The Catcher in the Rye Review – J.D Salinger

The Catcher in the Rye – J.D Salinger



The Catcher in the Rye is a book that I feel every adolescent would benefit from reading. Salinger uses an extremely realistic narration from Holden to allow us to relate to him. We are placed amongst Holden in his own journey referring to himself as ‘I’ and us as ‘you’.” Salinger uses this to express to us, the reader the honest realisations of life that Holden and we experience. I find it an exciting and compelling read, with a gallon of brutal reality poured in along with some humour, contrasting with moments of depression.” – Aimen A The Guardian



We follow Holden in the limbo between childhood and adulthood as he struggles to find his place in society. One of the main aspects The Catcher in the Rye deals with is the different ideals and values between the child and the adult world. Holden is a very contradictory character; he says one thing but means another, he admits he’s a coward yet refuses to let go of his values. Holden although being able to be perceived as immature, irrational and emotionally unstable is able to stick to his moral values showing that he does have a sense of moral insight.



I feel that there are two different view points to The Catcher in the Rye; Holden’s, which from the beginning Salinger immediately sides us with, and the perception of the adult world. We stand on common ground with Holden, which Salinger uses to push the reader into reflecting on the adult world, adult society and the way we and others choose to live their lives. This not only makes us reflect on our own world but we begin to see Holden as although intellectually immature, mentally and emotionally mature in his ideals and understanding of moral integrity. Yet if we place ourselves amongst the common ground of the adult world we begin to criticise the thinking of Holden as some of his ideas have little or no thought process in them. For instance Holden’s idea of the cabin in the woods, Salinger uses this to illustrate that although the adult world does not have the answers, that maybe neither does Holden. Salinger also uses the situation of the cab driver and the fish to highlight the difference between child and adult worlds, the difference with Holden is that he is still willing to ask the questions. Salinger is trying to show us that it’s not having the answers that are important but asking the questions.



Holden struggles to find his place in society as he never commits to anything or any idea. We follow Holden’s journey all over the city, from different hotels, bars, cabs and walkways. Holden is trying to escape the idea of society. He can never stick to one place and is moving from venue to venue, yet all within the areas in Manhattan that he is familiar with. This leads me to believe that Holden can never feel comfortable anywhere, can never find his place, yet he is scared to venture to unfamiliar places to find comfort. This creates a vulnerability in Holden as we see that he does not know which way to turn and we start to understand why he lacks direction, this provokes sympathy from us as we start to understand the implications society has on Holden and other adolescents.



The Catcher in the Rye has been criticized with having no storyline and being a book which disappoints the expectations of potential events and encounters, and I agree it does. “The plot isn’t exactly a gripping, thrills-a-minute ride. He just meanders around New York, wasting money on hotel rooms, cab rides, and non-hookers.” – Sabrina Pajiba Book Reviews. The Catcher in the Rye fails to be categorised into the 7 basic plot lines. Yet I feel Salinger intentionally created no real plot to emphasise to the reader the reality of life. Salinger wanted us to find meaning in this novel to push us to relate it upon our own lives. This Salinger uses to reveal to us that our lives are not like that of fiction and that we may finish the book feeling unfulfilled and underwhelmed but that life is not always fulfilling. “I do appreciate that Holden doesn’t magically grow up by the end of the book. That’s a manifestation of the cynical nature of the book — people don’t change” – Sabrina Pajiba Book Reviews. We are left after finishing the book in the same state in which Holden is left watching the carousel.

Age Of Innocence Novels

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky



Fifteen-year-old Charlie is coping with the suicide of his friend, Michael. To lessen the fear and anxiety of starting high school alone, Charlie starts writing letters to a stranger, someone he heard was nice but has never met in person.

At school, Charlie finds a friend and mentor in his English teacher, Bill. He also overcomes his chronic shyness and approaches a classmate, Patrick, who, along with his step-sister Sam, becomes two of Charlie's BFFs.

During the course of the school year, Charlie has his first date and his first kiss, he deals with bullies, he experiments with drugs and drinking, and he makes friends, loses them, and gains them back. He creates his own soundtrack through a series of mix tapes full of iconic songs, reads a huge stack of classic books, and gets involved in the Rocky Horror Picture Show audience-participation culture. 

