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missbookiverse's review
3.0
The Firework Maker's Daughter ★★★☆☆
The tale is more simple than I had expected, very straight forward plot (maybe because it came into existence as a play?) but with some unique elements such as a talking white elephant and the art of creating fireworks.
I Was A Rat! ★★★☆☆
Rather simple plot as well but with a nice explanation about Roger's past at the end that I hadn't seen coming.
Clockwork ★★★★★
I had listened to this on audio before but decided to reread because it's such a fantastic tale. It is so much cleverer than the previous 2 stories, working with metafictional elements and intertwining timelines. Absolutely loved it.
The Scarecrow & His Servant ★★★☆☆
The longest tale in the collection and my least favorite. Probably because I just found the Scarecrow so unbearably silly. It made all the worst decisions and I know it's supposed to be funny but I just found it annoying. Also, most chapters were just random, not very thrilling adventures. Things came together nicely in the end though and I liked Granny Raven.
The tale is more simple than I had expected, very straight forward plot (maybe because it came into existence as a play?) but with some unique elements such as a talking white elephant and the art of creating fireworks.
I Was A Rat! ★★★☆☆
Rather simple plot as well but with a nice explanation about Roger's past at the end that I hadn't seen coming.
Clockwork ★★★★★
I had listened to this on audio before but decided to reread because it's such a fantastic tale. It is so much cleverer than the previous 2 stories, working with metafictional elements and intertwining timelines. Absolutely loved it.
The Scarecrow & His Servant ★★★☆☆
The longest tale in the collection and my least favorite. Probably because I just found the Scarecrow so unbearably silly. It made all the worst decisions and I know it's supposed to be funny but I just found it annoying. Also, most chapters were just random, not very thrilling adventures. Things came together nicely in the end though and I liked Granny Raven.
reuben_books's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I was very pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed these tales. They were engrossing, fun, and interesting reads. I also thought they were ordered really well.
The Firework Maker's Daughter - 5 stars
A nice little heartwarming story. Just what I needed.
I Was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers - 5 stars
A great satire of so many aspects of humanity, especially media and political spin, along with a lovely storyline of found family love.
Clockwork or All Wound Up - 4 stars
I really enjoyed the asides in this one, and had a good little chuckle at a few of them. The story actually got pretty scary at times too. The ending/culmination was pretty predictable, but still another nice little story.
The Scarecrow and His Servant - 5 stars
A really great story, I devoured it in one sitting. Great way to end the collection.
The Firework Maker's Daughter - 5 stars
A nice little heartwarming story. Just what I needed.
I Was a Rat! or The Scarlet Slippers - 5 stars
A great satire of so many aspects of humanity, especially media and political spin, along with a lovely storyline of found family love.
Clockwork or All Wound Up - 4 stars
I really enjoyed the asides in this one, and had a good little chuckle at a few of them. The story actually got pretty scary at times too. The ending/culmination was pretty predictable, but still another nice little story.
The Scarecrow and His Servant - 5 stars
A really great story, I devoured it in one sitting. Great way to end the collection.
katrinky's review
3.0
One of the things to love most about Pullman as a writer, particularly as a writer for younger audiences, is that he assumes the intelligence of his readers. Can everyone who writes books please check their inboxes for that memo? That you're allowed to leave some of the figuring out up to us? Give us most, or at least some, of the pieces, and we can pretty well put them together. I promise.
Pullman's most celebrated series, His Dark Materials, does this exceptionally well. (In addition to being sharply political, atheist, pro-woman, intelligent, beautifully drawn, and terrifying.) Page one, the word dæmon shows up, and one chooses to either give up right that second (which I did, sadly, the first time I picked "The Golden Compass" up many years ago), or else say, "Right, OK, that word. It exists in this universe. Next?" And that reader will read on and be rewarded richly.
"Four Tales" is a little different. These are, in Pullman's own words, fairy tales. "It all comes right in the end," he writes, "nothing like a novel...because in a novel it can be as dull as mud and everything ends in misery."
And so it is, that each of the four stories here wrap up pretty nicely, full of the sort of moral compass characters that make messages clear and right and wrong inarguable. There are still innuendo, and some jokes clearly meant for any adult who may be reading the story aloud, but not the mire of the novel, the big heaping serving of complicated information out of which it's up to US to pluck the important stuff. Seems I prefer to muck around in the big stuff. These are, of course, well-WRITTEN stories. Philip Pullman is a genius. But knowing the ending, and knowing that every character will do pretty much what you expect them to do, robs some of the richness from the reading experience.
