prydain Series (which I love) but it really taught me a lot about other things like Napolean and how he always stuck his hand in his jacket. Also I learned A TON about Greek mythology which was cool because I read it in sixth grade and we were just learning about Greek mythology. I also really liked Lloyd Alexander's Gypsy Rizka. It was a really good book. I liked how it was almost like a cartoon movie in my head.
(guys, please reply to my messages too)
:)
Burrahobbit posts on 2/8/2006 10:23:56 PM
Well that's the difference from imagining you are inside the story and just enjoying the story. My other favorite Lloyd Alexander is The Gawgon and the Boy. that one made be cry.
kristenskywalker posts on 2/8/2006 9:01:38 PM
You're right about one thing Burra. I did feel like I knew the characters in Westmark really well. Yet I didn't feel like I had a connection with anyone in the story. Which for me is a major part of a good book. It might not be that way for everybody, but that is more important to me then knowing the character really well. I might never like the book, but that isn't necessarily because it's bad. It might just be my that personality doesn't click with the book.
So aside from that what other books do you like by him? I like the Rope Trick. Though I wasn't wild on the ending.
zara - the russet divinity posts on 2/8/2006 2:37:41 PM
i think the thing you have to remember about westmark is that it was written by a former soldier. Mr. Alexander had been in the trenches and knew what war was like. and when you see death everyday like that you really start to become desensitized to it. I could really feel that while reading the Kestrel. In Westmark before Theo has really experenced death he's really bothered by it but when he gets into the thick of things death is just an every day thing. this is especially true when they find stock's body.
anywho on another note i'm 18 weeks pregnant and my hubby and i went for my ultrasound today. #3 is going to be our third boy. our other two are named after Narnia characters but we're at a loss for this one. Hubby won't let me do Theo but he did say I could put Gwydion on the list. and we're going to get "the Mabinogion" from the library to look up more cool Welsh names.
zara
Lady posts on 2/7/2006 7:24:38 PM
that was an excellent point you had burrahobbit, about how it didn't dwell on the people's deaths. kristen, i'd have to say that feeling like you're in the story is all right as rain in many cases, but what i love even more than rooting for the character is KNOWING them. I like having a large cast of people and knowing their pasts, their weaknesses, and seeing their interaction. i like examining their psychology. I don't have to feel like i'm experiencing it myself. i don't have to find a common ground with whoever i'm rooting for. as long as i understand them, i'm good. that's why westmark is FAR better than, say, christopher paolini. Yes, eragon is a hero you root for, but can you honestly say you KNOW him? does he have FAULTS? is he REAL?
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