Book Log 41/2011 - Michael Morpurgo: War Horse

[jacey]

Michael Morpurgo: War Horse

I wanted to read this before the movie release, but now I have I almost wish I hadn't. I will still see the movie as I think this might be one instance of the movie having more general appeal than the book

It's a quick read, just 181 pages of well-spaced type, maybe not much more than 40,000 words and written for children of maybe 9 – 12. It's the story of the First World War as seen through the eyes of Joey, a strapping sixteen hand red bay horse who after a gentle upbringing on a Devon farm  is sold to a  Cavalry Captain and shipped to France.

We follow the twists and turns of Joey's life in the army, the incidents that put him on the wrong side of the barbed wire and into German hands and then finally bring him back home to the young man who raised him.

It's a nice cyclical story, and it clearly outlines the horrors of that war in a way that children will understand, but it doesn't quite do it for me. Maybe it's because the horse is anthopomorphised in true Black Beauty fashion and there's a fair amount of sentimentality. True it's beautifully written. The style is unobtrusively elegant and I admit that I would probably have lapped this up as a child.

M<ust remember to take a whole box of tissues to the cinema, though, this could well be a three hankie weepie.

Comments

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

Thanks for mentioning the book and this movie. I can't get through Cicely Fox Smith's Home, Boys, Home without breaking down so I doubt I'll go to the movie or read the book, either! I'm interested to hear what you think of it, though.

[birdsedge.livejournal.com]

The trailers for the movie look gorgeous and I can see from the storyline that there's enough in the book to make a movie from, but not too much that they have to be selective about what to include. I hope they don't dwell too much on sentiment and that they let the story tell itself rather than jerking your emotions around.

[ferlonda.livejournal.com]

"...let the story tell itself rather than jerking your emotions around." Good luck with that. At least the horse looks pretty in the posters.