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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
lighthearted
reflective
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Being someone who loves fairy tales of all kinds, I have to say this was just wonderful. There was nothing earth shattering about the story, nothing big happens, but it was just lovely and fun to listen to (I listened on audio). I would love to read this to my kids someday.
I listened to this on LibriVox.
I heard this book mentioned by an author writing about the genre of fantasy from medieval literature to the modern age. It struck me as unusual and interesting, so I gave it a shot.
I am, perhaps, being too harsh. This book was written in 1872, and it was written for children. It is much better put together than most fairy tales of the era (there are multiple podcasts talking about how ridiculous the plots of old fairy tales tend to be). But still.
I'll discuss some aspects of the plot, so BEWARE SPOILERS.
The title is rather misleading. This isn't about one princess interacting with one goblin. In fact, I don't think the princess ever meets a goblin. Most of her activity in the book is about interacting with her great-great-grandmother. It isn't explicitly said, but it would appear that Grandmother is a ghost with magical powers, mostly illusions. I was always expecting a dark twist there that never came.
The princess also seems fixated on giving the other protagonist - one could argue the true main character of the book - a kiss. She is 8 years old. Curdie, a miner and the son of a miner, is old enough to work in the mines, to work alone in the mines at night, and to run off and spy on and fight goblins all on his own. His parents are fully aware of his activities and don't think to raise any concerns or suggest someone - like, I don't know, his father? - accompany him on these escapades. I was assuming he was 16-24 years old. A Google search suggests he is 13.
This book revolves around a castle, the mine and miners, and the goblins. The goblins feel oppressed by "the sun people" and want to strike back against them, attaining a military victory and gaining their independence by... kidnapping and marrying the 8 year old princess. I'm not clear on exactly how that is supposed to help them, especially given their abhorrence of the human appearance.
Goblins don't have toes. They all go barefoot, except their queen, and think toes are hideous and disgusting. I'm a little confused about whether they have fingers or not. Apparently their goblin king once had a human bride, for some reason, and she wore shoes to hide her toes. Ever since then, their goblin queens have worn shoes. The current goblin queen wears, not glass slippers, but shoes made of granite. That can't be comfortable. The shoes aren't just traditional; she has toes! It's not explained how or why this happens. The crown prince is half-human, but this appears to have no effect on him whatsoever except for giving him three toes (total, across both feet). He does not wear shoes.
Again, it's all very odd. What stands out as interesting and clever about it are two traits of the goblins:
1) they have very hard heads, but weak feet. If you fight a goblin, stomp on their feet, that's their achilles heel.
2) they hate singing or poetry. That's a good way to drive them away if they aren't too motivated.
I heard this book mentioned by an author writing about the genre of fantasy from medieval literature to the modern age. It struck me as unusual and interesting, so I gave it a shot.
I am, perhaps, being too harsh. This book was written in 1872, and it was written for children. It is much better put together than most fairy tales of the era (there are multiple podcasts talking about how ridiculous the plots of old fairy tales tend to be). But still.
I'll discuss some aspects of the plot, so BEWARE SPOILERS.
The title is rather misleading. This isn't about one princess interacting with one goblin. In fact, I don't think the princess ever meets a goblin. Most of her activity in the book is about interacting with her great-great-grandmother. It isn't explicitly said, but it would appear that Grandmother is a ghost with magical powers, mostly illusions. I was always expecting a dark twist there that never came.
The princess also seems fixated on giving the other protagonist - one could argue the true main character of the book - a kiss. She is 8 years old. Curdie, a miner and the son of a miner, is old enough to work in the mines, to work alone in the mines at night, and to run off and spy on and fight goblins all on his own. His parents are fully aware of his activities and don't think to raise any concerns or suggest someone - like, I don't know, his father? - accompany him on these escapades. I was assuming he was 16-24 years old. A Google search suggests he is 13.
This book revolves around a castle, the mine and miners, and the goblins. The goblins feel oppressed by "the sun people" and want to strike back against them, attaining a military victory and gaining their independence by... kidnapping and marrying the 8 year old princess. I'm not clear on exactly how that is supposed to help them, especially given their abhorrence of the human appearance.
Goblins don't have toes. They all go barefoot, except their queen, and think toes are hideous and disgusting. I'm a little confused about whether they have fingers or not. Apparently their goblin king once had a human bride, for some reason, and she wore shoes to hide her toes. Ever since then, their goblin queens have worn shoes. The current goblin queen wears, not glass slippers, but shoes made of granite. That can't be comfortable. The shoes aren't just traditional; she has toes! It's not explained how or why this happens. The crown prince is half-human, but this appears to have no effect on him whatsoever except for giving him three toes (total, across both feet). He does not wear shoes.
Again, it's all very odd. What stands out as interesting and clever about it are two traits of the goblins:
1) they have very hard heads, but weak feet. If you fight a goblin, stomp on their feet, that's their achilles heel.
2) they hate singing or poetry. That's a good way to drive them away if they aren't too motivated.
adventurous
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
lighthearted
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No