Charlie has a relatively stable home life, though, with supportive, if distant, parents to fall back on. Unfortunately, a disturbing family secret that Charlie has repressed for his entire life surfaces at the end of the school year. Charlie has a severe mental breakdown and ends up hospitalized.

Charlie's final letter closes with feelings of hope: getting released from the hospital, forgiving his aunt Helen for what she did to him, finding new friends during sophomore year, and trying his best not to be a wallflower. Charlie hopes to get out of his head and into the real world, participating in life instead of just watching it fly by.



The Bridge To Terabithia – Katherine Patterson



Jess Aarons lives in a small town called Lark Creek and has a hard family life. He likes to draw and to run, and is kind of lonely; he's out-of-place in his family and the only person he really gets along with is his little sister May Belle. He's about to enter the fifth grade and dreams of being the fastest runner there. This dream is shattered on the first day of school, though, when a new girl named Leslie shows up and runs faster than anyone. At first Jess is crushed, but later he and Leslie end up becoming good friends.

Since they're both outcasts, Jess and Leslie spend a lot of time together. They take over a part of a nearby forest that's only accessible by swinging on a rope over the creek, and name it Terabithia. In this imaginary land, they're royalty. They can escape from the bullies and the boredom of fifth grade, and dream all they like. When the resident bully, Janice Avery, steals May Belle's Twinkies, Jess and Leslie get revenge on her by writing her a fake love letter and embarrassing her.

Most of the school year passes by. For Christmas, Jess gets Leslie a puppy, who becomes part of their kingdom in Terabithia. The two of them help Leslie's dad fix up their new home. When they find out Janice the bully is legitimately unhappy, they work together to comfort her.

By Easter, it's been raining really hard for a month and it's become more difficult to cross the creek to Terabithia. Leslie goes with Jess's family to church for Easter. After the service, Leslie and Jess, along with May Belle, argue about whether people go to hell if they don't believe in the Bible.

One day after Easter, Jess thinks it's too dangerous to go to Terabithia, with all of the rain that's been coming down. But he forgets all about it when the school music teacher, Miss Edmunds, calls and asks him to go with her to a museum. He goes and has one of the best days of his life. But when he comes home, he finds out that Leslie went to Terabithia without him and died when attempting to cross the creek.

At first, Jess can't believe it. Doesn't want to believe it. In meeting with Leslie's parents and spending time with her dog, he slowly begins to understand what he's lost…but also what he gained by having Leslie in his life at all. He goes to Terabithia to try and make sense of it, but his little sister follows him and almost falls into the creek herself. In rescuing her he realizes he's taken on some of Leslie's courage.

Later, Jess goes back to Terabithia and builds a bridge across the creek. When May Belle follows him again, he welcomes her to Terabithia and leads her across the bridge.




Paper Towns – John Green


John Green’s Paper Town, published by Dutton Juvenile in 2008, is a novel that plays off earlier themes in his works Looking for Alaska and An Abundance of Catherines.


Quentin Jacobsen is a seventeen-year-old living in an Orlando-area high school. He has been in love with his childhood best friend, Margo, his entire life. Quentin is an intelligent boy and Margo has a reputation for being tough and cool. When they were nine years old, he and Margo shared a discovery that changed their lives forever. While walking through a park, they found a named Robert Joyner who had killed himself. Since that night, he and Margo went separate ways. Fortunately, Quentin’s parents are therapists and other than that tragedy long ago, Quentin has lived a balanced and well-adjusted life with few risks and little drama.

A few weeks before high school graduation, Margo appears at Quentin’s window in the middle of the night. She asks him to accompany her on an all-nighter of pranks. Margo is on a litany of revenge that includes spray paint, blackmail, and breaking into Sea World. Quentin thinks that this night will bring he and Margo together again as friends. However, Margo runs away after their adventures.

