yaburrow's review
5.0
Possibly the first Pagan novel I ever read. This book introduced me to Wayland Smith, Mithras, and Puck. It also contains the song that begins, “oh do not tell the priest of our art, for he would call it a sin, but we shall be out in the woods all night, a conjuring summer in”.
Two of my favourite characters in the book are Parnesius and Pertinax, the two Roman soldiers who are sent to Hadrian’s Wall by Maximus (Macsen Wledig). I am convinced that their friendship was actually love.
Kipling’s view of British history is rather optimistic and deterministic, especially his somewhat romantic view of the Norman Conquest; and his portrayal of Kadmiel, the medieval Jewish gentleman, is somewhat problematic, though Kipling is clearly sympathetic to the medieval Jewish community, despite repeating the myth that they were somehow destined to be moneylenders (whereas it was because they were forced to be).
It’s necessary to read this book with a critical perspective. Even as a child, I found some of the poetry in it a bit too much. However, the excellent bits outweigh the flaws, in my opinion (and it was written in 1906).
One can definitely see how this book, by instilling a love of the countryside and of history, contributed to the Pagan revival. The prose is beautiful, the characters deftly drawn, and the tone elegiac and wistful (though not to the same extent as the sequel, Rewards and Faeries).
Two of my favourite characters in the book are Parnesius and Pertinax, the two Roman soldiers who are sent to Hadrian’s Wall by Maximus (Macsen Wledig). I am convinced that their friendship was actually love.
Kipling’s view of British history is rather optimistic and deterministic, especially his somewhat romantic view of the Norman Conquest; and his portrayal of Kadmiel, the medieval Jewish gentleman, is somewhat problematic, though Kipling is clearly sympathetic to the medieval Jewish community, despite repeating the myth that they were somehow destined to be moneylenders (whereas it was because they were forced to be).
It’s necessary to read this book with a critical perspective. Even as a child, I found some of the poetry in it a bit too much. However, the excellent bits outweigh the flaws, in my opinion (and it was written in 1906).
One can definitely see how this book, by instilling a love of the countryside and of history, contributed to the Pagan revival. The prose is beautiful, the characters deftly drawn, and the tone elegiac and wistful (though not to the same extent as the sequel, Rewards and Faeries).
diary_of_a_hobbit's review
adventurous
informative
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This book is one of my absolute favourites! I've reread it multiple times over the years and each time I am as fascinated as the first.
Puck of Pook's Hill is a series of short stories that are set in different periods of English history. They are narrated to two siblings, Dan and Una, by either Puck, an elf, or a guest that he magically plucks out of history.
So this book literally combines two things that I love: history and fantasy, and does it in a very beautiful way.
If you are interested in the history of England and love fantasy, I highly recommend Puck of Pook's Hill.
There is also a sequel called Rewards and Fairies that is also amazing.
[Note: I read this book in Russian (that particular edition was translated by Grigory Kruzhkov)].
Puck of Pook's Hill is a series of short stories that are set in different periods of English history. They are narrated to two siblings, Dan and Una, by either Puck, an elf, or a guest that he magically plucks out of history.
So this book literally combines two things that I love: history and fantasy, and does it in a very beautiful way.
If you are interested in the history of England and love fantasy, I highly recommend Puck of Pook's Hill.
There is also a sequel called Rewards and Fairies that is also amazing.
[Note: I read this book in Russian (that particular edition was translated by Grigory Kruzhkov)].
mattstebbins's review
2.0
I applaud what I think Kipling was trying to do. I'd've rather re-read Chaucer, though.
[2.5 stars for effort, and for the things I think of when I think of Kipling.]
[2.5 stars for effort, and for the things I think of when I think of Kipling.]
duncanshaw's review
adventurous
lighthearted
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
2.0
I thought this book was truly ok.
I must preface this review with the acknowledgment that this is a children's book so is therefore not supposed to be particularly sophisticated and is not written for me per se.
So, the story essentially follows two children from Pevensey in England. They meet the fairy Puck several times, and each time he has with him a person from the past who has a link to the area. This person then tells the children a story of their life. These stories are adventurous and slightly fantastical. You can clearly see whose taste Kipling is catering to here.
