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A review by fieldofhats
The Seeing Stone by Kevin Crossley-Holland
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? It's complicated
4.75
“‘What’s the wind saying?’ I closed my eyes and tried to listen. ‘How it praises God!’ cried Nain. ‘On it’s way from yesterday to tomorrow. The spirits in the copper beech! The grumble and chuckle of stones. Listen! Our words must dance like they do. Mouthfuls of air, not dry ink.”
Kevin Crossley-Holland weaves an absolutely beautiful coming-of-age tale that is relatable, entertaining, tense, emotional, and even lyrical. Crossley-Holland depicts the medieval world with a sense of awe that translates even through Arthur’s mundane attitude about it; in fact, Arthur’s attitude and simple beauty of the world makes it all the more vivid. The characters are lively and complex, each with their own unique sense of honor and righteousness, and each going through their own hardships that shape them throughout the book. The plot is also phenomenal. It kept me on my toes throughout, and even when it slowed down it never felt like a drag.
The perspective of Arthur as a young boy wasn’t something I thought I would like, but it was actually very fun to see him think about things and make sense of the world he’s living in. And since the reader is so far removed from medieval England, his way of detailing everything works well for our understanding. It also makes the actual reading go by pretty fast.
The theme of religion is very well done in this novel. Although every character is christian, they all have different nuances in their beliefs; Oliver believes that any non-christian is going to hell, Sir John believes that the afterlife depends on one’s character, and Merlin is a loose canon who definitely is a christian, but dislikes Oliver and even questions the legitimacy of using the christian religion as a base for education (which is, sadly, a surprisingly relevant topic in the modern day). This is nice because the historical accuracy is maintained, but there’s no agenda. In fact, it seems like a purposeful commentary on religion in the west and how we view it. Because Arthur has so many contradictory options, Crossley-Holland is advocating for having an open-mind about religion and it’s implications. We need to think and decide for ourselves, just as Arthur does. This idea is further bolstered when Arthur begins to ponder Merlin’s words: “What if it’s possible to believe in the nine spirits as well as in Christ? Merlin does.”
I also really adore the idea/theme of crossing-places. It’s such a wonderful concept that makes the ordinary seem magical, and because of that is a nice parallel to the novel as a whole.
The class tension is done with tact in this book; Arthur is intrenched in the world of the rich, but he hates to see poor people so badly off. And when he tries to rationalize this, he always comes to the conclusion that there’s more that could be done than what is. This is great because it sets up his feelings about wealth and gives us a good indication of what his future kingly ruling style will be. Now, it would be nice to get the poor people’s perspective; it’s always a good thing to include them in the narrative. No matter how sympathetic Arthur is, he still doesn’t grasp what it’s like. I don’t think this perspective is a bad thing, though, considering the subject matter of the book — this is a King Arthur retelling. Of course we’re going to see the world through nobility’s eyes. And if I’m not mistaken, Crossley-Holland did write a novel telling Gatty’s story, if that book is indeed the same Gatty in this book.
The structure of the book is amazing. The short chapters almost make it feel more like a poetry book than a prose novel, and it makes the reading feel very quick. I get that it may not be preferable to everyone, but I personally love it. It’s very approachable, which is extremely important for young adult novels.
The only gripe that I have with this book is the story between Uther and Ygerna. I’m not upset that it’s there, since it was part of the original King Arthur story, but I wish that Uther was portrayed in a more negative light. Furthermore, I wish Ygerna wasn’t happy when Uther tells her about how he sexually assaulted her and that her baby is actually his — perhaps it isn’t unrealistic since the two of them had presumably known each other for a few months at that point, but it was still a very odd decision. With that said, I don’t think that this book condones sexual assault; it’s very clear that William is a bad person because he assaulted Arthur’s mother, and Arthur hates him for it. I’m not sure if Crossley-Holland wanted to make the Uther-Ygerna thing seem less like assault since it was a disguise situation, but it undoubtedly still is rape and it’s portrayal was just very odd.
Kevin Crossley-Holland weaves an absolutely beautiful coming-of-age tale that is relatable, entertaining, tense, emotional, and even lyrical. Crossley-Holland depicts the medieval world with a sense of awe that translates even through Arthur’s mundane attitude about it; in fact, Arthur’s attitude and simple beauty of the world makes it all the more vivid. The characters are lively and complex, each with their own unique sense of honor and righteousness, and each going through their own hardships that shape them throughout the book. The plot is also phenomenal. It kept me on my toes throughout, and even when it slowed down it never felt like a drag.
The perspective of Arthur as a young boy wasn’t something I thought I would like, but it was actually very fun to see him think about things and make sense of the world he’s living in. And since the reader is so far removed from medieval England, his way of detailing everything works well for our understanding. It also makes the actual reading go by pretty fast.
The theme of religion is very well done in this novel. Although every character is christian, they all have different nuances in their beliefs; Oliver believes that any non-christian is going to hell, Sir John believes that the afterlife depends on one’s character, and Merlin is a loose canon who definitely is a christian, but dislikes Oliver and even questions the legitimacy of using the christian religion as a base for education (which is, sadly, a surprisingly relevant topic in the modern day). This is nice because the historical accuracy is maintained, but there’s no agenda. In fact, it seems like a purposeful commentary on religion in the west and how we view it. Because Arthur has so many contradictory options, Crossley-Holland is advocating for having an open-mind about religion and it’s implications. We need to think and decide for ourselves, just as Arthur does. This idea is further bolstered when Arthur begins to ponder Merlin’s words: “What if it’s possible to believe in the nine spirits as well as in Christ? Merlin does.”
I also really adore the idea/theme of crossing-places. It’s such a wonderful concept that makes the ordinary seem magical, and because of that is a nice parallel to the novel as a whole.
The class tension is done with tact in this book; Arthur is intrenched in the world of the rich, but he hates to see poor people so badly off. And when he tries to rationalize this, he always comes to the conclusion that there’s more that could be done than what is. This is great because it sets up his feelings about wealth and gives us a good indication of what his future kingly ruling style will be. Now, it would be nice to get the poor people’s perspective; it’s always a good thing to include them in the narrative. No matter how sympathetic Arthur is, he still doesn’t grasp what it’s like. I don’t think this perspective is a bad thing, though, considering the subject matter of the book — this is a King Arthur retelling. Of course we’re going to see the world through nobility’s eyes. And if I’m not mistaken, Crossley-Holland did write a novel telling Gatty’s story, if that book is indeed the same Gatty in this book.
The structure of the book is amazing. The short chapters almost make it feel more like a poetry book than a prose novel, and it makes the reading feel very quick. I get that it may not be preferable to everyone, but I personally love it. It’s very approachable, which is extremely important for young adult novels.
The only gripe that I have with this book is the story between Uther and Ygerna. I’m not upset that it’s there, since it was part of the original King Arthur story, but I wish that Uther was portrayed in a more negative light. Furthermore, I wish Ygerna wasn’t happy when Uther tells her about how he sexually assaulted her and that her baby is actually his — perhaps it isn’t unrealistic since the two of them had presumably known each other for a few months at that point, but it was still a very odd decision. With that said, I don’t think that this book condones sexual assault; it’s very clear that William is a bad person because he assaulted Arthur’s mother, and Arthur hates him for it. I’m not sure if Crossley-Holland wanted to make the Uther-Ygerna thing seem less like assault since it was a disguise situation, but it undoubtedly still is rape and it’s portrayal was just very odd.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Rape, and Classism