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There are many stories about warped or slightly skewed fairy tales. This is certainly one of them, but not quite.
The most important difference is of course the quality of writing. This is my first experience with John Connolly, but it will decidedly not be my last. He has a eye for imagery and a gentle but persistent grasp on plot. This man knows how to tell a good story.
The second reason is that the warping of the classic tales in this story are not for political purposes (don’t tell that to the communist 7 dwarfs though). Or for simply humorous ones (although it is quite humorous at times). It is for one simple reason: The characters themselves made it that way. Each of the monsters and magical perversions in this world is someone’s fear, based in the foundation of sometimes horrific children’s tales. The rulers of this kingdom are stolen children, trapped in a world they don’t know or understand. They make sense of it the best way they can - through the lens of tales they grew up on.
OK, I have an assignment for you.
Go out to the bookstore or library.
Get The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear.
Read it, preferably aloud, to a loved one.
Finished?
Good, now that you’ve had a little taste of Moers, you’re probably good and soundly addiction. Go straight back out and get Rumo (sorry, I should have told you that the first time).
I’m not a fan of sequels, and thankfully this one is not. You will see recurring characters and creatures from Blue Bear, but you will not see (at least I haven’t so far) Blue Bear himself. For the uninitiated, this tale of Zamonia will seem like a bunch of nonsensical balderdash.
Readers of Blue Bear will know it’s a bunch of nonsensical balderdash.
I’ve never been one for “studying” literature. Dissecting plot lines, themes and social context doesn’t really inspire me. That is the main reason why I never pursued a degree in English Literature, despite my passion for reading it. I didn’t want to make it work.
My senior year in high school AP English is a perfect illustration. We studied a lot of works that year (1984, Canterbury Tales, and Macbeth to name a few). The total number of pages I read can be calculated easily - zero. How did I pass? My class was filled with the smartest of the smart kids that year (one major exception being my friend Christine who, I suspect for communist reasons, opted out of AP for regular English class *gasp*) and all I had to do was let them start the discussion and take their talking points a bit further down the road.
I’ve never been haunted by the ghosts of AP English past, and I’ve never taken the time to read the books I should have read ten years ago. In fact, I always felt as if I had already read Pride and Prejudice. It’s such a famous book that it’s wormed its way, Jungian style, into the literary and popular culture (see it referenced in the movie You’ve Got Mail). Between the BBC version, the new Keira Knightly movie and the pervasive Bridget Jones I’m sure everyone feels it would be a bother to actually open the pages. We already know the story.
