- Hardcover: 247 pages
- Publisher: Feiwel & Friends (10 May 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0312649614
- ISBN-13: 978-0312649616
- Product Dimensions: 24.3 x 16.1 x 2.4 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 213,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Review
A glorious balancing act between modernism and the Victorian Fairy Tale, done with heart and wisdom.--Neil Gaiman, Newbery Award winning author of The Graveyard Book
September is a clever, fun, stronghearted addition to the ranks of bold, adventurous girls. Valente s subversive storytelling is sheer magic.--Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series
A mad, toothsome romp of a fairy tale full of oddments, whimsy, and joy.--Holly Black, author of Zombies vs. Unicorns and The Spiderwick Chronicles
When I saw that this book reminds me simultaneously of E. Nesbit, James Thurber, and the late Eva Ibbotson, I don t mean to take anything awy from its astonishing originality. It s a charmer from the first page, managing the remarkable parlay of being at once ridiculously funny and surprisingly suspenseful. Catherynne Valente is a find, at any age! --Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
September is a clever, fun, stronghearted addition to the ranks of bold, adventurous girls. Valente s subversive storytelling is sheer magic.--Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series
A mad, toothsome romp of a fairy tale full of oddments, whimsy, and joy.--Holly Black, author of Zombies vs. Unicorns and The Spiderwick Chronicles
When I saw that this book reminds me simultaneously of E. Nesbit, James Thurber, and the late Eva Ibbotson, I don t mean to take anything awy from its astonishing originality. It s a charmer from the first page, managing the remarkable parlay of being at once ridiculously funny and surprisingly suspenseful. Catherynne Valente is a find, at any age! --Peter S. Beagle, author of The Last Unicorn --This text refers to the Paperback edition.
Review
"A glorious balancing act between modernism and the Victorian Fairy Tale, done with heart and wisdom."--Neil Gaiman, Newbery Award-winning author of "The Graveyard Book" "September is a clever, fun, stronghearted addition to the ranks of bold, adventurous girls. Valente's subversive storytelling is sheer magic."--Tamora Pierce, author of The Immortals series "A mad, toothsome romp of a fairy tale--full of oddments, whimsy, and joy."--Holly Black, author of "Zombies vs. Unicorns" and "The Spiderwick Chronicles" "When I saw that this book reminds me simultaneously of E. Nesbit, James Thurber, and the late Eva Ibbotson, I don't mean to take anything awy from its astonishing originality. It's a charmer from the first page, managing the remarkable parlay of being at once ridiculously funny and surprisingly suspenseful. Catherynne Valente is a find, at any age!"--Peter S. Beagle, author of "The Last Unicorn" "This is a kind of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz" by way of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"--it's the sort of book one doesn't want to end."--"Publishers Weekly", Starred Review "[Fairyland creates] a world as bizarre and enchanting as any Wonderland or Oz and a heroine as curious, resourceful and brave as any Alice or Dorothy. Complex, rich and memorable."--"Kirkus Reviews", Starred Review "This book is quite simply a gold mine."--"Booklist", Starred Review "Amusing, wrenching, and thought-provoking."--"The Horn Book"
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Brilliant book. One of those stories which you constantly see compared to classics (modern and traditional)of the genre- Alice in Wonderland, The Wizard of Oz, Neil Gaiman's Coraline and Eva Ibbotson's The Secret of Platform 13- and you think it can't possibly compare. However I've read several of Valente's books and loved them, so I trusted in these grand claims and bought the book, and I;'m very happy I did so. It combines the best of her books. It's lyrical and poetic like 'Labyrinth' and full of great stories and unique, yet recognisable characters such as in the Orphan's Tales. Recommended for all lovers of fairytales and stories with spiritied heroines.
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Every child wants to be whisked away to a magical land, have adventures, and set out on a fantastical quest against a tyrant.
It's a pretty typical fantasy storyline as well, and it takes something special to make such stories stand out. Catherynne Valente's "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" is an enchanting example, filled with delightful nonsense, wryly witty prose, and a wonderfully oddball world that reminds me of a more lyrical Lewis Carroll.
A young girl named September is whisked away from her boring Nebraska home by the Green Wind, who takes her to Fairyland. But September soon finds herself traveling through Fairyland herself, encountering a soap golem, a half-library wyvern named A-Through-L, a wairwulf, the Perverse and Perilous Sea with its golden beaches, The House Without Warning, gnomish customs agents, a jeweled key, a migration of bicycles.
