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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
Yet another book about WWII, well the effects of WWII anyway. While this is fiction, it does seem to tell the factual story about the Nazis and their rampage over degenerate art: art created by Jews, homosexuals, modernists and pretty much anybody else that Hitler and Goebbels didn't approve. (I also read wikipedia about the subject.) I really liked the book. And some of the art is pretty cool too.
Hm. I am normally a huge fan of E.L. Konigsburg but frankly, I'm mystified by this book. First of all, I do not think it should have been labeled or sold as a Children's or Juvenile book. It seems much more Young Adult. I work extensively with young kids, and I don't know any, never mind two, that act like the sixth graders in this book. I didn't hate it, but I didn't love it. I'm just mystified by the whole thing, and I hate that feeling.
A lot of parts confused me, and some I still don't understand. I still think this should be for a more "mature" audience. I think the plot could have been executed better, but the character development was nice.
Let's play a little game. Before you sits an E. L. Konigsburg book of unknown name, and it is your job to guess it. (I realize this is a review on Goodreads, and the title is clearly visible, but be a sport and play along for a minute, will you?)
What is this mysterious story about, you ask? Well...
1) A lost piece of art by a great artist
2) Establishing provenance for said piece of art by said great artist
3) Two precocious children who solve the mystery with the help of an eccentric elderly lady
4) Children doing things that they are not supposed to be doing in museums
"Oh, oh!" You stand and flap your arms excitedly, screaming. "I know! It's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler! Now we can stop playing this stupid game!"
You are incorrect. We must continue with the stupid game, so please sit back down and listen carefully. This book is about...
5) Secret friendships between a group of outsiders
6) Exploration of identity and heritage, focused around a character who is half Jewish, whose parents are recently divorced, and who has moved to a new town
7) A zaftig, older woman who runs the show
8) An intriguing, artsy title that only slightly ties in to the actual plot of the book
"I think I have it!" you say with only slightly less enthusiasm than last time. "Is it The View From Saturday?"
Um, nope. Sorry. Let's see if we can get through the rest of the list. This book is also about...
9) Homosexuality
10) Nazi Germany
11) The treatment of both homosexuals and Jews in Germany
12) Jokes about sex (I guess this isn't totally surprising, considering that the plot revolves around a drawing of a nude woman, BUT STILL)
13) Class and wealth-based distinctions/prejudices
14) Homophobia
This, my friend is The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World. If you are prepared to be dazzled by the brilliance and uniqueness of E. L. Konigsburg, this is not the book for you. It's not that it isn't a well-written and compelling read, it's just that SO MUCH of the plot and characterization was familiar, and I'm not an E. L. Konigsburg expert by any stretch of the imagination (this is only the fourth book that I've read by her... Ever. In addition to this book and the two listed above, I've also read The Second Mrs. Giaconda, which I remember absolutely nothing about except the ending which I'm not sharing here because no one likes a #spoiler). Of the "new" elements listed above, I felt that most of them were either inappropriate for the age group (I mean, seriously, there were SO MANY sex jokes, and this is in the children's section of my library!) or a tad overdone/melodramatic. The exception to this was the discussion of the treatment of homosexuals and Jews in Nazi Germany, which I thought was extremely well done. Honestly, that part of the book is what made me decide to give it two stars instead of one.
I realize the previous paragraph sounds a little harsh. I don't feel harshly toward this book. I just feel... Meh. And I'm disappointed, because this deals with heavy subjects, has quirky characters, and overall had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Unfortunately, I didn't close this book and bask in the warm glow of feeling, thought, and inspiration that follows a really good read. Instead, I closed the book and wondered how much champagne Konigsburg drank during the course of writing this book to make her think that that many references to sex were appropriate for her 10-14 year-old audience. I think this means I might have outgrown the wonder I first felt when I read E. L. Konigsburg those many years ago. This might be because I'm and adult, and therefore not super excited by the fact that she's giving me glimpses into the adult world. Or, it could just be that this book isn't as good as her Newbery winners, but is instead a weird conglomeration of them with several hard-hitting adult themes mixed in. It's hard to tell. All I know for sure is that this book really wasn't for me.
What is this mysterious story about, you ask? Well...
1) A lost piece of art by a great artist
2) Establishing provenance for said piece of art by said great artist
3) Two precocious children who solve the mystery with the help of an eccentric elderly lady
4) Children doing things that they are not supposed to be doing in museums
"Oh, oh!" You stand and flap your arms excitedly, screaming. "I know! It's From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankenweiler! Now we can stop playing this stupid game!"
You are incorrect. We must continue with the stupid game, so please sit back down and listen carefully. This book is about...
5) Secret friendships between a group of outsiders
6) Exploration of identity and heritage, focused around a character who is half Jewish, whose parents are recently divorced, and who has moved to a new town
7) A zaftig, older woman who runs the show
8) An intriguing, artsy title that only slightly ties in to the actual plot of the book
"I think I have it!" you say with only slightly less enthusiasm than last time. "Is it The View From Saturday?"
Um, nope. Sorry. Let's see if we can get through the rest of the list. This book is also about...
