Product Description

There has been an acceleration of interest in fantasy fiction, which is more and more being read by adults as well as by children. In this book, the author discusses the work of more than 80 writers mostly from the past half century, and shows why their tales have proved to be so compelling. Fantasy reading does not merely provide escape from troubles and aid in developing the self, it also helps one respond to all that is outside the private self. It shows how to make sense of a confusing world by offering coherence and a sense of larger possibilities.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #846364 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-03
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 222 pages

Customer Reviews

A good defence of fantasy, but fails as a reading guide
O'Keefe's book is essentially a reader's guide to 80 or so children's fantasy books/series, classifying them into six groups according to how complex and dark they are. She starts with the likes of Where the Wild Things Are and The Phantom Tolbooth -- light tales in which an essentially good-natured child takes a trip into an imaginative world where they experience wonders before returning to a stable, unchanged home -- and takes things through increasing grades of moral uncertainty, and a deeper involvement with more challenging fantasy worlds, till the last chapter looks at books like The Lord of the Rings and A Wizard of Earthsea, set wholly in fantasy worlds and dealing with epic, world-changing storylines. On the way, O'Keefe presents an argument in defence of fantasy fiction for children and adults, saying they are a means of making sense of a complex and often difficult world.

The bulk of the book, though, is taken up with extremely brief plot summaries of fantasy books O'Keefe recommends. Most often when reading something like this I find myself jotting down titles to add to my reading list, but this time I felt cold about the whole lot, mostly because of O'Keefe's rather disjointed, often confusing plot summaries, which don't do anything to express the wonder, mystery, excitement or atmosphere peculiar to each book. Perhaps if she'd chosen fewer titles she'd have been able to go into more detail, and thus give a more satisfactory account of each one. As it is, you simply have to take her recommendations on her word alone, rather than pick for yourself which books might most fit your, or your child's, reading tastes.