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I've always felt that John Connolly's writing isn't logically suited to the confines of the crime fiction genre – the conventions are too restrictive for his fertile mind. He's played around with fantasy, horror, gothic and mystery. I'm particularly fond of his deeply strange short story The Inkpot Monkey, featuring, yes, a monkey, which seems to fall into all of those categories. His PI Charlie Parker books to me promise more than they deliver. The atmosphere and menace are often there, but the plot becomes bogged down in Connolly's wish to tell you everything – often at the expense of the action. THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS is something else again. And it shows that when Connolly focuses in on something, he really hits the spot. The book is, by turns, rich, imaginative, lush and scary. And the writing, for once, is precise and sharp. The story is highly allegorical, dealing with a small boy moving into adulthood and dealing with death, loss, jealousy, upheaval and change amidst the backdrop of world war. David is a 12-year-old who immerses himself in his books after his mother dies. Then the books start talking to him and he is whisked away on a terrifying and life-changing adventure. THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS re-interprets some familiar folk tales, giving them 21st century and occasionally humorous twists. I was very fond of Connolly's take on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, where David muses to himself later: "He had quite liked the dwarves. He often had no idea what they were talking about, but for a group of homicidal, class-obsessed small people, they were really rather good fun." I suspect THE BOOK OF LOST THINGS is a book that will polarise readers. Some will find it slight and wonder if it is aimed at adults or children. I liked it, mainly for Connolly's clever storytelling and his take on the tricks all children must learn to survive in adulthood. The ending won't please everyone, and I know what I hope it doesn't mean. The obvious take on it – which I think would be a cop-out – seems at odds with the sentiments expressed earlier. That probably sounds annoyingly cryptic, but I don't want to give too much away. Read the book and make your own mind up.
Reviewed by Sharon Wheeler, October 2006
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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