Book Blog Mod. 4B: 21 Balloons
DuBois, W. P. (1947). The Twenty-One Balloons. New York: Penguin Group.
Similar in tone to Jules Verne, The Twenty-One Balloons follows the adventures of a math teacher who decides to retire and travel the skies in a cabin carried by balloons. Of course, it doesn't go as planned, and he soon crash lands on the mysterious island of Krakatoa, where volcanic activity makes the ground constantly shift, the society is run by restaurants, and diamonds are available in copious amounts.
The story is appropriately swashbuckling and entertaining. Though not quite steampunk (it predates the genre) it still has a fascination for turn of the century settings with anachronistic inventions--in this case, all sorts of balloon contraptions. It's an entertaining premise for sure, but the book has a lot of competition on both sides. Both Verne and Westerfeld put more effort into their world-building, and though duBois's characters are entertaining, they aren't gripping, because there is no great emotional growth or conflict. They face adventure and opposition from the elements, but none from within. When the professor's misadventure ends, he sets out to try again, with the same motivations as before.
This book is fun, but not memorable. In the forties, it may have been an original premise, but with Around the World in 80 Days and the Time Machine before, and Leviathan and Girl Genius after, it doesn't show up as much, nor does it have much to offer but balloons.
While I took this book as a lighthearted adventure novel, others had a different response. Kate Ransohoff, a high school student who reviewed the book for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Preteen Group, (of all places) looked deeper into the book, arguing it as a moral tale against greed, as illustrated by the Krakatoan society. "They believe their lives are perfect because they never have to worry about money. They live empty and unfulfilling lives and must learn the value of relationships, education and their own lives. They must learn how having extreme excess of money, or anything, is worthless," she says.
I have to admit, I never thought of it that way, and she has a good point. However, seeing as much of the story is focused on the wonder of the Krakatoan inventions, and that they do seem quite happy in their lives of being able to build and focus their efforts on whatever they want, I'm not sure whether you could argue their lives were empty and meaningless. It's a nice idea, but I don't know that I buy that interpretation.
Carin of Caroline Bookbinder is even more gushing about the book; I should know better than to read reviews that start with, "I remember just adoring this book when I was a kid." She says "it probably has a strong appeal to boys with the inventions and adventure," and applauds the author for also being a good illustrator of the book. I can't say I agree, and she didn't back up her points as well; unfortunately, The Twenty-One Balloons is such an old book that it's hard to find thorough reviews of it.
Like I said, I found this book showing its age. Despite its Newbery Award and other people's enjoyment of it, I'm not sure I'd put it on the shelf; there are more vibrant works around.
Similar in tone to Jules Verne, The Twenty-One Balloons follows the adventures of a math teacher who decides to retire and travel the skies in a cabin carried by balloons. Of course, it doesn't go as planned, and he soon crash lands on the mysterious island of Krakatoa, where volcanic activity makes the ground constantly shift, the society is run by restaurants, and diamonds are available in copious amounts.
The story is appropriately swashbuckling and entertaining. Though not quite steampunk (it predates the genre) it still has a fascination for turn of the century settings with anachronistic inventions--in this case, all sorts of balloon contraptions. It's an entertaining premise for sure, but the book has a lot of competition on both sides. Both Verne and Westerfeld put more effort into their world-building, and though duBois's characters are entertaining, they aren't gripping, because there is no great emotional growth or conflict. They face adventure and opposition from the elements, but none from within. When the professor's misadventure ends, he sets out to try again, with the same motivations as before.
This book is fun, but not memorable. In the forties, it may have been an original premise, but with Around the World in 80 Days and the Time Machine before, and Leviathan and Girl Genius after, it doesn't show up as much, nor does it have much to offer but balloons.
While I took this book as a lighthearted adventure novel, others had a different response. Kate Ransohoff, a high school student who reviewed the book for the Palo Alto Medical Foundation Preteen Group, (of all places) looked deeper into the book, arguing it as a moral tale against greed, as illustrated by the Krakatoan society. "They believe their lives are perfect because they never have to worry about money. They live empty and unfulfilling lives and must learn the value of relationships, education and their own lives. They must learn how having extreme excess of money, or anything, is worthless," she says.
I have to admit, I never thought of it that way, and she has a good point. However, seeing as much of the story is focused on the wonder of the Krakatoan inventions, and that they do seem quite happy in their lives of being able to build and focus their efforts on whatever they want, I'm not sure whether you could argue their lives were empty and meaningless. It's a nice idea, but I don't know that I buy that interpretation.
Carin of Caroline Bookbinder is even more gushing about the book; I should know better than to read reviews that start with, "I remember just adoring this book when I was a kid." She says "it probably has a strong appeal to boys with the inventions and adventure," and applauds the author for also being a good illustrator of the book. I can't say I agree, and she didn't back up her points as well; unfortunately, The Twenty-One Balloons is such an old book that it's hard to find thorough reviews of it.
Like I said, I found this book showing its age. Despite its Newbery Award and other people's enjoyment of it, I'm not sure I'd put it on the shelf; there are more vibrant works around.