Quentin turns to his friends Radar and Ben, and to Margo’s friend, Lacy, for help in an attempt to find her. They eventually skip their high school graduation and go on a cross-country trip to find or “save her.” Margo has left clues in a volume of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass in the hopes that he will find her. Along the way, Quentin realizes that Margo is not really the person that he thought he knew.

Reviewers note Green’s deft hand describing the social challenges of the culture in this part of Florida with its heat, overdevelopment, and temptations. Margo’s description of their town as “a paper town” is an apt metaphor: she describes a paper town as one with cul-de-sacs and streets that turn into themselves and houses that are meant to fall apart. Critics admire Green's memorable and unusual characters in this slice of Florida life.



Speak – Laurie Halse Anderson



This novel relates the story of a young girl in Syracuse, New York, who is brutally raped at a party given by one of her friends. She calls the police for help and they arrive to find only a teen party with illegal alcohol. Because none of her friends know about the rape, they believe she called the cops to bust them. As a result, they make her an Outcast. She spends her entire ninth-grade year coming to terms with happened to her and finding the voice she lost as a result of her trauma to tell the truth.




The Book Thief – Markus Zusak



Narrated by Death, The Book Thief is the story of Liesel Meminger, a nine-year-old German girl who given up by her mother to live with Hans and Rosa Hubermann in the small town of Molching in 1939, shortly before World War II. On their way to Molching, Liesel's younger brother Werner dies, and she is traumatized, experiencing nightmares about him for months. Hans is a gentle man who brings her comfort and helps her learn to read, starting with a book Liesel took from the cemetery where her brother was buried. Liesel befriends a neighborhood boy, Rudy Steiner, who falls in love with her. At a book burning, Liesel realizes that her father was persecuted for being a Communist, and that her mother was likely killed by the Nazis for the same crime. She is seen stealing a book from the burning by the mayor's wife Ilsa Hermann, who later invites Liesel to read in her library.



Keeping a promise he made to the man who saved his life, Hans agrees to hide a Jew named Max Vandenberg in his basement. Liesel and Max become close friends, and Max writes Liesel two stories about their friendship, both of which are reproduced in the novel. When Hans publicly gives bread to an old Jew being sent to a concentration camp, Max must leave, and Hans is drafted into the military at a time when air raids over major German cities were escalating in terms of frequency and fatality. Liesel next sees Max being marched towards the concentration camp at Dachau. Liesel loses hope and begins to disdain the written word, having learnt that Hitler's propaganda is to blame for the war and the Holocaust and the death of her biological family, but Ilsa encourages her to write. Liesel writes the story of her life in the Hubermanns' basement, where she miraculously survives an air raid that kills Hans, Rosa, Rudy, and everyone else on her block. Liesel survives the war, as does Max. She goes on to live a long life and dies at an old age.

Catcher in the Rye Review- Gabrielle Woolner

Catcher in the Rye is such an interesting read because, although it isn't everyone's cup of tea- 'I found myself really hating life as I read it...I thought it was tedious'- Judy's Notes- it holds the ability to spark debates and create controversy. It's brutally truthful portrayal of adolescence in the form of Holden's rebellious, insolent personality is both intriguing and fascinating as the reader is drawn into Holden's mind. Holden was born into the world not just powerfully fascinated by beauty but, almost, desperately impaled upon it.

A lot of teenagers may be able to relate to the many of the themes, such as identity, journey, coming-of-age and independence, which run throughout the book. In some ways it is an inspiring read because within Holden's confusion and inability to conform to society we find the message that we should always remain true to ourselves and optimistic. Salinger draws on his own experiences of adolescence, and we see in Holden his reclusive, out-of-place nature. Also in the resemblance of Holden's inability to stay at the same school, even 'Pencey Prep' is said to be modeled upon the all-male boarding school Salinger attended from which he eventually graduated named 'Valley Forge Military School'.

