Alan Garner (1) (1934–)

Wonderful, and wonder-full!

Some tales are a page long, others a dozen to a score, but all perfectly crafted by the master storyteller.

While mainly selected from Britain, Garner roves the world, from Russia to Turtle Island, from Japan to Africa, and points in-between.
The longest is a vivid retelling of the Ramayana, one of the shorter and weirder is that of Great Head. Odin and Loki appear, and there are phantom dogs, giants, goblins, quests and voyages, youngest sons, princesses, talking animals, witches, wizards, priests, warriors and The Old Ways.

Phantasmagorically kaleidoscopic! 5 Golden ⭐… (mer)

Shortlisted for the 2022 Booker Prize

Treacle Walker is the first Alan Garner book I have ever picked up. Needless to say, the book being on the Booker shortlist prompted me to give it a try.

The story revolves around a young boy Joseph “Joe” Coppock, who has been unwell and wears a patch on one eye for rectification of his lazy eye. One day he meets a rag-and-bone man by the name of Treacle Walker who also claims to be a healer of all ills save for jealousy. Joe acquires a “donkey stone” and an old chipped pot of ointment called “Poor Man’s Friend” in exchange for an old pair of his pyjamas and a lamb’s shoulder blade. These two mystical objects and his acquaintance with Treacle Walker are just the beginning of a series of fantastical adventures for Joe- from meeting Thin Amren, a bog-man who tells him that his trouble with his eyes is “glamourie” wherein each of his eyes shows him different worlds- one that everyone can see and the other that is not visible to others to characters who jump out of the pages of his favorite comic book, a mirror dimension and much more.

To be honest, I read and re-read portions of the narrative as my initial reading left me a bit baffled. I feel I was unable to comprehend what the story was about in its totality. The concept of time – movement, fluidity and the perception of the present as opposed to what is not obvious- is an overarching theme in this story. I enjoyed the cast of interesting characters, fantastical elements and the dream-like setting of the story but I did face some difficulty in following the native dialect. I understand that some of the words may be rooted in folklore or myth or the author’s imagination but a Glossary would have been helpful. I believe those who have read the author’s previous works would appreciate this novel more than I have.… (mer)