Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Astounding but not for children, 7 Jan 2005
Alan Garner is very much the precursor of the current cross-over authors like Pullman and Haddon, but is still mystifyingly pigeonholed as a children's writer. Yes the lovely Weirdstone of Brisingamen, Elidor and Moon of Gomrath are classic books for 9-11 year olds, but everything he has written since the spooky Owl Service has become more complex and elusive. The Stone Book Quartet has to be his finest book and I would suspect possibly one of the major landmarks of 20th century literature. It is a book of awesome power and depth, particularly considering its brevity, but I cannot imagine the child that would read it willingly. This is adult fiction, superbly crafted, pin-point observation and deeply sophisticated. It examines the cumulative layers of human change over four generations of a cheshire family through an oblique lens. Garner's not a kind writer and unswervingly peels back the layers of frailty (and strength) in his characters. I love the Stone Book Quartet unreservedly for its poetic prose and its precision - but I would not expect a child to 'get' it - well maybe a 16/17 year old at a push. I tried to read it when I was about 14, and drifted away from it completely - fortunately I came back to it as an adult. I hope many others will.
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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb for adults as well, 6 Mar 2002
This marvelous book, one of the finest works of fiction of the last quarter of the 20th century, presents one day in the life of each of four generations of a rural British family and ranges from about 1860 to the Battle of Britain. Each tale features a significant moment in the life of the featured child, a moment when a more profound connection is made with a member [or members] of a preceding generation, and in which the reader can see the continuance of tradition and family love. In distinction from Garner's works of the '60s, "Stone Book Quartet" is completely realistic and is worthy of standing alongside his Carnegie- and Guardian-award-winning "Owl Service."
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13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Gentle, compelling reading, 30 Jul 2004
By A Customer
Alan Garner, author of the classics 'The Weirdstone of Brisinghamen' and 'The Moon of Gomrath' among others, here writes four connected stories, chronicling significant events in the lives of various craftsmen and their families in Cheshire over several generations. The four short stories can each stand alone, but the recurrence of families, places and even people links them together, so that overall we are given a picture of change and continuity in a small community.Crafts such as those of stone-workers and blacksmiths are described, as one generation passes on secrets and wisdom to the next. People's thoughts on God, war, industry and other social issues are dealt with in passing, as the characters go about their lives. A gentle but profound book, chronicling a place and an era, and showing beautifully how children move into the adult world as they learn the wisdom and the skills of their elders.
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