The Thief of Always: A Fable

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taught in a lot of schools now, which is fun. I think we're at 1.5 million copies in print in America, so it wasn't bad for a book that cost them For a children’s book, there are so many things an adult can enjoy and appreciate while learning a lesson or two while reading. Disney Villain Death (doubles as Karmic Death): Hood is killed when he dives into the lake and is pulled into a swirling vortex, which agonisingly destroys him. Harvey's father finally decides to go to the police station. While he is at the police station, Harvey and his mother are at home. Harvey's mother decides to go out shopping and Harvey goes up to his room. When he is in his room, he sees Wendell in the street walking towards Harvey's house. Wendell tells Harvey that Wendell's mother is old, fat, and divorced. Harvey also tells Wendell what happened to him. They both think about what happened in the Holiday House and decide that the only way to regain their lost time is to return to the Holiday House. Upon doing so, Harvey learns that Hood runs the entire house on magic and illusions. I recommend it to anyone! Anyone who loves magic, creepy illustrations and dark creatures. Good vs. evil and friendship and a morally sound protagonist fighting his inner compass to do the right thing. Who wouldn't love THAT??

The Thief is intended for my fans, but it's also a book that will be accessible to 10 year-olds, particularly if they're little 10 year-olds Title Drop: In a "Not So Different" Remark, "Vampire King" Hood tells Harvey he is a "Thief of Always" just like him.Witch of the West. That's why she is the victor. I think that's actually a misrepresentation of the way that power works in the world. Just one catch, which, of course, the children realize too late — you can’t leave. Think of it as “Hotel California” for kids. Flaw Exploitation: Rictus' specialty. He takes advantage of children's desire for escapism to manipulate them into Mr. Hood's clutches. As Harvey walks to the kitchen, he marvels at the house, noting that every door is different; he believes there must be hidden treasures all over. Harvey tells Mrs. Griffin that the house is perfect, but she disagrees and changes her tone. She tells Harvey it’s not perfect “because time passes.” Harvey wonders about her change in attitude.

Rictus' – One of four servants of Hood's. Rictus is six inches taller than Harvey, wears gentlemen's clothes, a tall brim hat, and wears spectacles. He's very thin, has yellowish skin, and has a grin that can stretch wider than any grin, resembling the bizarre Cheshire Cat from Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. Rictus's name means "a fixed grimace or grin." Wendell' – A naive, obnoxious boy who loves to be in the Holiday House and becomes friends with Harvey.

I know a place where the days are always sunny, and the nights are full of wonders.” Said the small man who mysteriously appears in Harvey's bedroom on a blustery rainy day. The day is a day in February, the worst of months. The month that swallows the hope of summer. Before the man can fill further promise, he is gone, but with the words, “Watch for me!” Perhaps it had only been a dream. Clive Barker was born in Liverpool, England, the son of Joan Rubie (née Revill), a painter and school welfare officer, and Leonard Barker, a personnel director for an industrial relations firm. Educated at Dovedale Primary School and Quarry Bank High School, he studied English and Philosophy at Liverpool University and his picture now hangs in the entrance hallway to the Philosophy Department. It was in Liverpool in 1975 that he met his first partner, John Gregson, with whom he lived until 1986. Barker's second long-term relationship, with photographer David Armstrong, ended in 2009. Now, onto the characters... I didn't really care for any of them. It didn't help that, besides our protaganist, most felt pretty flat to me. And the reason I cared little for the protaganist is because he didn't really have a dramatic need (besides not being bored anymore...) in over half a book. And that first half is pretty much without major conflict as well. So that didn't help... The Thief of Always is a plot that largely reflects a very old western sort of myth warning of the dangers of hedonism and apathy. The myth (specifically, a sort of fable [It even says so on the cover! Yay Clive Barker!]) is meant to impress upon people that their time on earth is short and every day should be valued just as the last (Seriously, he even maxims that shit up at the end). It's a principle that's been expressed in a number of ways throughout time, none of which are proving easy to google and right now I'm not really capable of coming up with one in my head. Suffice to say: It's a mytheme, or a trope, or a meme, depending on whose term you like best. Barker absolutely nailed that tone. I loved the progression of Harvey's story, the way he began to piece together that all wasn't as it appeared at the Holiday House.

