Any reader has a long list of books from their past that hover at the edges of their memory. You read them as a child, you grow up, you forget about them, until years later, picking up a copy by sheer accident, a sudden rush of memory flits through your blood like an electric shock as, for just a fraction of a moment, you are ten years old again, curled up in a quiet corner somewhere out of reach of all the annoying adults who are annoyingly prone to interrupting you just at the best part, so wrapped up in the book in your hands that an earthquake could pass you by unnoticed.
Of course you buy the book. Of course you rush home and curl up with it again, wanting to extend that feeling of untainted childhood pleasure that you felt with the book in your hand.
Sadly it's a hell of a gamble with that type of book. What is mindblowing at 10 years old is sometimes disappointingly empty when you are nearly 40. And so it is with A Handful of Time. I dug into the book wanting, waiting, and willing to be pleased, but unfortunately from the viewpoint of my adult self, this book is disappointing.
The idea itself is very good - an unhappy girl finds a way to go back in time and, in viewing the troubles of others, manages to get a grasp on her own. The execution of the idea, however, I find to be lacking. The situations, the characters, the morals and the lessons, all struck me as cardboard, flavorless, with nothing to make them come to life.
<i>And yet</i> I very clearly remember loving this as a child. And as a child, I had the same sort of issues the protagonist had. I felt isolated from my family, different from all of them, incapable of connecting. I struggled with loving things nobody else did, and trying to master the things everybody else did that I didn't actually care much about, but tried anyway just to fit in.
So... how do I rate this book? As an adult (and in order not to mess up my recommendations!) I have had to rate it as a 4. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't anything more than 'okay' and I found it rather more tedious than anything else to get through. BUT I if I were rating this without consideration for my own profile, I would have rated it 5 stars because it is a children's book, and I think that for children, especially young girls who feel a disconnect with the people around them, this book is likely going to be a much better experience. So if you're looking for you, pass it by. If you're looking for a little girl that you love and want to give something special to, this is a very good bet. But while you're at it, throw in another Canadian author's work and pick up Anne of Green Gables as well, for I feel it does a far, far better job of taking typical situations and characters and breathing a life and personality into them that will live into adulthood and remain one of those books that is a pleasure to read at any age.
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Tarma
Any reader has a long list of books from their past that hover at the edges of their memory. You read them as a child, you grow up, you forget about them, until years later, picking up a copy by sheer accident, a sudden rush of memory flits through your blood like an electric shock as, for just a fraction of a moment, you are ten years old again, curled up in a quiet corner somewhere out of reach of all the annoying adults who are annoyingly prone to interrupting you just at the best part, so wrapped up in the book in your hands that an earthquake could pass you by unnoticed. Of course you buy the book. Of course you rush home and curl up with it again, wanting to extend that feeling of untainted childhood pleasure that you felt with the book in your hand. Sadly it's a hell of a gamble with that type of book. What is mindblowing at 10 years old is sometimes disappointingly empty when you are nearly 40. And so it is with A Handful of Time. I dug into the book wanting, waiting, and willing to be pleased, but unfortunately from the viewpoint of my adult self, this book is disappointing. The idea itself is very good - an unhappy girl finds a way to go back in time and, in viewing the troubles of others, manages to get a grasp on her own. The execution of the idea, however, I find to be lacking. The situations, the characters, the morals and the lessons, all struck me as cardboard, flavorless, with nothing to make them come to life. <i>And yet</i> I very clearly remember loving this as a child. And as a child, I had the same sort of issues the protagonist had. I felt isolated from my family, different from all of them, incapable of connecting. I struggled with loving things nobody else did, and trying to master the things everybody else did that I didn't actually care much about, but tried anyway just to fit in. So... how do I rate this book? As an adult (and in order not to mess up my recommendations!) I have had to rate it as a 4. It wasn't terrible, but it certainly wasn't anything more than 'okay' and I found it rather more tedious than anything else to get through. BUT I if I were rating this without consideration for my own profile, I would have rated it 5 stars because it is a children's book, and I think that for children, especially young girls who feel a disconnect with the people around them, this book is likely going to be a much better experience. So if you're looking for you, pass it by. If you're looking for a little girl that you love and want to give something special to, this is a very good bet. But while you're at it, throw in another Canadian author's work and pick up Anne of Green Gables as well, for I feel it does a far, far better job of taking typical situations and characters and breathing a life and personality into them that will live into adulthood and remain one of those books that is a pleasure to read at any age.
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