Salinger uses Holden's questioning of the Human Condition to create similar searching in the reader. Holden struggles with the Human Condition and this evokes empathy in the reader for him. The fact that we are only able to see his point of view also draws us close to him as a character, all our focus is on him and his way of thinking. There are many voices in this novel, children, adults, underlying morals but Holden’s is by far the most influential of them all. He struggles with the world around him and finds consolation in passing judgment on it. He constantly uses ‘phony’ to describe people who he perceives to be insincere and superficial; when actually it’s the way he dismisses these people into stereotypical, uncomplicated brackets that is very ‘phony’. Because of this it’s also quite hard for the reader to fully explore each character as every description is tainted with Holden’s pessimism and prejudice. He overpowers everyone else. The reader can see this flaw in Holden and it makes them conscious to look for a more complex perception instead of simply passing judgment, enquiring about the nature of our own lives and conduct.

Salinger has created ‘The Catcher in the Rye’ in such a way that it is impossible to fit it into any of Christopher Booker’s Seven Plots. There is no real event in the novel, and the book does not really lead us to any large revelation or epiphany, it is, if anything, a failed quest. Perhaps this is Salinger’s point though, those seven plots don’t exist in a real life journey and he has created a novel that is entirely based around the protagonist’s struggle with reality and identity in society.

Age of innocence novels

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is one of the most well-known coming of age novels. It depicts the growth and personal development of an orphan named Pip. This bildungsroman novel follows Pip from the pure age of seven until his mid-thirties. The story has one main point that takes time for Pip to realize, that no matter what happens to a person they always stay the same inside. Pip pulls further and further away from his roots, and who he was, trying to fit a mold he thought people desired.

Through his journey Pip learns that this type of change brings him no joy, if anything is presents the opposite. Dickens's novel portrays the fact that possessions and wealth cannot change who a person is inside, and that finding oneself can be a long, tiresome process. Pip abandons his humble roots and becomes harder to sympathize with as his snobbery and exhibition of ingratitude he display towards other characters. He loses his own set of values and priorities and instead tries to claim a new set, which is handed to him by society.

The theme of age of innocence can be seen throughout 'Holes' by Louis Sachar. The protagonist, Stanley Yelnats, is wrongly accused of stealing a pair of shoes donated by Basketball star Clyde 'Sweetfeat' Livingston to a charity auction. The shoes fell from above onto Stanley's head, but the judge refuses to believe this in court. Stanley doesn't blame the judge for his false conviction, arguably showing naivety and innocence, instead blaming the incident on the curse his 'no-good-dirty-rotten-pig-stealing-great-great-grandfather' left on the family. For Stanley his troubles are just a natural part of being a Yelnats.

Stanley takes his sentence of attendance at Camp Green Lake, and he believes it will be an easy sentence. Stanley has a positive view on the rest of the world, but Camp Green Lake is nothing like he thinks he is going. His blissful naivety and purity is broken. This bizarre, eerie place is nothing like Stanley has ever experienced. Camp Green Lake 's purpose is to 'build character' in the boys, they so this by making them dig holes, five feet wide and five feet deep, every day. It doesn't take long for Stanley's innocent mindset to deteriorate, and comes to the realization that more than just 'character building' is going on at Camp Greenlake. The warden is searching for something, and before long Stanley is creating his own search, one for the truth.

William Golding also creates a compelling coming of age story in 'Lord of the Flies'. The novel follows a group of ordinary school boys that become deserted on a coral island. At first it seems as though the boys will have great fun, but before long that world crumbles, and beneath it lays a much darker, primitive world of panic and death. At the beginning one of the main characters, Ralph, is an uncomplicated boy, having been shielded from the darkness the outside world can bring. He truly believes everyone is a forthright and authentic as himself. He is the natural leader of the group he is convinced that they will be rescued and while they are waiting they can have fun, on the 'good island'. As the novel progresses Ralph matures and comes to the realisation that everyone else is not as just and reliable as himself. Later Ralph's view that the island is good is undermined by all the talk of 'snake-things' and 'beasties'.

Ralph tries to build the shelters that he knows will be needed whilst the rest of the boys have fun hunting and swimming. Ralph tries to behave responsibly and set an example, as he thinks adults would. Jack hates Ralph, and behaves in the sort of underhand manner that Ralph never would. He understands the others behaviour of savages, but never joins in. He also accepts the fact that Jack must hunt him down and kill him, an adult-like understanding, of which he would never have been capable of at the start of the novel. At the end Ralph realises that Piggy, the unpopular and pitiful boy, was his only true friend, and he begins to morn his loss. He also cries for the loss of his own innocence and for the realisation that a darkness lies within the hearts of men.

