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beingshort's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
"I'm not a gun!"
alos3478's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
crazygoangirl's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.0
Read this for a book published in my Birth Year, for the ‘My Novel Life’ challenge that I found on YouTube.
I don’t know much about Ted Hughes except that he was Sylvia Plath’s husband and a renowned poet and author in his own right, but I’d never read anything by him. I thought him primarily a poet and was completely unaware that he’d written children’s books! It was a joy to find this little gem of a book, based on a story he invented for his own children, according to the foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
In the story, we follow the Iron Man, who comes from nowhere, eats iron and all metals, disappears into the sea, rises again, is buried and then rises again to battle a space-bat-angel-dragon, in an extraordinary display of intelligence and courage, for the people of Earth who haven’t treated him particularly well, except the young boy, Hogarth, who has shown him compassion on occasion though not always.
Wonderfully imagined, beautifully written and exquisitely illustrated by Andrew Davidson with his woodcuts - this was a delightful and meaningful read that might have been written for children, but shares an important message of compassion, friendship and courage for adults as well. Highly recommended and do follow Morpurgo’s instructions to read it out loud to experience the particular rhythm and music of Hughes’ words, for an extra special reading experience! I did and enjoyed it to the fullest! I want to read more of Hughes’ children’s books- particularly The Iron Woman and The Tiger Boy.
I don’t know much about Ted Hughes except that he was Sylvia Plath’s husband and a renowned poet and author in his own right, but I’d never read anything by him. I thought him primarily a poet and was completely unaware that he’d written children’s books! It was a joy to find this little gem of a book, based on a story he invented for his own children, according to the foreword by Michael Morpurgo.
In the story, we follow the Iron Man, who comes from nowhere, eats iron and all metals, disappears into the sea, rises again, is buried and then rises again to battle a space-bat-angel-dragon, in an extraordinary display of intelligence and courage, for the people of Earth who haven’t treated him particularly well, except the young boy, Hogarth, who has shown him compassion on occasion though not always.
Wonderfully imagined, beautifully written and exquisitely illustrated by Andrew Davidson with his woodcuts - this was a delightful and meaningful read that might have been written for children, but shares an important message of compassion, friendship and courage for adults as well. Highly recommended and do follow Morpurgo’s instructions to read it out loud to experience the particular rhythm and music of Hughes’ words, for an extra special reading experience! I did and enjoyed it to the fullest! I want to read more of Hughes’ children’s books- particularly The Iron Woman and The Tiger Boy.
cluttered_mind's review against another edition
lighthearted
mysterious
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
_matthewdon_'s review against another edition
2.0
The Iron Man is so over-hyped it's absurd! Personally, The Iron Man, for me, is an imaginative, yes, but ultimately badly written piece that tries to be space-man-edgy, but instead becomes space-man-edgy-wannabe.
pixeldark100's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
jesse105's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.25
hayleyg84's review against another edition
3.0
Just re-read this to the children in my class. It was always a book that stuck with me from when we looked at when I was in school aged about 8. Revisiting it made me realise that there was a reason why I only remembered the first chapter and that’s because it’s the most interesting part of the story. It’s a wonderful opening but after that I just find myself getting bored. Was lovely to see how much that children enjoyed it. I think they would rate it higher than myself.
saziqua's review against another edition
inspiring
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5