Goodreads Ireland discussion

I am very happy that this was chosen as our quarterly read. I'm not usually a big fan of fantasy but this is great. I've never read Narnia so I have no idea of how it compares but I have read the Jasper Fforde series about Thursday Next The Eyre Affair. I loved the idea then that the characters in books had lives outside of the printed text. I had to laugh at the books in The Book of Lost Things expressing their opinions of the doctor.
I just finished the part where David left Snow White and the seven Dwarfs. How funny.

I liked the Thursday Next books as well but I would see this as something a bit different. The emohasis here is on the power of stories and imagination. Not that Jasper Ffordes ideas arent similar in some ways and both are very interesting concepts

oh, I agree. They are for the most part very different. The idea of the books expressing opinions was what reminded me of the characters in the Thursday Next series.

The Dwarfs are hilarious though ☺

Definitely. Its almost all dark from that point on

I have to say I was disappointed in this book. It was a perfectly solid story, and I connected with David and his sense of loss. Somehow though, after all the glowing reviews, I was expecting more. I liked the focus on the power of stories and imagination, but feel that both Neil Gaiman and Catherynne M. Valente's work explores the same ideas and is much better.

Neil Gaiman does power of Imagination and belief better than anyone.
I like Connollys approach and how good David is as a character. Too often stories like this the main character is a passenger

I actually wished there had more of the "real world." Emma. I think for me that would have strengthened the coming of age tale.

I also think perhaps he tried to cram in allusions to too many fairy tales for my tastes. I think for me it would have been a stronger work if included fewer of them.

Sara, I think the real world comes through in the modern adaptions of the fairytales. For instance the homosexual knights and the legal arrangement between Snow White and the dwarves. Perhaps his reasoning for not involving the actual real world further was that it might complicate the story when he wanted it to remain simple, which is what a fairytale should be.
Sidenote, have you ever read the graphic novel Fables, Sara?

Kevin wrote: "Sara, I think the real world comes through in the modern adaptions of the fairytales. For instance the homosexual knights and the legal arrangement between Snow White and the dwarves. Perhaps his r..."

By real world I should clarify that I meant that I wish we had seen more of his relationship with his family at the beginning of the novel, before we launched into the fairy tale world, and perhaps a bit more at the end to see how being there had changed him. I love Fables although I'm hopeless behind. Pan's Labyrinth is another great work (although much darker). In that I particularly like that they go back and forth in between the two worlds.

I think the reason David escapes to the fairy tale world is because he isn't coping with life at home. His mother, who introduced him to books, is dead and his father can't comfort him. I don't think there was much more of a story to tell. The characters he meets teach him the life lessons he needs to face life when he returns to the real world.

I thought that the fantasy world David was in was really a sort of holding area while he decided to live or die because his actually body was in a coma .The characters in his books helped him see life isn't always what it seems but it's worth living.Maybe I read to much into it but i loved it.

You're possibly close to the mark Colleen☺

Thanks :)

I think it might be worth asking him the next time he is signing at work.

I would love to know his answer .Does he do book signing often? I never heard about him until this group.Now I'm hooked!

Colleen. He is the nicest guy at a book signing . He tends to do one a year at least in The Gutter book shop or nearby theater as well as showing his face at events. We had a great chat with him at a few of these and he has time for all his fans. Considering how gruesome some of his work is hes a really nice cheerful guy

The lads at work say the same as Paul. Every time he has done a signing he always goes out for coffee with some of the staff afterwards.

I'm so jealous :) I would love to meet him at a signing ...some day maybe.

Its worth it

I wonder if he does book signing in America...

He does . Check out his website . He does a few tours

Thanks I just did and he's done for the year so I'll wait until next year ;)

I meant to comment on this earlier but I guess I only did a review. Oops! I loved this book. David was a wonderful character and the fairy tale people he encountered...just amazing. Much like everyone else, I loved the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs the best. Picturing the princess as an overweight bully who scares off princes had me laughing the whole way through. I had forgotten how dark fairy tales really are. I think we are all used to the sanitized version that Walt Disney gave us. I also thought it was interesting that Connelly didn't give David the typical happy ending when he woke from the coma, since his father and step mother divorced. Although he did maintain a relationship with her until she died. This was a wonderful book!

It is dark but not completely bleak. A certain realism to the end wraps it up niclely

I agree, Paul. I think realistic is a good word for this book.

Despite the depth of the fantasy side ☺

The fantasy is very realistic to me! :)

Your mind is a wonderful place then ☺

That is a paradox if ever I saw one, Donna! :D

Yes, I'm never lonely in MY mind!

☺

I just finished it. I really enjoyed it, and I completely agree with what Donna wrote.