However, I like an adventure as much as the next guy, and still, this book lacked something. I think the writing style wasn't quite up my alley. The whole concept of different people telling stories to these kids being the bulk of it didn't feel great for me. It felt clumsy at times and a little unnecessary (and don't get me started on the incessant quotations inside quotations inside quotations). Honestly, although I know it is to add relatability to the target audience, I saw no reason to have the two children characters. They seemed to add nothing but occasional interruptions.
I did like the general concept of stories from throughout history based on a certain local area, but I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. I felt the stories were slightly inconsistent in quality and entertainment, but that can happen in any book of short stories. This is essentially what this is: a book of short stories interrupted by a random fairy and some children.
The stories were fairly loosely connected, despite being a continuous novel. There were some threads throughout, including a couple of reoccurring characters and, of course, the fact that they have some connection to Pevensey. Although even this geographical thread (which is essentially one of the main points of the book) felt loose sometimes and only added into the stories as a token feature.
Overall, I did enjoy some of the stories, and the addition of related poems was often a nice addition. However, I found myself not enjoying many of the chapters and certain aspects felt like they only added awkwardness to the reading experience. This is a shame, as ultimately it is a good concept for an adventure story compilation.
I must preface this review with the acknowledgment that this is a children's book so is therefore not supposed to be particularly sophisticated and is not written for me per se.
So, the story essentially follows two children from Pevensey in England. They meet the fairy Puck several times, and each time he has with him a person from the past who has a link to the area. This person then tells the children a story of their life. These stories are adventurous and slightly fantastical. You can clearly see whose taste Kipling is catering to here.
However, I like an adventure as much as the next guy, and still, this book lacked something. I think the writing style wasn't quite up my alley. The whole concept of different people telling stories to these kids being the bulk of it didn't feel great for me. It felt clumsy at times and a little unnecessary (and don't get me started on the incessant quotations inside quotations inside quotations). Honestly, although I know it is to add relatability to the target audience, I saw no reason to have the two children characters. They seemed to add nothing but occasional interruptions.
I did like the general concept of stories from throughout history based on a certain local area, but I don't think it was executed as well as it could have been. I felt the stories were slightly inconsistent in quality and entertainment, but that can happen in any book of short stories. This is essentially what this is: a book of short stories interrupted by a random fairy and some children.
The stories were fairly loosely connected, despite being a continuous novel. There were some threads throughout, including a couple of reoccurring characters and, of course, the fact that they have some connection to Pevensey. Although even this geographical thread (which is essentially one of the main points of the book) felt loose sometimes and only added into the stories as a token feature.
Overall, I did enjoy some of the stories, and the addition of related poems was often a nice addition. However, I found myself not enjoying many of the chapters and certain aspects felt like they only added awkwardness to the reading experience. This is a shame, as ultimately it is a good concept for an adventure story compilation.
chrisiant's review
4.0
Yay Kipling. This is actually the first Kipling besides Just So Stories that I've read through. I have more to say about the format in which I read it (DailyLit) than the actually book, which was quirky and interesting. I'm already familiar with many of Kipling's poems that have been set to music, so it was nice to run across them in context. I'm generally in favor of narratives that are broken up by bits of song and verse (a la Tolkien and others).
I grew quite fond of Sir Richard and Sir Hugh, Parnesius and Pertinax. Dan and Una I appreciated primarily as vehicles for the story and not so much in and of themselves. Puck similarly, was a bit trite, but as a means of knitting together the other stories he functioned just fine.
I will definitely be doing more reading of Kipling - I like the feel of his narrative - it seems concise and feels like it moves along at a good clip, but at the same time it feels rich and textured and pleasantly dense.
I grew quite fond of Sir Richard and Sir Hugh, Parnesius and Pertinax. Dan and Una I appreciated primarily as vehicles for the story and not so much in and of themselves. Puck similarly, was a bit trite, but as a means of knitting together the other stories he functioned just fine.
I will definitely be doing more reading of Kipling - I like the feel of his narrative - it seems concise and feels like it moves along at a good clip, but at the same time it feels rich and textured and pleasantly dense.
bearlienktc's review
5.0
I listened to the Steven Crossley narration of this over the last week of dog walks. It was so enjoyable I found myself continuing to listen long after coming inside and putting off work until Puck had at least finished the portion of the tale he was then relating to the children, Dan and Una. Beautiful language that's a joy to hear aloud.
bennyowenmc's review against another edition
4.0
Read in school and at home. Found in mum's wardrobe. Pretty good.
