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Post by Claire on Mar 6, 2023 12:35:50 GMT 1
Hi all this year's early spring/Easter read will be Spring Comes to World's End by Monica Dickens. It's quite easy to get hold of where-ever you are and it is available as a kindle e-book. Although this is the last in a series of 4 books, it can be read as a stand-alone. I think we may also have read Winter at World's End a few years back as a group read also. I'm getting this one in early for once - discussion to start in approx 4 weeks time which will take us into the Easter hols.
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Post by susanb on Mar 21, 2023 15:28:07 GMT 1
looking forward to it! ahem....I've actually started my summer challenge list, speaking of getting in early
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Post by trixiepony on Mar 26, 2023 10:38:52 GMT 1
I will see if I can find one.
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Post by Claire on Mar 30, 2023 22:52:28 GMT 1
Anyone made a start yet? I 'm away in spain at the moment but will start when i get back.
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Post by susanb on Mar 31, 2023 14:18:09 GMT 1
Not yet, but I'm in the middle of an epic bout of tendinitis, so reading is the plan for this weekend (and ice, lots of ice ) Hope your trip is going well, Claire!
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Post by susanb on Apr 2, 2023 21:39:59 GMT 1
Finished!
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Post by darkhorse on Apr 4, 2023 19:44:57 GMT 1
I'm planning to read it over the holidays. Just about to dig out my copy!
Ps. Has anyone else been having log-in problems the last few days?
Pps. Hope you're recovering Susan!
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Post by Claire on Apr 5, 2023 23:23:42 GMT 1
Ooh that sounds painful Susan, hope you have a swift recovery.
Back from Spain now so about to start myself...
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Post by susanb on Apr 6, 2023 1:31:17 GMT 1
Thanks darkhorse and Claire! It is crazy painful, for a minor thing really. As I type this I have an icepack strapped to it
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odonna
Pony Clubber
PASSED PMBL 'C' TEST
Posts: 114
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Post by odonna on Apr 12, 2023 10:23:21 GMT 1
Sorry I haven't been around for a while. I hope everyone is keeping Ok and you have recovered Susan. I actually read the entire series of these not long before Christmas. I really enjoyed them as they are more up-beat than the Follyfoot books. The character of Carrie is very like the character of Callie in Follyfoot.
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Post by Claire on Apr 13, 2023 20:23:19 GMT 1
Hi odonna nice to 'see' you again!
I'm half way through but will wait til I finished to give comments. Has anyone else finished or has anything to add about the book?
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Post by darkhorse on Apr 16, 2023 18:28:55 GMT 1
Yes I read the book over Easter. It was a re-read and I think I've read all the series before. It took me a while to remember all the characters so it would be perhaps a little confusing to anyone reading it before any of the other ones in the series. It is a pure wish fulfilment story. Who didn't want to live like that as a child, no interfering adults and animals everywhere! Not particularly realistic but it's a good read.
Voted very good.
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Post by Claire on Apr 19, 2023 20:58:40 GMT 1
It's taken me a while to get round to commenting as have a lot going on at the moment!
SPOILERS BELOW!
On the whole an excellent read. I agree with darkhorse it's a kind of wish-fulfilment of any animal loving child back then. Now I'm not so sure, I can't see the kids of today being so independant and resourceful - or even wanting to be! I like the very British eccentricity of the book. The family reminds me a lot of the Brown family in National Velvet, especially Michael. However it perhaps strays a little into too weird territory, what with Lester's reincarnation stories and the fantasy elements where the horses talk to Carrie!
My main quibble with the book is the ending. I don't mean the fact that the children get to stay at World's End, but the way in which it happens. I feel it's a bit of a cop-out. The overly dramatic kidnapping and rescue sub-plot does not sit well with the rest of the book and feels like something a less talented author would resort to. Possibly Dickens wrote herself into a corner and couldn't think of a way to get the dreadful Uncle Rudolph (aka Uncle Rhubarb!) to repent his pecuniary ways and let the Fieldings have the house. I'd much rather have had a less cliched ending, more original and fitting end to the excellent series. I'd be interested to know if others agree or not with this?
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Post by darkhorse on Apr 23, 2023 18:12:34 GMT 1
Yes I kind of agree. Something more realistic or imaginative to bring about the children finally securing World's End as their home would have been more in keeping with the rest of the book. I also found the horrid Uncle going all gooey over his wife quite eeew and not very believable. That being said I did still feel all warm and tingly when they got their forever home.
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Post by Claire on May 1, 2023 0:26:56 GMT 1
Any thoughts Susan, did you say you finished it? Hope you're Ok and your tendonitis is not playing up again!
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Post by susanb on May 2, 2023 20:19:01 GMT 1
Hi Claire, sorry, I was actually on vacation (tendonitis mostly at bay, thank goodness!). I think the thing that struck me most about the book was....wow what a hippie gang I could almost see the tie-dye shirts and love beads. It felt a bit over the top at first, but by the end I'd decided that was really part of its charm, and so evocative of the time. I think this is one that I would appreciate more if I'd come to it as a child....the idea of being on your own, running things, with no adults to boss you about, plus HORSES, would have been enthralling. As an adult, it's hard to escape thoughts like "what the HELL is wrong with these parents!" They've left their kids totally alone, without funds, there's a strange man basically living with them off and on. And then they lose all the money that was the whole point of going off to work. That said, I loved the kids....their self reliance, grit and ingenuity. The horse theft/rescue was particularly fun. I agree that the turnabout by the uncle was a little unbelievable, but then there are people sort of like that....who care deeply about one person/thing and not at all about anyone or anything else, so if his wife was the ONE person, you could see him being grateful. Also, people can just go to far with something (like his threatening to throw his nieces/nephews out on the street) and they're really looking for an opportunity to walk it back.
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Post by Claire on May 3, 2023 0:30:50 GMT 1
Thanks for your views on the book Susan. Interesting that you came to the books as an adult and never read them as a child. It's definitely two different perspectives. I grew up in England just a little after the books were written and some of the elements strike me as quite true to life then but almost unbelievable in today's society. The fact that a single man was visiting the kids and staying with them would be a huge no-no now and unthinkable - in fact the poor bugger would probably be arrested! I also recognised the hippie element, although I wouldn't say my family were hippies I think a lot of the fashions and to some extent the laid back lifestyle split over into 'normal' life. A fact I forgot to mention in my comments was the nostalgic element of the book. Far simpler times...
Yes, I understand your take on the uncle, I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with his charater! I thought his feeling for his wife was slightly more believable than the actual kidnapping/rescue plot.
Oh and I hope you had a great holiday!
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Post by darkhorse on May 4, 2023 20:59:39 GMT 1
The parents were useless weren't they? First of all abandoning the kids in the first place and then when they tried to be more responsible and make money they went and lost it!
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Post by Claire on May 4, 2023 23:47:36 GMT 1
The parents were total blots (to use a Jill word!) but I suppose it was just one of the many plot devices to get parents out of the way as in so many kid's books. Normally they have some rather tedious job overseas, so having them off gallivanting overseas instead was a touch more interesting
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Post by susanb on May 5, 2023 20:41:31 GMT 1
In American books, the way they got the parents out of the way was death . The tradition of having parents go overseas and leave the kids behind wasn't so common here.
At the very least, the mother had to go, given the stereotype of Mom being more hyper-protective than Dad. (LOL, they didn't know MY Dad...."no, no, no, no....the bubble wrap goes OVER the cotton batten" )
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Post by Claire on May 11, 2023 23:29:48 GMT 1
In American books, the way they got the parents out of the way was death ) Oh my that's a bit extreme!!!
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