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| The Book of Lost Things | 
 enlarge | Author: John Connolly
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £12.99
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £12.98 (100%)
New (15) from £0.59
Avg. Customer Rating:  72 reviews
Sales Rank: 22397
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.2
Dimensions (in): 8.6 x 5.5 x 1.3
ISBN: 0340899468
EAN: 9780340899465
ASIN: 0340899468
Publication Date: September 7, 2006
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: **UK SHIPPED**SWIFT RELIABLE SERVICE** With friendly customer care! "Buy with confidence, Buy Book EcoLOGICal"
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| Customer Reviews: Read 67 more reviews...
 Fairytales for the wicked.... November 14, 2008
It takes a little getting into but once it does you find it hard to put down. Very chilling in places (depending on how much you let your imagination run with this one) I found myself thinking about this book when I wasn't reading it.
A big bonus for me is authors notes at the back of the book - I wish all books come with this type of editorial background work.
 The Book of The Lost 150 Pages!!! August 25, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
David mourns the loss of his mother, doesn't get on with the step-mother and resents the new baby. Engrossed in his books of fairytales he is eventually transported to a mythical landscape where all the fairy-tales exist, be it mostly the dark side of these characters.
The more I read it, the more I wanted to find out what happens, and the bloodthirsty scenarios came thick and fast.
The incredible thing is that at page 348 it appeared that the story was coming to a premature end, the book being 502 pages.
The darndest thing - it HAD come to the end!!!!!!!!!
The remaining 150 pages were all about the origins of various fairytales and how they were used in Connolly's story.
What a swiz!!
 i couldn't finish it August 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
way too creepy. fantastical is good but this is just a series of ugly spoofs on childhood fairytales. the plot is quite weak to justify the writing (and the reading) of a full novel. the narrative is quite devoid of any writing style or uniqueness. i am not the one to put aside a novel very easily, but this was one of the rare times when i did.
A cracking read! August 16, 2008
Minor spoilers here!
I've just finished reading this again in preparation for discussion at our next book club meeting. This has to be up there with my all time favourite books and has led me on all sorts of literary paths including properly reading Browning's `Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came'. The Book of Lost Things is essentially a `coming of age book' and I suspect a very much it is a male coming of age book, I am interested to see what why all female book club members make of it!
I'm not going to dwell on the story itself other than to say I defy anyone to not shed a tear in the last chapter. There are lots of interesting reviews of the main story on this site both positive and negative (ignore the ones who couldn't even be bothered to finish the book - if you don't read it, don't publish a review!). I thought however I'd offer some thoughts on the other aspect the book.
Unusually for a novel the last third of the book is a Q&A session with author and a retelling on many of the original fairly tales it draws on, particularly those gathered by the brothers Grimm. I found the interview, re-reading the fairly tales I last read to my own sons many years ago and the author's comments on source material gave a fascinating insight into the authors though processes and the wider cultural norms of European culture that shape us as we grow. Who has not met their own version of the `crooked man' in their childhood dreams?
Given the wide ranging exploration of the key themes in this section of the book my only minor gripe was the omission of any discussions around David's (the protagonist of the story) response to the sexuality of his mentor/protector Roland. I suspect all male children struggle with developing confidence in their own sexuality and accepting the sexuality of others. This is a key theme in this part of the story and to ignore it is the later discussion was a disappointment.
All in all a cracking read that can be enjoyed and discussed at many levels.
Book of pretty good August 7, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I bought this on a whim when i was desperate to read something and the cover and blurb sold me. It does have a stunning cover, kudos due to the designers.
I was pretty happy with my impulse purchase. Though not bitingly original, skewed versions of fairy tales have long been a staple of student writing and drama, this was a well written enjoyable read.
Dealing as it does with themes of bereveament and the onset of puberty as well as drawing paralells with fairy tales and fantastical worlds, this book can be considered a reasonable success. However it scratches surfaces too often when deeper exploration was desired. It feels, at times, that the author was overly cautious and dipped his toe rather than dived in.
Some elements, such as the Snow White segment are merely re-jigs of well explored variants of the tale.
That said, the book moves along at a brisk pace and is an enjoyable read. I got through it comfortably in a few days of evening reading and, whilst it would be untrue to say that i was terribly sorry it had ended, i was left satisfied and entertained. Very often that is all you want from a book after all. So, for a diverting,disposable read i would suggest that you could find much, much worse.
Could be a good one for Book clubs. Also, it had a number of authors essays at the end, along with a selection of original fairy tales. A very nice touch and much appreciated by this reader.
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