Barker is a prolific visual artist working in a variety of media, often illustrating his own books. His paintings have been seen first on the covers of his official fan club magazine, Dread, published by Fantaco in the early Nineties, as well on the covers of the collections of his plays, Incarnations (1995) and Forms of Heaven (1996), as well as on the second printing of the original UK publications of his Books of Blood series. In Books of Blood I was blown away by Barker’s imagination, and The Thief of Always is no different. His mind must be a crazy place to be, but I’m so thankful he puts it all to paper for us to enjoy! I wish I had read this one when I was Harvey’s age, 11 or 12 or so, but I can always give it to my niece to read when she’s old enough (and then not take responsibility for the nightmares about Marr!) The author did a great job at incorporating elements from all kinds of children's stories where we travel to magical places and blend those elements with other well-known but still lovely tropes such as fairy-food, changelings and more. The atmosphere was positively zizzling with magic and foreboding. but, it is certainly a different kind of art, an art of its own and there's nothing diminishing in reading graphic novels instead of standard novels. It's just me.

What Year Is This?: Subverted, no mention is made of what year it is, currently or in the Bad Future, no one asks, and when Harvey asks Mrs. Griffin, they'd rather not say because it would be too painful. The plot I liked, but I also never got the sense I was reading something super original. Barker included handmade drawings as illustrations and that was a very nice addition. They were dark and creepy, but still in a child-friendly sort of way. The idea that one should simply not question is reinforced by Mrs. Griffin and even Wendell, who initially seems indifferent to the mysteries of the property. As Harvey first settles in with Wendell and Lulu, it appears that he condones this pact of silence. But in the end, Harvey’s intuition is too strong to be ignored. Unlike Wendell, Harvey continues to question his surroundings, and in doing so, he ultimately learns the secrets of the House and saves countless souls. Harvey and his friends’ experiences ultimately teach them about gratitude, leaving them with the wisdom to respect their parents and their real lives. Harvey must learn the hard way that actions, including wishes, have consequences and that sometimes it’s better to simply be grateful for what one has instead of focusing on what one could have. Questioning Others and Ourselves

I loved the warmth of Harvey's greeting when he recognizes a face that he knew "better than any on earth. It was the first face he'd ever loved. It was his mother." For the 10-year-old who reads Thief of Always, it is, I think, an adventure primarily. It is about a child who has time stolen from him I don't have anything else to say about this book apart from that it was a wonderful dark story about what you wish and what you get, a story about appreciating what you have and avoiding things you don't need. Who Wants to Live Forever?: Mrs. Griffin, after being granted immortality as part of her deal with Hood, has grown tired of it and has become a Death Seeker. sequence in Fantasia. It's no accident there are as many dark passages as there are bright in Disney films, and it's no accident that thoseMaybe too tough for adults. Not for the 9-to-11-year-old kids in my daughter’s crew. That’s because Clive Barker has written a story that works on two levels. One is an adventure story for kids, with a simple moral: careful what you wish for. For adults, the moral is more complex, more philosophical. The genius is not just in the simplicity of the story and its non-stop action, but in the pared-down language. Loners Are Freaks: Wendell believes that Lulu qualifies for this trope, but once Harvey gets to know her she's quite nice. Unfortunately, there's a reason (see Body Horror) why she keeps to herself... Lulu and Wendell find Harvey. They realize that all the kids who were trapped in the lake have been freed. The danger is not over, however, as Rictus appears with a glowing orb. He begins to rebuild Holiday House, but Mr. Hood’s spirit stops him, creating a makeshift body out of debris and ripping off Rictus’s shead.