She also is given a quest by a pair of witches -- find the magical spoon that the cruel Marquess stole from their dead brothers. So she and the Wyverary set out to the city of Pandemonium, but soon find themselves (and a flying leopard named Saturday) on a new quest, with overwhelming results for all the people of Fairyland.
Normally, Catherynne Valente has a lush, lyrical, sensual writing style, and there's a fair amount of that in this book ("... the moon slowly fall down into the horizon and all the dark morning stars turn in the sky like a silver carousel"). Her Fairyland is a weird, sometimes dangerous place filled with countless oddball creatures (migrating bicycles!), making her story feel like a more plotcentric "Alice in Wonderland."
But since this book is meant for children, she also weaves in a wry, arch style that reminds me of some classic British prose ('As you might expect, the geographical location of the capital of Fairyland is fickle and has a rather short temper"). This gets a little twee sometimes, but Valente also weaves in a bittersweet thread as the story goes on, as well as some dark, delicately heartrending moments.
It takes a little while to warm up to September, since she is initially Heartless (like many children), and doesn't care much about what worry she might cause her parents. Then again, it's pleasant to have a heroine who goes happily into another world without moping about going home -- and despite being Heartless, September proves herself to be a sweet, compassionate girl who is just childlike enough to accept the weirdness.
Catherynne Valente blends her velvety prose with a quirky magical twist in"The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making." And she leaves the door to Fairyland open... just in case.
It's a pretty typical fantasy storyline as well, and it takes something special to make such stories stand out. Catherynne Valente's "The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making" is an enchanting example, filled with delightful nonsense, wryly witty prose, and a wonderfully oddball world that reminds me of a more lyrical Lewis Carroll.
A young girl named September is whisked away from her boring Nebraska home by the Green Wind, who takes her to Fairyland. But September soon finds herself traveling through Fairyland herself, encountering a soap golem, a half-library wyvern named A-Through-L, a wairwulf, the Perverse and Perilous Sea with its golden beaches, The House Without Warning, gnomish customs agents, a jeweled key, a migration of bicycles.
She also is given a quest by a pair of witches -- find the magical spoon that the cruel Marquess stole from their dead brothers. So she and the Wyverary set out to the city of Pandemonium, but soon find themselves (and a flying leopard named Saturday) on a new quest, with overwhelming results for all the people of Fairyland.
Normally, Catherynne Valente has a lush, lyrical, sensual writing style, and there's a fair amount of that in this book ("... the moon slowly fall down into the horizon and all the dark morning stars turn in the sky like a silver carousel"). Her Fairyland is a weird, sometimes dangerous place filled with countless oddball creatures (migrating bicycles!), making her story feel like a more plotcentric "Alice in Wonderland."
But since this book is meant for children, she also weaves in a wry, arch style that reminds me of some classic British prose ('As you might expect, the geographical location of the capital of Fairyland is fickle and has a rather short temper"). This gets a little twee sometimes, but Valente also weaves in a bittersweet thread as the story goes on, as well as some dark, delicately heartrending moments.
It takes a little while to warm up to September, since she is initially Heartless (like many children), and doesn't care much about what worry she might cause her parents. Then again, it's pleasant to have a heroine who goes happily into another world without moping about going home -- and despite being Heartless, September proves herself to be a sweet, compassionate girl who is just childlike enough to accept the weirdness.
Catherynne Valente blends her velvety prose with a quirky magical twist in"The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making." And she leaves the door to Fairyland open... just in case.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book took a while for me to get into mainly because the writing was so different to what i have been reading at the moment it just seemed so odd. I also felt naughty reading it, like a comprehensive student had stumbled about and came upon a private school book with the words so long and new in places and so eloquent. Once i got passed all that silliness and remembered that i actually like odd and different and love learning new words, i started to like the book the further i got into it. The author is most definitely eloquent the way she describes things, of the towns, the people and the food, its beautiful without a doubt. At the end of this book i was in love with all the characters and i loved the twist and also the relationship between September and Saturday at the end :-)
This is a beautiful and in parts dark tale and i recommend this whole heartily if you have a soft spot for books like Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz.
This is a beautiful and in parts dark tale and i recommend this whole heartily if you have a soft spot for books like Alice in Wonderland and the Wizard of Oz.
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