seen the light shine
Having bought it nigh on a month ago and after carrying it around with me for about two weeks, today I finally knuckled down and read Darius Bell And The Glitter Pool by Odo Hirsch.
Never heard of it or the author before. It was purely one of those browse shelves purchases, looking for something to catch my interest. The title got me, the cover got me, then the excerpt on the back hooked me, and what sealed it was the fact that Hirsch is Australian. Beautifully written YA lit for the win!
And oh yes, definitely worth my dogged determination because it's written with such a classic poetic elegance it makes my brain very happy. Soul happy probably too. Not quite as wicked as Dahl but that same subtle skill of language, intelligent and slyly funny and innocent and realistic too. What startled me was the actual plot. I guess because of the blurb and the title, I was expecting some sort of fantasy element. And actually I wish I had been told there wasn't because when I finally realised it was all about the dignity and wonder of the natural world and ordinary life, I kinda wanted to kick myself for not realising sooner.
And it totally didn't matter that it wasn't actually set in Australia as I'd hoped cos it was the next best thing ... a nameless sort of mythical part of England. At least it seemed like England ... now I'm wondering if there was any country mentioned at all. Coooooooooollll ...
Might track down his other stuff.
Never heard of it or the author before. It was purely one of those browse shelves purchases, looking for something to catch my interest. The title got me, the cover got me, then the excerpt on the back hooked me, and what sealed it was the fact that Hirsch is Australian. Beautifully written YA lit for the win!
And oh yes, definitely worth my dogged determination because it's written with such a classic poetic elegance it makes my brain very happy. Soul happy probably too. Not quite as wicked as Dahl but that same subtle skill of language, intelligent and slyly funny and innocent and realistic too. What startled me was the actual plot. I guess because of the blurb and the title, I was expecting some sort of fantasy element. And actually I wish I had been told there wasn't because when I finally realised it was all about the dignity and wonder of the natural world and ordinary life, I kinda wanted to kick myself for not realising sooner.
And it totally didn't matter that it wasn't actually set in Australia as I'd hoped cos it was the next best thing ... a nameless sort of mythical part of England. At least it seemed like England ... now I'm wondering if there was any country mentioned at all. Coooooooooollll ...
Might track down his other stuff.