9) Homosexuality
10) Nazi Germany
11) The treatment of both homosexuals and Jews in Germany
12) Jokes about sex (I guess this isn't totally surprising, considering that the plot revolves around a drawing of a nude woman, BUT STILL)
13) Class and wealth-based distinctions/prejudices
14) Homophobia
This, my friend is The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World. If you are prepared to be dazzled by the brilliance and uniqueness of E. L. Konigsburg, this is not the book for you. It's not that it isn't a well-written and compelling read, it's just that SO MUCH of the plot and characterization was familiar, and I'm not an E. L. Konigsburg expert by any stretch of the imagination (this is only the fourth book that I've read by her... Ever. In addition to this book and the two listed above, I've also read The Second Mrs. Giaconda, which I remember absolutely nothing about except the ending which I'm not sharing here because no one likes a #spoiler). Of the "new" elements listed above, I felt that most of them were either inappropriate for the age group (I mean, seriously, there were SO MANY sex jokes, and this is in the children's section of my library!) or a tad overdone/melodramatic. The exception to this was the discussion of the treatment of homosexuals and Jews in Nazi Germany, which I thought was extremely well done. Honestly, that part of the book is what made me decide to give it two stars instead of one.
I realize the previous paragraph sounds a little harsh. I don't feel harshly toward this book. I just feel... Meh. And I'm disappointed, because this deals with heavy subjects, has quirky characters, and overall had SO MUCH POTENTIAL. Unfortunately, I didn't close this book and bask in the warm glow of feeling, thought, and inspiration that follows a really good read. Instead, I closed the book and wondered how much champagne Konigsburg drank during the course of writing this book to make her think that that many references to sex were appropriate for her 10-14 year-old audience. I think this means I might have outgrown the wonder I first felt when I read E. L. Konigsburg those many years ago. This might be because I'm and adult, and therefore not super excited by the fact that she's giving me glimpses into the adult world. Or, it could just be that this book isn't as good as her Newbery winners, but is instead a weird conglomeration of them with several hard-hitting adult themes mixed in. It's hard to tell. All I know for sure is that this book really wasn't for me.
I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I generally like E. L. Konigsburg's narration style, and this was no exception: I wish I could describe things as cleverly as she does! But on the other hand, Dickensian everyone's-connected-to-everyone-else plots don't really cut it for me, and a lot of the characters were unlikable a lot of the time. I also felt that the characters were not always described in a way that matched how they were written—how many times did I hear that Mrs. Vanderwaal "turns away anger" before meeting her and finding that she infuriates everyone around her, including me? And I think the plot could generally have been tightened up, giving the main perspectives in the story equal treatment. But overall, I enjoyed "The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World," and I'd recommend it for a light read.
I wanted to love this - and I nearly did - but in the end I have to agree with another review I read and say that it's best for fans of Konigsburg, but not a great to be introduced to her. It has familiar elements - kids who know things and are passionate about them, eccentricities, art, some history. In the end, I didn't feel like all of the plotlines held together well enough. The story of the brothers in the Netherlands didn't resonate with the story of the boys in Florida. Peter's character seemed to only exist to provide background information about 'degenerate art' - and to tenuously link us to the story of his father.
All of that said, I enjoyed reading the book. I like Konigsburg's style and approach to character. Although I've heard complaints about how her characters don't sound like children, they feel to me like being a child felt. Like Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Kongisburg is someone I've read as a child and as an adult, and at both times their characters possess some essence of being a child and how a child interacts with the world.
All of that said, I enjoyed reading the book. I like Konigsburg's style and approach to character. Although I've heard complaints about how her characters don't sound like children, they feel to me like being a child felt. Like Zilpha Keatley Snyder, Kongisburg is someone I've read as a child and as an adult, and at both times their characters possess some essence of being a child and how a child interacts with the world.
Another good book by Konigsburg. 6th grader Amedeo is new to town, and becomes friends with William in his neighborhood when they work together to prepare an eccentric old lady's stuff for a house sale. Amedeo wants to "discover" something, and he does find an old sketch from an artist who was banned by Hitler during World War II. The sketch may be connected to Amedeo's godfather, Peter, whose father has just died and left him a box of mementos. The story of the drawing is slowly revealed, along with the histories of the adults and the story of "degenerate" art--art that the Nazis didn't like and so they stole it, burned it, banned it, etc. Very interesting, although I'm not sure how much it will appeal to today's teen who isn't already interested in art and history. Hopefully they will be surprised and like it!
When I came across this unknown-to-me audio book on Overdrive, I decided to give it a try. I was hoping it would be something like From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler, but that was not the case. Yes, both books are about an older woman's treasure and involve young people, but the resemblance ends there. This one is all over the map in terms of the writing and content (Nazis, Hitler and degenerate art, stolen art, opera, estate liquidation ...) and the real mystery is who the target audience might be (or even should be). When a book includes "from a glance inside her robe it was clear that Mrs. Zender was not a natural blonde", I don't think that is really meant for ten-year-olds. I expected some quirkiness from Konigsburg, but just found The Mysterious Edge of the Heroic World to be strange and disjointed.
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes