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Book Review: Are All the Giants Dead?
Jan. 15th, 2022 08:54 amMary Norton’s Are All the Giants Dead? is a delight and a half, as you would expect from the author of The Borrowers. It’s a sort of fairy tale mash-up, which can be a hit or miss genre to me, and this one is an absolute bullseye.
The book begins when young James goes on an outing with amiably forgetful Mildred. Exactly how James and Mildred met, and when they began going on outings, is never made clear; but James is clearly well familiar with the routine when Mildred shows up and the two of them float out of the house to visit a fairy tale castle, where Mildred shows copies of the articles she wrote to Boofy and Beau (Beauty and the Beast, now a middle-aged couple with a daughter named Dulcibel).
The names are very characteristic of the book, which is poking fun at fairy tales in the most affectionate way. You can tell Mary Norton loves these stories and is just having the most delightful time tossing them all together in her own splendid fairy tale melange.
When James and Mildred press onward to have supper at the pub owned by the two Jacks (Jack-the-Giant-Killer and Jack-of-the-Beanstalk, now old men), Mildred hears tell of a fairy tale wedding in the neighboring kingdom. Well, of course any self-respecting reporter has to go to that! So off she goes, leaving James in care of the Jacks… and that is when James’s adventures really begin; for it turns out, as you may have guessed from the title, that all the giants are not dead. Jack-the-Giant-Killer missed one…
Just a delightful read all around. My only complaint is that I didn’t particularly care for the illustrations, which look like a grotesque version of Trina Schart Hyman’s work; Hyman herself would have been a better choice, or better yet if the publishers could have gotten Beth and Joe Krush, who illustrated Norton’s Borrowers books. But ultimately this is a minor quibble. The illustrations don’t add anything to the book, but they also don’t detract from it.
Actually, my real complaint is that now I’ve read ALL of Mary Norton’s books! Alas, alas… All good things must come to an end.
The book begins when young James goes on an outing with amiably forgetful Mildred. Exactly how James and Mildred met, and when they began going on outings, is never made clear; but James is clearly well familiar with the routine when Mildred shows up and the two of them float out of the house to visit a fairy tale castle, where Mildred shows copies of the articles she wrote to Boofy and Beau (Beauty and the Beast, now a middle-aged couple with a daughter named Dulcibel).
The names are very characteristic of the book, which is poking fun at fairy tales in the most affectionate way. You can tell Mary Norton loves these stories and is just having the most delightful time tossing them all together in her own splendid fairy tale melange.
When James and Mildred press onward to have supper at the pub owned by the two Jacks (Jack-the-Giant-Killer and Jack-of-the-Beanstalk, now old men), Mildred hears tell of a fairy tale wedding in the neighboring kingdom. Well, of course any self-respecting reporter has to go to that! So off she goes, leaving James in care of the Jacks… and that is when James’s adventures really begin; for it turns out, as you may have guessed from the title, that all the giants are not dead. Jack-the-Giant-Killer missed one…
Just a delightful read all around. My only complaint is that I didn’t particularly care for the illustrations, which look like a grotesque version of Trina Schart Hyman’s work; Hyman herself would have been a better choice, or better yet if the publishers could have gotten Beth and Joe Krush, who illustrated Norton’s Borrowers books. But ultimately this is a minor quibble. The illustrations don’t add anything to the book, but they also don’t detract from it.
Actually, my real complaint is that now I’ve read ALL of Mary Norton’s books! Alas, alas… All good things must come to an end.