 

Go ask Alice, The Body, Me and Emma - Age of innocence synopsis's

Go ask Alice - 'Anonymous' 

It seems within an unrestrained and darkly themed book, lies a story told from the diary of a young teenage girl. 
Humbling enough, at first the narrator expresses her thoughts on social acceptance, sexuality, crushes, and other concerns made by many young people experiencing the development of growing up, and by this girl in-particular, the process of moving, and finding acceptance in the midst of a new school. But, dramatic and unpleasant events occur after taking an LSD drug at a party.

This fictional account sends a girl inside a turmoil of abuse, crime, exploitation and corruption. 
Not only does this novel expose how drugs can have a strangely seductive pull to teenagers especially, it also outlines many troubling feelings that they experience; the reader can empathize with characters this way. Although this book is fictional,  it doesn't prevent depicting real life obstacles and struggles. 

The Body - Stephen King

In this novella - which was later developed to be a film in 1986 - the 'King of Horror' generates a story which reveals his strengths and versatility as a writer.
Four adolescent boys set out on a journey, initially from the sense of adventure and flurrying excitement, searching for what's rumored to be the place of a corpse; a boy recently killed presumably by a train.
What doesn't seem to be the case with these characters, or on such an obvious level of their understanding, is grasping the idea of how this experience will initiate their progress in maturing, and that they will be entering a world far away from childish, unrealistic dreams.

It seems through King's writing, the reader can recognize the narrator's (one of the boys, Gordon Lachance) perception as he looks back nostalgically on his childhood, although all four are surrounded by various abusive and dysfunctional environments, they all find comfort within the connection of love found between friends. This is where their true innocence lies; in the experience of friendship, they find each-others company in a journey more relevant and stimulating than the prospect of finding a body. Later, this only occurs to them when they meet death 'face to face', and is purposefully more disturbing by the boy being of similar age to them, acting like a reflection to their own mortality.

Me and Emma - Elizabeth Flock

Carrie, the narrator of this story, is an eight-year-old timid and introverted girl, who struggles along wit her little sister for survival with an unstable mother - damaged by her husband's murder - and an abusive, terrifying stepfather.
The contrast between now and her past is startling, before her father's death, their family in her perspective is illustrated in a pleasant and cheerful light, full of attentive love received from her father. Whilst now, the narrators mind is unsettled and confused by the world around her, highlighting how strongly young children can be affected by events in their lives, which could as a result, cause a dramatic change in their own attitudes, personality, and bearings on reality, as this all comes to a stand by as shocking and unexpected twist at the end of the novel.

Although unaware of it, Carrie begins her journey of discovery younger than perhaps most children, as the exposure to death and violence can drive the rate of revelation at a faster rate, but not necessarily a healthy one.  

'The Catcher in the Rye' review - Katy Merrett

During the 50’s Salinger wrote a novel that created a world of controversy and debate, only over time have we come to understand and explore the deeper meanings behind Salinger’s complex and troubled Holden Caulfield, who is exploring and discovering  the difficult world between childhood and adulthood. The experiences which we encounter in the book are what you could call ‘Rites of passage’ for a teenage life, though only reading through a 16 year olds perspective are we truly able to relate, understand and possibly agree with the choices made and consequences encountered.

“…Salinger creates a brash atmosphere from the very beginning of the book with Holden being portrayed as insolent, lazy and quite frankly, completely clueless about his future.” – Aiman.A, the Guardian.

Indeed to some extent we see the protagonist as ‘lazy’ but we also see how aware he is of his surroundings; his fascination with everyday information allows us to see that although on the surface juvenile and ‘clueless’ the protagonist is a deep thinker, able to see through to the wider world, this is conveyed through his amazement with the ducks.

The ‘brash’ atmosphere created hits us instantly with the possibly rude referral to David Copperfield’s way of writing, rather than knowing about a person, Salinger wants us to get to know the protagonist personally, thus giving us a clearer understanding of the events that happen and how the protagonist deals with them.

