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A review by katykelly
De brief voor de koning by Tonke Dragt
5.0
The Letter for the King (translated).
It is nighttime. Dark, silent. There’s a loud, insistent knocking on the door. A stranger urgently pleads with you to get a message to the King. You agree. “Do you have his email address? A number to send a text to?” Bish, bash, bosh. Message sent. End of story. Not exactly a thrilling read.
This might be the scenario of The Letter for the King if it were written as a contemporary novel. Well, thank goodness this translation of the original, written in 1962, is a truly old-fashioned (in every good sense of the word) tale of a daring quest through hardship and adversity. No quick way out, no short cuts, no technology. For me, it was a Hobbit / Lord of the Rings-type quest saga without the magic (or the dwarfs), but probably more enjoyable.
When I picked it up, I was daunted by the fact that it’s a children’s book that tallies up at a rather weighty 450 pages. Would a 10 year old want to wade through a book that size? Would a parent want to read 450 pages to their child?
Well, I now cannot wait for my own toddler to be old enough for me to read this to him. From the first chapter to the last, it was an absolute pleasure, one I as an adult reader enjoyed immensely.
In the great tradition of the Arthurian quest legends, the story concerns a sixteen year old, Tiuri, who, on the eve of his knighting ceremony, is disturbed from his vigil of silence by a knock at the door. Against the rules, he cannot help but break his vow of silence and agree to help the desperate stranger who comes to him seeking help in getting an important letter to the king of a neighbouring land. Knowing he will not now be knighted, Tiuri leaves without money or supplies to find the Black Knight with the White Shield.
But circumstances change, and they require Tiuri to make a choice – should he return home, become a knight and forget about the letter? Or should he sacrifice what he finds important for a greater cause?
He’s an honorable, likeable and realistic young hero, and the story follows Tiuri through forests and mountains, as he makes decisions that may make him friends or enemies, meeting knights, robbers and hermits, becoming a noble and brave knight-at-heart. Evil is always close behind, always seeking to steal the letter away.
I couldn’t stop reading, to be honest. The language is plain enough for a confident nine-year-old to read alone, but makes a wonderful adventure to share at bedtime too. And for an adult? Immensely enjoyable, traditional quest, one that reading groups might like to use for discussion on Quest Stories and legends, dual-audience books (those that appeal to children and adults), and the role of traditional stories for a modern audience.
It’s a well-rounded story, with lots of interesting minor characters, and a ‘round trip’ structure that takes Tiuri back through to his origins and finishes beautifully. I wouldn’t want to ask for more from a book for my child. It’s vivid and intelligent, a worthy winner of Denmark’s Children’s Book of the Year, and makes me ask: what other potential classics are there that need desperately to be translated?
One to cherish. 5 stars.
It is nighttime. Dark, silent. There’s a loud, insistent knocking on the door. A stranger urgently pleads with you to get a message to the King. You agree. “Do you have his email address? A number to send a text to?” Bish, bash, bosh. Message sent. End of story. Not exactly a thrilling read.
This might be the scenario of The Letter for the King if it were written as a contemporary novel. Well, thank goodness this translation of the original, written in 1962, is a truly old-fashioned (in every good sense of the word) tale of a daring quest through hardship and adversity. No quick way out, no short cuts, no technology. For me, it was a Hobbit / Lord of the Rings-type quest saga without the magic (or the dwarfs), but probably more enjoyable.
When I picked it up, I was daunted by the fact that it’s a children’s book that tallies up at a rather weighty 450 pages. Would a 10 year old want to wade through a book that size? Would a parent want to read 450 pages to their child?
Well, I now cannot wait for my own toddler to be old enough for me to read this to him. From the first chapter to the last, it was an absolute pleasure, one I as an adult reader enjoyed immensely.
In the great tradition of the Arthurian quest legends, the story concerns a sixteen year old, Tiuri, who, on the eve of his knighting ceremony, is disturbed from his vigil of silence by a knock at the door. Against the rules, he cannot help but break his vow of silence and agree to help the desperate stranger who comes to him seeking help in getting an important letter to the king of a neighbouring land. Knowing he will not now be knighted, Tiuri leaves without money or supplies to find the Black Knight with the White Shield.
But circumstances change, and they require Tiuri to make a choice – should he return home, become a knight and forget about the letter? Or should he sacrifice what he finds important for a greater cause?
He’s an honorable, likeable and realistic young hero, and the story follows Tiuri through forests and mountains, as he makes decisions that may make him friends or enemies, meeting knights, robbers and hermits, becoming a noble and brave knight-at-heart. Evil is always close behind, always seeking to steal the letter away.
I couldn’t stop reading, to be honest. The language is plain enough for a confident nine-year-old to read alone, but makes a wonderful adventure to share at bedtime too. And for an adult? Immensely enjoyable, traditional quest, one that reading groups might like to use for discussion on Quest Stories and legends, dual-audience books (those that appeal to children and adults), and the role of traditional stories for a modern audience.
It’s a well-rounded story, with lots of interesting minor characters, and a ‘round trip’ structure that takes Tiuri back through to his origins and finishes beautifully. I wouldn’t want to ask for more from a book for my child. It’s vivid and intelligent, a worthy winner of Denmark’s Children’s Book of the Year, and makes me ask: what other potential classics are there that need desperately to be translated?
One to cherish. 5 stars.