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jaceyMichael 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.
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.