“Holden Caulfield is not likable – he is antagonistic, smokes incessantly, and uses foul language in nearly every sentence…” – Wendy, caribousmom.com

Agreeing with the negativity of this comment, with the protagonist’s constant blaspheming we may see that although sent to a ‘fancy Prep-school’ we are able to see the dark and misunderstood side of him that is partly covered by his unreliable narration. His ability to remember incidences and conversation that happened when he was ‘so drunk’ leads us to believe he is an unreliable narrator; we also only have emotions conveyed to us through the protagonist so we are left guessing as to what others think. I find, however, his extreme levels of confidence in certain situations allow us to see he can be ‘full of himself’ and possibly intimidatingly over confident.

Salinger has cleverly created a novel to which we find represents us, in one way or another. The simplistic lives of some characters within the novel allow us to reflect and see what else there could be as the protagonist advances our way of thinking to allow us to see that it’s okay to ask ‘why?’.  This human condition influences our lives daily and what I found I discovered is that the protagonist reminds us that although we may be here, we must be here for a reason, and therefore it is our duty to find out why no matter how much we slip up. 

Review of The Catcher in the Rye - Jodie Granger

Salinger appropriately composed this tale by using aspects of his teenage life to create a familiarity with the surroundings of his protagonist, including the setting, and a sense of displacement driven by his failures in several prep schools. The Catcher in the Rye offers so many traits that different readers can relate to. Often it's audience can sympathise with Holden's angst and teenage rebellion, and in some cases pity this character's 'madman' phase, which links to the 'coming of age' theme in literature, or 'Bildingsroman'.

"I share Caufield's contempt for 'phonies' as well as his sense of being different and loneliness..." - Jonathon Yardley, Washington Post
I think an important feature to the novel is this character's opinions and perceptions of other people and himself; on the subject of adolescence, at 16, this boy's unveiling to society and the adult world is explored and developed, which typically to most children, increases their understanding of the world around them. But to Holden it seems, increasingly through his journey, he experiences confusion and is openly clueless towards why certain things happen; questioning about the ducks, and his change of character when he's faced with the harsh reality of the prostitute, suggesting his trouble with accepting these new thoughts and events.

This all relates to the pursuit of maturity and understanding; to seeking the unknown truth seen within the style of a monomyth. But strangely, Salinger doesn't intend to depict a typically structured monomyth, instead he strips this style apart to something rather different, which could be seen as just about a "spoiled rich kid kicked out of a fancy prep school..." - Yardley

"Some have argued that Salinger's tale of the Human Condition is fascinating and enlightening, yet incredibly depressing." - Eric Lomazolf
I feel the protagonist continually suffers from the Human Condition, due to him beginning the stage of life where one starts to question the issue of 'purpose'. This could involve having a certain insight to religion, and in chapter 14, he argues how 'after he committed suicide...Jesus never sent old Judas to Hell' whilst the 'Disciples would've', he may understand that without Judas forming the role of betrayer, Jesus wouldn't be a Messiah, therefore it would be unfair sending him to Hell. Although Holden claims he's an 'atheist', he still understands that Jesus is a forgiving person.
It's also interesting how he questions the morals of religious beliefs, but still respects it, shown by using capital letters for pronouns in his narration; 'Disciples', 'He' etc.

Other features like this in the novel display how Holden is looking for understanding, whilst other characters are just conforming to their role in society, with material perspective. And through Holden's curious nature and explorations - like the scene with the cab driver - Salinger forces the reader to ask questions about our own lives, social systems, and human behavior.

Diving Belles by Lucy Wood - reviewed

Lucy Wood- Of Mothers and Little People review

This short story written by local author Lucy Wood is intriguing, to say the least. She has cleverly devised an original novel with a different almost haunting twist. Of Mothers and Little People is written in the third person, creating an almost supernatural feel of watching over and participating in the events.

Although interesting in structure, this story is in many ways confusing. At times this story is so complex, to the stage that you struggle to understand the full meaning of many of the vital parts. Its many elements fuse together, therefore creating a difficult read requiring you to concentrate at all times, which is not ideal. It lacks an apparent story line, with no obvious beginning or end, making the story drag. Once finished, in reflection, you realise you have no understanding of what has happened or what you have been reading about.

