but um, I did a terrible thing on my first reading and read some of the ending before the middle so I knew that something was coming.
:) Bad Ro.
I think The Thief is a book that doesn't reveal all its cleverness and intricacies until it is reread. Like Gen, it is so much more than it first appears. In a way, it surprises me that it won a Newbery Honor because those committee members are so inundated with books to read that it was probably difficult to reread anything and I wonder that they were able to take it all in with just one reading. King is like that, too, and it's good that the book came out early in the year so people on this year's committee have time to let it sink in and possibly reread. I know my appreciation for it increases the more I think about it.
I read QoA first, so the shock of Gen's hand wasn't as big for me, because I didn't "know" him yet. I can understand Bear feeling, well, betrayed by what happened. Everyone was used to seeing Gen as the carefree trickster and then suddenly the tone of his adventures changed completely. QoA is a bigger, deeper story, more YA and less kids'.
I remember my first reaction to the myths was that they were stopping the action too much. After a couple, though, I began to see that they were helping us understand the setting as well as the interactions between the characters. And then once Gen actually met up with the gods, it all made sense to me. If we hadn't been listening to the characters tell the stories, we wouldn't have been familiar with the gods and goddesses when they appeared and we wouldn't have understood that it was a life-changing event for Gen.
And although you all know I get frustrated at times by not immediately understanding everything that's going on, I'm glad Megan respects her readers enough, and trusts us enough, to let us figure things out on our own. Even though she makes us work very hard. :)
Wow, long post. We need more discussion questions, this is fun. Back to work!
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Date: 6/2/06 04:44 pm (UTC):) Bad Ro.
I think The Thief is a book that doesn't reveal all its cleverness and intricacies until it is reread. Like Gen, it is so much more than it first appears. In a way, it surprises me that it won a Newbery Honor because those committee members are so inundated with books to read that it was probably difficult to reread anything and I wonder that they were able to take it all in with just one reading. King is like that, too, and it's good that the book came out early in the year so people on this year's committee have time to let it sink in and possibly reread. I know my appreciation for it increases the more I think about it.
I read QoA first, so the shock of Gen's hand wasn't as big for me, because I didn't "know" him yet. I can understand Bear feeling, well, betrayed by what happened. Everyone was used to seeing Gen as the carefree trickster and then suddenly the tone of his adventures changed completely. QoA is a bigger, deeper story, more YA and less kids'.
I remember my first reaction to the myths was that they were stopping the action too much. After a couple, though, I began to see that they were helping us understand the setting as well as the interactions between the characters. And then once Gen actually met up with the gods, it all made sense to me. If we hadn't been listening to the characters tell the stories, we wouldn't have been familiar with the gods and goddesses when they appeared and we wouldn't have understood that it was a life-changing event for Gen.
And although you all know I get frustrated at times by not immediately understanding everything that's going on, I'm glad Megan respects her readers enough, and trusts us enough, to let us figure things out on our own. Even though she makes us work very hard. :)
Wow, long post. We need more discussion questions, this is fun. Back to work!