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phantominblue's review
I miss DWJ and this made me want to reread so many of my favorites of hers.
sciencefair200's review
5.0
I've always loved Diana Wynne Jones. Always. Her work is inspiring and thoughtful and doesn't speak down to children. And seeing some of what went on 'behind the scenes' for her, why she wrote the things she did, why she talked about the things she did...
Let's put it this way: I want to write children's books now.
Let's put it this way: I want to write children's books now.
lmwanak's review against another edition
It was nice. I could have extended the return deadline, but seeing I was barely reading it, I thought it best to take back to the library. The essays I read were nice, but a lot were specficially geared toward writing for children and I'm not interested in that right now.
slipperbunny's review
5.0
I have only read one short story from Diana Wynne Jones, but when I saw this in the bookcrossing meetup I just had to grab this. And it really didn’t bother me much that I haven’t read her books. This just made me want to read those even more. I’m not much of a writer, but I like to read about writing and about books. And Diana Wynne Jones wrote quite a bit about her childhood in here and it was fascinating to read about it.
tbr_the_unconquered's review against another edition
4.0
At times when you get into a conversation with someone who mentions that they love reading, the conversation shifts lanes to favorite genres. Many, if not most of these conversations used to end up with me telling the other person that I loved fantasy. A look of incomprehension used to pass over their face followed by an exclamation of Oh, that Harry Potter kind ! While J. K. Rowling’s work has been extremely enjoyable and quite a landmark in fantasy literature, it is rather unfortunate that a lot many readers do not step beyond this to explore and discover more in this field. This forms one of the key points which Diana Wynne Jones explores in depth through her essays. One essay in particular that caught my interest was her argument against why fantasy should not be distinguished from the so called ‘serious’ books. Like any other arena, the genre of fantasy had its black sheep too but to shelve this as next to uesless is rather unfortunate. Having never read a book by Diana, I was enticed into reading this by the glowing forward penned by personal favorite Neil Gaiman. It is a pragmatic, witty and sensible set of essays by a prodigious writer whose fantasy works for children are still masterpieces.
One thing that set Diana apart even from the second essay on was that she treated her audience – children as individuals with their own perspectives. An essay which talks about the nuances that one needs to keep in mind while writing for children offers a good view at her mind as a writer. A lot many books for children dismiss them as rather slow and needing a lot of explanation while telling stories. The converse is however more true since a child will latch on quickly to spartan explanations while an adult needs paragraphs following paragraphs for the same thing.Diana has a sharp and rather dry wit which makes amusing observations at all that happens around her. She mocks a lot of things ranging from the insensitive nature of school authorities, the shallow opinions of critics and even her own forgetful nature while in the thrall of a good story. This quiet humor is something that I felt to be a hallmark of her alert and agile mind. All is not fun and games though for my favorite piece in the whole book is her essay on narrative structures within Tolkien’s LOTR. Having been a student to Tolkien and Lewis, her viewpoints on the whole work are extremely illuminating (I will certainly want to re-read it now !). Filled with observations on children’s literature, fantasy and even a book review of Mervyn Peake’s – Boy in Darkness, this is a good collection if you are into reading books about writing.
The only down side of this collection is that since it covers a wide variety of essays, talks and writings over a few decades, the content tends to repeat a bit. Diana’s oppressive childhood, her catharsis through writing, love for history and myth, Tolkien’s lectures and a deep understanding of a child's pysche all repeat time and again through the articles. Keep at them though, she is a fantastic writer.
One thing that set Diana apart even from the second essay on was that she treated her audience – children as individuals with their own perspectives. An essay which talks about the nuances that one needs to keep in mind while writing for children offers a good view at her mind as a writer. A lot many books for children dismiss them as rather slow and needing a lot of explanation while telling stories. The converse is however more true since a child will latch on quickly to spartan explanations while an adult needs paragraphs following paragraphs for the same thing.Diana has a sharp and rather dry wit which makes amusing observations at all that happens around her. She mocks a lot of things ranging from the insensitive nature of school authorities, the shallow opinions of critics and even her own forgetful nature while in the thrall of a good story. This quiet humor is something that I felt to be a hallmark of her alert and agile mind. All is not fun and games though for my favorite piece in the whole book is her essay on narrative structures within Tolkien’s LOTR. Having been a student to Tolkien and Lewis, her viewpoints on the whole work are extremely illuminating (I will certainly want to re-read it now !). Filled with observations on children’s literature, fantasy and even a book review of Mervyn Peake’s – Boy in Darkness, this is a good collection if you are into reading books about writing.
The only down side of this collection is that since it covers a wide variety of essays, talks and writings over a few decades, the content tends to repeat a bit. Diana’s oppressive childhood, her catharsis through writing, love for history and myth, Tolkien’s lectures and a deep understanding of a child's pysche all repeat time and again through the articles. Keep at them though, she is a fantastic writer.
themadmaiden's review against another edition
5.0
Diana Wynne Jones is one of my heroes and I'm so glad I own this book now. It was a nice collection.