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33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Surreal children's classic, but good for adults too, 29 Nov 2005
The (largely faithful) TV adaptation of this is probably better known than the book, but the latter is more rewarding. The lines between reality and magic are blurred throughout the story, and that's the way John Masefield likes it - he was Poet Laureate, after all, so you expect to be dazzled. It's most definitely a story to be read at Christmas, as the plot takes place the week before the big day.In places the book shows its age - it was written in the 1920s - and isn't politically correct by today's standards. However, it's very funny, especially Abner Brown's evil monologues, the completely loopy Arnold of Todi and little Maria's constant attempts to shock people. The ending has been described as cliched, but may have been less so at the time it was written. It's certainly worth reading "The Midnight Folk" (the Box of Delights is actually a sequel) as this helps to explain the origin of the characters such as Abner, the Rat and Caroline Louisa. The books complement each other very well, with one set in summer and the other at Christmas, but with largely the same characters and setting.
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Delightful Box of Christmas Kids Adventure!, 13 Dec 2003
You may, like me, have first come accross the Box of Delights when it was dramatised by the BBC in the early 1980s, and shown at Christmas virtually every year that decade! It was through a fit of nostalgia about this that I sought out the book, and I have certainly not been disappointed. Very simply the main character of the story is entrusted a magical box, which he endeavours to hide from a "gang of crooks" who also have an interest in the dark arts and the powers of the box. Masefield charts the adventures of 12(ish) year old Kay Harker, and those "blessed Joneses" (Kay's words, not mine!) over the four days leading up to Christmas in 1935, setting a good vs evil story against the background of going swift and going small, adventures in prehistory, pagan mythology, cars that turn into aeroplanes, scrobbling, incompetant policemen, snowy landscapes and well stocked larders! Christmassy, and yet slightly dark, and utterly exciting, I would suggest this story has certainly not aged and I will definately be reading it to my children every Christmas until they too can quote all the words and make a possit as well as I can!
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The perfect Christmas classic - unabridged., 4 Dec 2008
I have just acquired this book, having grown up with the abridged version. I had never realised how much I was missing! It is wonderful to finally have the complete text, and just in time for Christmas too. Quentin Blake's illustrations are of course very different from Faith Jacques' in my old copy, and less to my taste, but if they bring new readers to this wonderful book, then that is all to the good. Don't forget The Midnight Folk, too, it is just as good.
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by John Masefield
by L.M. Boston
by John Masefield
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