This is the first book I have read by this author. I picked it up because of the title and the cover; and I wasn’t disappointed. While you read this book, you’ll get the feeling of that old orally told stories sitting by the fire. You can almost hear the narration. The story sounds like one of Grimm’s grimmest fairy tales, that of a young boy who travels through the land of tales. Nothing is what one would expect; it is what nightmares are made of. It’s the fear in every child’s mind, of what is hiding under the bed, but with always a hint of knowing that all is going to end well, as fairy tales always are. But reading it is also fun, as it takes somewhat gruesome turns, always keeping the reader’s attention in the story. It also satisfies the primordial need for stories where Evil is punished, and the Good may suffer but is rewarded in the end. From a genre point of view, this closely resembles Alice in Wonderland, than it does Harry Potter!
Synopsis
New York Times bestselling author John Connolly’s unique imagination takes readers through the end of innocence into adulthood and beyond in this dark and triumphantly creative novel of grief and loss, loyalty and love, and the redemptive power of stories.
High in his attic bedroom, twelve-year-old David mourns the death of his mother. He is angry and alone, with only the books on his shelf for company. But those books have begun to whisper to him in the darkness, and as he takes refuge in his imagination, he finds that reality and fantasy have begun to meld. While his family falls apart around him, David is violently propelled into a land that is a strange reflection of his own world, populated by heroes and monsters, and ruled over by a faded king who keeps his secrets in a mysterious book… The Book of Lost Things.
An imaginative tribute to the journey we must all make through the loss of innocence into adulthood, John Connolly’s latest novel is a book for every adult who can recall the moment when childhood began to fade, and for every adult about to face that moment. The Book of Lost Things is a story of hope for all who have lost, and for all who have yet to lose. It is an exhilarating tale that reminds us of the enduring power of stories in our lives.
About the Author
John Connolly was born in Dublin, Ireland in 1968 and has, at various points in his life, worked as a journalist, a barman, a local government official, a waiter and a dogsbody at Harrods department store in London. He studied English in Trinity College, Dublin and journalism at Dublin City University, subsequently spending five years working as a freelance journalist for The Irish Times newspaper, to which he continues to contribute.