It’s Sunday, it’s cloudy and I am bored. My usual quick-fix – a book. This time I picked up Artemis Fowl. I am certain I am not thinking anything new, but this book can perhaps be the Nancy Drew version of Harry Potter. Let me explain.
When I was growing up (yes it was a while back!) Nancy Drew and Hardy Boys were contemporaries - 2 sets of crime fighting teenagers saving the world from heinous high school crime. And everyone had a preference. I was always a Hardy Boys fan. Nancy Drew was a little over the top, often a little too perfect. Hardy Boys on the other hand had a more real appeal. They got into trouble; they got into fights they got out of it but not always with complete ease. Nancy Drew was nice, but it was a poor cousin- just like Artemis is to Harry.
For the uninitiated into these books, please read no further. Books and certainly children's books are not for all adults!
For my fellow potter fans, well I would say read about Artemis. Why? It’s a really fun book. Artemis is a child prodigy from a criminal family whose father has disappeared. Unfathomable to the author (u have to read the book to get this) this child has a penchant for crime and a mission to avenge his fathers loss of riches. He does not attend school and has a “butler” at his disposal to unquestioningly aid him in his activities. And what are his activities - To swindle the “fairy people” of their gold. For this, he decodes gnomish (fairy language of course) and uses technology and mind games to try and outwit them. It’s a fairly fast paced story and I read just the first book but seriously, compared to what Harry potter did – I cant say it fared well.
Harry is a character with far more hope. It’s a story written with love. One of a boy genuinely coming to terms with his life, his powers and his destiny. And it is this lack of cockiness that touches a cord. You want Harry to win. Artemis – well not so much.
“Hum” of the day:
I really have a strange love for the innocent, the ones looking and not finding... the ones still in search. It gives me hope - that the world will and can become a better place. And it links with the next book I picked up “Being Indian” where alongside all our corruption, our desire for growth, our entrepreneurial abilities (no apparently we do NOT have as noble goals as we think we do) – what keeps us going is hope. Hope that one can survive… and stories just give the evidence that it could come true.
No comments:
Post a Comment