However, Lucy Wood uses many creative techniques. For example, she uses strong adjectives to help the reader understand and picture the scenarios more. She describes the events in depth including the minor details, bulking out the story. The explanation of the woods (in which we have no idea why or how she got there!), caught our attention: “The trees are in the last glorious stages of autumn colour. The ground is wet and there is moss everywhere, pushing up in thick cushions.” The vivid description makes the story a better read and shows the true talent of Wood’s articulate skills. Wood also uses a variety of punctuation, breaking up the story and adding to the drama.

Even though Wood uses impressive vocabulary and an interesting structure, this story doesn’t really appeal to our taste in literature. Nevertheless, anyone can appreciate the hard work and different, more modern approach to short stories that she uses. We believe that she is an inspiration to us, as the younger generation, coming from a similar background, proving that determination and perseverance can reach high goals.

Keep an eye on Lucy Wood as she progresses into a well renowned author. 

By Charlotte Whitfield and Ellie Townsend

Of Mothers and Little People

Review By Ryan Grigg

How does this story make me feel? Mystified? Engaged? Somewhat confused? In fact Of Mothers and Little People by Lucy Wood brings out its own world of thoughts, feelings and emotions. Whether this is through her vivid discussion of a seemingly usual family home, but with an air of mystery; through the creation of a wonderfully unusual and sometimes mystical group of characters; and through a tale that only the most imaginative mind could have thought of; whatever your tastes, there is always something exiting and unexpected around the corner when you send your mind into a rollercoaster of a story; this is like nothing you’ve ever read before.

<!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]-->The story tells the tale of young lady who returns to what she thinks is her mother’s ordinary home. However, with the help of some magical cleansing product, she enters herself into an adventure with hallucinations and a walk on the wild side. Lucy Wood has the upmost ability to enter a style of writing that can only be compared with Cornish myths and legends of old.

As I am not a huge fan of this particular genre, I was quietly pessimistic about this story. I didn’t expect to be enthralled in the way that I was. At every stage of the tale I was expecting something magical to happen. But these events did not occur in a way that you would have expected. At some points of the story a may have become slightly confused with the way that the tale would twist and turn, but then I thought that that might be the whole point of the story: to take you on a rollercoaster ride in just a collection of intriguing paragraphs. This story has obviously not been made just to please one’s mind, but to challenge it with its mystical plot twists and the beautifully captivating setting.

In summary, this mythical tale of fantasy and wonder is something that I was pessimistic about to begin with, but having read it, I now feel as if I have just left an exciting rollercoaster of a tale that really challenges the mind with its high level of mystery and imagination.   

Review on Lucy Wood’s

“Of Mothers and Little People”

I am intrigued by Lucy Wood’s tale “Of Mothers and Little People”. It differs from anything I have read before. The story to me has no beginning or end; it simply fades in and out of existence. Whether this is fitting for a short story such as this I do not know, however, the story we are left with is clearly kept there for a reason.

Lucy Wood writes in a descriptive and creative style that has the ability to explain something in a very short space of time. This ability is cherished by authors of short stories such as this.  Her description pays attention to every single detail, giving us a clear image of what happens within this tale. The author uses expressive adjectives and definitive language techniques to survey her point across to us.

Lucy Wood’s creativity is also displayed predominantly in this story. The tale tells us of a mother and daughter’s relationship and the problems they face when the daughter’s father finds a new partner. However, the mother of this story has a secret weapon of her own. She has a magical cleansing product of some kind that when rubbed over the eyes causes you to see much more than you could with the naked eye. For this magical item gives you the ability to see a man, wearing a green waistcoat. This man and the mother clearly have some sort of love interest. This imagination displayed by Lucy Wood in her story shows she is clearly very thoughtful and talented individual.

To conclude, Lucy Wood’s tale contains everything a good and thrilling read should but personally I prefer a solid beginning and end to a story, but perhaps that is just me being picky!

By Joseph Ward