Sing oak and ash and thorn, good sirs
All of a midsummer's morn
Surely we'll sing of no little thing
In oak and ash and thorn
Sing oak and ash and thorn, good sirs
All of a midsummer's morn
Surely we'll sing of no little thing
In oak and ash and thorn
lyris51101's review
5.0
One of my favorite books. Fascinating rendering of British/Celtic/Roman history and myth.
hayesstw's review against another edition
3.0
A very strange book.
We've had a copy on our shelves for years, and I've sometimes tried to read it, but never got beyond the first chapter because it was a hardback copy in poor condition, with the binding coming apart, and I didn't want to damage it further. Then last week I found a cheap paperback copy in a second-hand bookshop and read that.
On one level it is a kind of Edwardian history lesson. Two children, Dan and Una, perform the play within a play from A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Puck himself appears to them and promises to show them things more real than any dream. They are then introduced to characters from various periods of English history who bring that history to life by giving a personal view of it. Perhaps school history in those days must have seemed to many children just a boring catalogue of dates and battles and kings. The stories show that they involved real people, with sometimes real conflicts of loyalties.
The stories seem to have a common theme too, and perhaps one that is worth noting in these days of the UK Independence Party and Brexit, and the preaching of a new version of British exceptionalism. Kipling seems concerned to show that the British are not a unique "pure" race. They are a mixture of Saxons and Normans, Romans and Picts, and many of the stories show people crossing these barriers of ethnicity and race.
Even religion is varied. The book begins with the story of a pagan god Weland, and ends with a Jew. And in between comes the story of the fairies fleeing as refugees to France because they didn't like the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, and the last straw was the iconoclasm of the Puritans.
But for all its good points, the story wasn't very well told. The children are made to forget each incident and story after they have heard it, by the invocation of "oak, ash and thorn", and so one wonders what the point was. A few years ago I read Kipling's Kim for the fifth time (my review here: Kim revisited: imperialism, Russophobia & asceticism | Notes from underground), but I don't think I'll really want to read this one again. It's a fantasy story, but the fantasy doesn't seem to blend very well with the history, and the Puck of the title does little more than introduce the other characters, like a master of ceremonies at a wedding or a funeral.
We've had a copy on our shelves for years, and I've sometimes tried to read it, but never got beyond the first chapter because it was a hardback copy in poor condition, with the binding coming apart, and I didn't want to damage it further. Then last week I found a cheap paperback copy in a second-hand bookshop and read that.
On one level it is a kind of Edwardian history lesson. Two children, Dan and Una, perform the play within a play from A Midsummer Nights Dream, and Puck himself appears to them and promises to show them things more real than any dream. They are then introduced to characters from various periods of English history who bring that history to life by giving a personal view of it. Perhaps school history in those days must have seemed to many children just a boring catalogue of dates and battles and kings. The stories show that they involved real people, with sometimes real conflicts of loyalties.
The stories seem to have a common theme too, and perhaps one that is worth noting in these days of the UK Independence Party and Brexit, and the preaching of a new version of British exceptionalism. Kipling seems concerned to show that the British are not a unique "pure" race. They are a mixture of Saxons and Normans, Romans and Picts, and many of the stories show people crossing these barriers of ethnicity and race.
Even religion is varied. The book begins with the story of a pagan god Weland, and ends with a Jew. And in between comes the story of the fairies fleeing as refugees to France because they didn't like the conflict between Catholics and Protestants, and the last straw was the iconoclasm of the Puritans.
But for all its good points, the story wasn't very well told. The children are made to forget each incident and story after they have heard it, by the invocation of "oak, ash and thorn", and so one wonders what the point was. A few years ago I read Kipling's Kim for the fifth time (my review here: Kim revisited: imperialism, Russophobia & asceticism | Notes from underground), but I don't think I'll really want to read this one again. It's a fantasy story, but the fantasy doesn't seem to blend very well with the history, and the Puck of the title does little more than introduce the other characters, like a master of ceremonies at a wedding or a funeral.