The Child Thief
by Brom | Literature & Fiction | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0061671339 Global Overview for this book
ISBN: 0061671339 Global Overview for this book
1 journaler for this copy...
My Review:
In an intriguing author's note at the end of "The Child Thief" -- AKA Peter Pan -- the writer/illustrator Brom tells us that the inspiration for his deeply disturbing tale of the boy who never grows old leaped right out of the pages of J.M. Barrie's enduring fairytale.
He describes the seminal moment as a throwaway passage in which the narrator in Barrie's book lets readers in on the dirty little secret that as the Lost Boys grow older in Neverland -- which is against the rules, of course -- Peter "thins them out."
Thins them out?
Brom says those three little words forever changed his perception of Peter as a "high-spirited rascal to something far more sinister."
Those three words, it turns out, also provided the enigmatic author with unexpected grist for his entertaining if horrifically dark re-imagining of a feral, messiah-like Peter Pan, in a tale where nothing and no one resembles anything we saw in Disney's animated feature film of Barrie's widely misremembered classic.
In Brom's provocative, tough take, Peter roams the streets and shadows of Manhattan recruiting abused kids and runaways for his war against a high-seas pirate and his deadly band of flesh-eaters, enticing them with tales of the mist-enshrouded magical island of Avalon, with promises of fairies, no growing old, no grownups, and great, grand adventures.
This charismatic Pied Piper Pan neglects to tell them, of course, that they've probably just swapped the horrors at home with the horrors on the isle and that likely as not he's probably just sentenced them to death.
This riveting reboot of the mystery and mythology of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys -- called the Devils in this book -- isn't a bedtime fairytale for kids. Although the violence is stylized, it's still tough to take, tough to stomach -- more nightmarish than fairytale-ish.
Brom shocks us early and often out of our preconceived notions of Peter and his supporting cast while giving virtually every one of his characters uncommon dimension and depth.
You'll find yourself both loving and hating Peter, rooting for Brom's curiously mesmerizing "Captain Hook," and empathizing with both sides of a senseless, centuries-long war that probably didn't have to happen.
And lest we forget which version we're reading, Brom's gorgeous illustrations in the center of the book and at the start of each chapter remind us at every twist and turn that this isn't Disney's Peter ... isn't even Barrie's Peter. Not really. Not in the end.
This book isn't for everyone, heavyhanded as it is on everything from murder and torture to child abuse. But for everyone who hangs on through the uncomfortable scenes long enough to choose sides and favorites, there are real rewards in the relentless, page-turning, gut-churning second half of the book.
Seriously unputdownable stuff. Shocking twists. Turns. Revelations.
Magic.
In an intriguing author's note at the end of "The Child Thief" -- AKA Peter Pan -- the writer/illustrator Brom tells us that the inspiration for his deeply disturbing tale of the boy who never grows old leaped right out of the pages of J.M. Barrie's enduring fairytale.
He describes the seminal moment as a throwaway passage in which the narrator in Barrie's book lets readers in on the dirty little secret that as the Lost Boys grow older in Neverland -- which is against the rules, of course -- Peter "thins them out."
Thins them out?
Brom says those three little words forever changed his perception of Peter as a "high-spirited rascal to something far more sinister."
Those three words, it turns out, also provided the enigmatic author with unexpected grist for his entertaining if horrifically dark re-imagining of a feral, messiah-like Peter Pan, in a tale where nothing and no one resembles anything we saw in Disney's animated feature film of Barrie's widely misremembered classic.
In Brom's provocative, tough take, Peter roams the streets and shadows of Manhattan recruiting abused kids and runaways for his war against a high-seas pirate and his deadly band of flesh-eaters, enticing them with tales of the mist-enshrouded magical island of Avalon, with promises of fairies, no growing old, no grownups, and great, grand adventures.
This charismatic Pied Piper Pan neglects to tell them, of course, that they've probably just swapped the horrors at home with the horrors on the isle and that likely as not he's probably just sentenced them to death.
This riveting reboot of the mystery and mythology of Peter Pan and his Lost Boys -- called the Devils in this book -- isn't a bedtime fairytale for kids. Although the violence is stylized, it's still tough to take, tough to stomach -- more nightmarish than fairytale-ish.
Brom shocks us early and often out of our preconceived notions of Peter and his supporting cast while giving virtually every one of his characters uncommon dimension and depth.
You'll find yourself both loving and hating Peter, rooting for Brom's curiously mesmerizing "Captain Hook," and empathizing with both sides of a senseless, centuries-long war that probably didn't have to happen.
And lest we forget which version we're reading, Brom's gorgeous illustrations in the center of the book and at the start of each chapter remind us at every twist and turn that this isn't Disney's Peter ... isn't even Barrie's Peter. Not really. Not in the end.
This book isn't for everyone, heavyhanded as it is on everything from murder and torture to child abuse. But for everyone who hangs on through the uncomfortable scenes long enough to choose sides and favorites, there are real rewards in the relentless, page-turning, gut-churning second half of the book.
Seriously unputdownable stuff. Shocking twists. Turns. Revelations.
Magic.
