The Tar Man
Sep. 30th, 2007 02:09 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lady_schrapnell1 slightly demented Lady-Schrapnell with serious headache
+ 1 Firefox/Bloglines crash
+ a Saturday afternoon
- food
=
+ 1 industrial strength headache
+
The first picture is of a rather spur-of-the-moment project cast-on, when I couldn't stand looking at the computer any more and the second represents having finished reading Linda Buckley-Archer's The Tar Man. I could just barely manage to read at first (the headache, not the book!) but it got better. It's very difficult to know how to write about this, as anyone who's read Gideon the Cutpurse will no doubt be eager to read The Tar Man, and conversely, you'd really want to read Gideon before The Tar Man. So behind the cut, a bit of discussion that's spoiler-free for The Tar Man (though it makes it even harder to say anything significant) but not for Gideon.
It really is difficult to talk about this without spoiling anything, but I'm now fortifying myself for the task with strong tea and spicy apple cake. And anyway, anyone who liked Gideon, as I said, is going to want to read this, and will do so with or without my saying anything remotely interesting about it.
Definitely, no middle-book drag here, at any rate! Sticking with what's on the back jacket - which is fine spoiler-wise IMO - Peter was unintentionally left in the 18th century at the end of the last book, as people will most likely not have forgotten, and in this, Kate is determined to attempt a rescue. The varied adult reasons for not allowing her (or for not trying themselves) make sense, but that's not going to stop her. So she turns to Peter's father for help. Their return to the 18th century to rescue Peter is not immediately successful (surprise!), but forms only one strand of the story. The adventures of the Tar Man in 21st century London form quite a substantial part, and he picks up (well, rescues, but don't let that mislead you into thinking he's a totally changed character) a guide to modern life in Anjali, a teenaged petty thief. And this time, we also end up going to revolutionary France (but I won't mention with whom, as that might come too close to a spoiler).
It's funny, when I heard Linda Buckley-Archer talk (at the IBBY conference last year), she read a passage from The Tar Man, which described the Tar Man's reaction to modern London, and I thought it was fantastic. I still thought it fantastic in context, but the parts with him were generally my least favourites. In fact, overall, I'd probably say I liked this one less than the last, but thought it at least as impressive, and possibly more so. That's entirely personal, of course, and mostly relates to the fact that I liked the sections of Gideon with the children in the 18th century the best, and the 20th century adult ones less. The 18th century is still fantastically well done, and there are a few new characters there who are equally wonderful, but the *spoiler* means there's less of what I loved the most in Gideon.
That's the thing about this book - she's really pushed the edge of possibilities in the treatment of time-travel, especially in a book for kids. I found myself thinking 'Oh, no, she didn't?' several times in the first couple of chapters, and found out that indeed she had. I can't begin to imagine where the third book will take (or leave) the characters. But the loss of one delight is the gain of thought-provoking time-travel ideas, and I'll definitely be getting hold of the next (last?) book as soon as I can.
+ 1 Firefox/Bloglines crash
+ a Saturday afternoon
- food
=
+ 1 industrial strength headache
+
The first picture is of a rather spur-of-the-moment project cast-on, when I couldn't stand looking at the computer any more and the second represents having finished reading Linda Buckley-Archer's The Tar Man. I could just barely manage to read at first (the headache, not the book!) but it got better. It's very difficult to know how to write about this, as anyone who's read Gideon the Cutpurse will no doubt be eager to read The Tar Man, and conversely, you'd really want to read Gideon before The Tar Man. So behind the cut, a bit of discussion that's spoiler-free for The Tar Man (though it makes it even harder to say anything significant) but not for Gideon.
It really is difficult to talk about this without spoiling anything, but I'm now fortifying myself for the task with strong tea and spicy apple cake. And anyway, anyone who liked Gideon, as I said, is going to want to read this, and will do so with or without my saying anything remotely interesting about it.
Definitely, no middle-book drag here, at any rate! Sticking with what's on the back jacket - which is fine spoiler-wise IMO - Peter was unintentionally left in the 18th century at the end of the last book, as people will most likely not have forgotten, and in this, Kate is determined to attempt a rescue. The varied adult reasons for not allowing her (or for not trying themselves) make sense, but that's not going to stop her. So she turns to Peter's father for help. Their return to the 18th century to rescue Peter is not immediately successful (surprise!), but forms only one strand of the story. The adventures of the Tar Man in 21st century London form quite a substantial part, and he picks up (well, rescues, but don't let that mislead you into thinking he's a totally changed character) a guide to modern life in Anjali, a teenaged petty thief. And this time, we also end up going to revolutionary France (but I won't mention with whom, as that might come too close to a spoiler).
It's funny, when I heard Linda Buckley-Archer talk (at the IBBY conference last year), she read a passage from The Tar Man, which described the Tar Man's reaction to modern London, and I thought it was fantastic. I still thought it fantastic in context, but the parts with him were generally my least favourites. In fact, overall, I'd probably say I liked this one less than the last, but thought it at least as impressive, and possibly more so. That's entirely personal, of course, and mostly relates to the fact that I liked the sections of Gideon with the children in the 18th century the best, and the 20th century adult ones less. The 18th century is still fantastically well done, and there are a few new characters there who are equally wonderful, but the *spoiler* means there's less of what I loved the most in Gideon.
That's the thing about this book - she's really pushed the edge of possibilities in the treatment of time-travel, especially in a book for kids. I found myself thinking 'Oh, no, she didn't?' several times in the first couple of chapters, and found out that indeed she had. I can't begin to imagine where the third book will take (or leave) the characters. But the loss of one delight is the gain of thought-provoking time-travel ideas, and I'll definitely be getting hold of the next (last?) book as soon as I can.