Pullman's most celebrated series, His Dark Materials, does this exceptionally well. (In addition to being sharply political, atheist, pro-woman, intelligent, beautifully drawn, and terrifying.) Page one, the word dæmon shows up, and one chooses to either give up right that second (which I did, sadly, the first time I picked "The Golden Compass" up many years ago), or else say, "Right, OK, that word. It exists in this universe. Next?" And that reader will read on and be rewarded richly.
"Four Tales" is a little different. These are, in Pullman's own words, fairy tales. "It all comes right in the end," he writes, "nothing like a novel...because in a novel it can be as dull as mud and everything ends in misery."
And so it is, that each of the four stories here wrap up pretty nicely, full of the sort of moral compass characters that make messages clear and right and wrong inarguable. There are still innuendo, and some jokes clearly meant for any adult who may be reading the story aloud, but not the mire of the novel, the big heaping serving of complicated information out of which it's up to US to pluck the important stuff. Seems I prefer to muck around in the big stuff. These are, of course, well-WRITTEN stories. Philip Pullman is a genius. But knowing the ending, and knowing that every character will do pretty much what you expect them to do, robs some of the richness from the reading experience.
rosa3's review
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
atelmari's review
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
anjalik2040's review
3.0
3.5
I was tempted to give this 4 stars because Pullman seems like a really nice person, but this wasn't exactly to my taste.
I really like fairy tale retellings when they have a twist, or something a bit darker - but this book was just confusing. It had some really mature themes (murder, gaslighting, manipulation, etc.) And I'm pretty sure some of the characters were doing drugs haha. But was also quite child-like, and all the stories had happy endings and were simplistic. So who was the audience?
"'Your ignorance is legendary,' said the bird.
'Well, thank you. But dont think you can get me around with your flattery.''
That said, I did enjoy the stories. There were hilarious parts that made me laugh, and some really nice quotes. The messages were also consistent, and sometimes it's nice to have a morally simplistic book that's just about the value of being kind and honest.
Another thing I loved - the stories are so, so diverse. They draw on fairytales from India, China, Germany and Europe, and I loved that they weren't all confined to the Western world's lore. It's a small thing, but it was really cool, especially considering some of these were written in the 90s.
"Here's the truth: if you want something, you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure."
This would definitely be a wonderful book for a younger audience, so perhaps a more objective rating is 4 stars. I personally didn't find it quite interesting enough.
I was tempted to give this 4 stars because Pullman seems like a really nice person, but this wasn't exactly to my taste.
I really like fairy tale retellings when they have a twist, or something a bit darker - but this book was just confusing. It had some really mature themes (murder, gaslighting, manipulation, etc.) And I'm pretty sure some of the characters were doing drugs haha. But was also quite child-like, and all the stories had happy endings and were simplistic. So who was the audience?
"'Your ignorance is legendary,' said the bird.
'Well, thank you. But dont think you can get me around with your flattery.''
That said, I did enjoy the stories. There were hilarious parts that made me laugh, and some really nice quotes. The messages were also consistent, and sometimes it's nice to have a morally simplistic book that's just about the value of being kind and honest.
Another thing I loved - the stories are so, so diverse. They draw on fairytales from India, China, Germany and Europe, and I loved that they weren't all confined to the Western world's lore. It's a small thing, but it was really cool, especially considering some of these were written in the 90s.
"Here's the truth: if you want something, you can have it, but only if you want everything that goes with it, including all the hard work and the despair, and only if you're willing to risk failure."
This would definitely be a wonderful book for a younger audience, so perhaps a more objective rating is 4 stars. I personally didn't find it quite interesting enough.
withmanyroots's review
5.0
Blooming excellent - sometimes fairy tales go where novels can't.
Had this signed copy for years but never got round to reading it until being in quarantine now.
A lovely antidote.
Had this signed copy for years but never got round to reading it until being in quarantine now.
A lovely antidote.
marinuchi_goo13's review
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? N/A
4.75
penguininabluebox's review
4.0
This was really nice! I think my favourite of the four tales in this book was I Was A Rat! but I also really enjoyed the other ones. However, The Scarecrow and His Servant was my least favourite, even though I still quite liked it. Philip Pullman is just a very multifaceted author and so far I have enjoyed everything I have read by him.