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rachelsnowden's review
4.0
I liked the book, sometimes quite a bit. There were some times it kind of felt like it was just trying a little too hard. But other times it really was beautiful.
sorinahiggins's review against another edition
5.0
This unique book, written in 1978, is grisly, gritty, earthy, painful, and beautiful. I have never read anything like this book before. It is a creation of great courage. Wangerin has taken stark good and evil and played them out in an almost predictable manner, unafraid of arrangements that could be called clichéd, trite, childish, overused. He uses mythology freely. It might at first seem hopelessly dated; rather, it is hopefully dated, it is searingly modern, it is genuinely classic and therefore timeless. It is a Medieval morality play, characters sharply drawn, clean-cut bestial caricatures—but they are fully human. It is in the diction of the Old Testament. Full of talking animals, a small-scale realm unto itself, an epic of good-and-evil with Homeric battles, virtues and vices embodied in fur, noses, claws, wings, beaks…, great geo-political problems ensconced in a farmyard or forest. The creatures are real, three-dimensional, lovable and complex. The battles are heart-breaking, as bloody and horrific as those before the walls of Troy, yet the combatants are ants, sheep, rabbits, a dog, a weasel, against basilisks.
The diction has the weight of the Prophets, the phrases the tone of another world. Humour, suffering, courage, and profound meaning are couched in the very words of this brilliantly written book. It is a novel unlike any other, and you must read it, read every word, to understand and know what words can do.
The diction has the weight of the Prophets, the phrases the tone of another world. Humour, suffering, courage, and profound meaning are couched in the very words of this brilliantly written book. It is a novel unlike any other, and you must read it, read every word, to understand and know what words can do.
nipnock's review
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
shieldbearer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book is essentially "What if the Anti-Christ was a chicken" and while this is a somewhat flippant, tongue-in-cheek summary, this is played terrifyingly straight. Wangerin has absolutely done his homework on the cosmic lore of the middle ages and it shows. This is a devastating read, but a beautiful one
juleswells's review
So very disturbing & grotesque. I know there's a deeper meaning there, but I just can't...
dansiger's review
5.0
Deceptively simple story that turns out so compelling and full of heart; an adventure with fleshed out characters, comedy, drama, and imagination. It's an older book, and I suspect nowadays people would label it as "written to be a movie" because it fits the story beats of a film so well. Then again, until this age of computer effects it would have been unfilmable.
zianeu's review
4.0
Heavy handed, but sweet for all that, I finally got around to reading this book I found in a resale pile.
I liked how the rich theology of the world sat there and didn't explain itself overmuch. There was enough exposition as it happened, anyway. The book left me trudging through it at times, and all but crying for the heroic characters at others. It is those times thst transcended enough to earn the 4 star rating.
Sometime, I do plan to read the second book. Sometime.
I liked how the rich theology of the world sat there and didn't explain itself overmuch. There was enough exposition as it happened, anyway. The book left me trudging through it at times, and all but crying for the heroic characters at others. It is those times thst transcended enough to earn the 4 star rating.
Sometime, I do plan to read the second book. Sometime.
annalisenak97's review
4.0
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it is a fascinating parable with a rich world and vibrant characters; it reads like something Chaucerian. On the other hand, it's a book about a Rooster. It's a dark, wild, well-written tale overall.
sonofstdavid's review against another edition
5.0
Wouldn't have guessed that a story about prelapsarian talking animals would have brought me to the verge of tears, but here we are.
Rev'd. Wangerin beautifully creates an original fairy tale that feels utterly and thoroughly a part of the medieval Christian Canon.
Rev'd. Wangerin beautifully creates an original fairy tale that feels utterly and thoroughly a part of the medieval Christian Canon.