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丌鬲卮鈥屫堌ж辟囏�
丌鬲卮鈥屫堌ж辟囏� 丿丕爻鬲丕賳 亘蹖賲 賵 丕賲蹖丿貙 鬲乇爻 賵 賳丕丕賲蹖丿蹖貙 毓卮賯貙 賴乇丕爻 賵 丿蹖賵丕賳賴鈥屫ㄘж槽屸€屬囏й� 讴賵丿讴丕賳蹖 丕爻鬲 讴賴 爻丕讴賳 噩夭蹖乇賴鈥屫й� 夭睾丕賱鈥屫迟嗂� 賴爻鬲賳丿. 噩賳诏 丕鬲賲蹖 丿賳蹖丕 乇丕 鬲賴丿蹖丿 賲蹖鈥屭┵嗀� 賵 爻丕讴賳丕賳 丕蹖賳 噩夭蹖乇賴鈥屰� 讴賵趩讴 賵 倬乇鬲貙 亘丕賵乇 丿丕乇賳丿 讴賴 丿賳蹖丕 乇賵 亘賴 倬丕蹖丕賳 丕爻鬲. 賵賯鬲蹖 賯乇丕乇 丕爻鬲 丿賳蹖丕 亘賴 丌禺乇 亘乇爻丿貙 丿蹖诏乇 趩賴鈥屭嗃屫槽� 亘乇丕蹖 鬲乇爻蹖丿賳 賵噩賵丿 丿丕乇丿責 賵賯鬲蹖 賲乇诏 亘乇 爻乇 丌丿賲 賴丕 爻丕蹖賴 賲蹖鈥屫з嗀ж藏� 丨鬲蹖 卮賵乇卮 丿乇 賲丿乇爻賴 賴賲 丌賳 賯丿乇賴丕 賴乇丕爻賳丕讴 亘賴 賳馗乇 賳賲蹖鈥屫必池� 鈥�
275 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2003
28 people are currently reading
652 people want to read
About the author
David Almond
110听books807听followersDavid Almond is a British children's writer who has penned several novels, each one to critical acclaim. He was born and raised in Felling and Newcastle in post-industrial North East England and educated at the University of East Anglia. When he was young, he found his love of writing when some short stories of his were published in a local magazine. He started out as an author of adult fiction before finding his niche writing literature for young adults.
His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002.
His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake.
He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.
Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.
Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).
His first children's novel, Skellig (1998), set in Newcastle, won the Whitbread Children's Novel of the Year Award and also the Carnegie Medal. His subsequent novels are: Kit's Wilderness (1999), Heaven Eyes (2000), Secret Heart (2001), The Fire Eaters (2003) and Clay (2005). His first play aimed at adolescents, Wild Girl, Wild Boy, toured in 2001 and was published in 2002.
His works are highly philosophical and thus appeal to children and adults alike. Recurring themes throughout include the complex relationships between apparent opposites (such as life and death, reality and fiction, past and future); forms of education; growing up and adapting to change; the nature of 'the self'. He has been greatly influenced by the works of the English Romantic poet William Blake.
He is an author often suggested on National Curriculum reading lists in the United Kingdom and has attracted the attention of academics who specialise in the study of children's literature.
Almond currently lives with his family in Northumberland, England.
Awards: Hans Christian Andersen Award for Writing (2010).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 149 reviews
November 16, 2014
This just wasn't for me. I didn't connect to any of the characters, and the plot didn't keep me interested and lacked excitement.
I did somewhat enjoy the last few chapters, but the rest was pretty meh for me.
I did somewhat enjoy the last few chapters, but the rest was pretty meh for me.
March 4, 2014
I bought this book from a small bookstore close to my university because it was 1/3 of its original price and because I liked the title. I read the back cover and found the story different than what I usually read so I said "let's do it".
I started the book but nothing really interesting happened. Still, I couldn't say I won't read it. Something inside me kept telling me there is more. When I did finish the book, I felt it was a wonderful book. It has no dragons, no elves, no great deeds. It is a book about two months, about ordinary lives in a period of dread.
Aisla, Bobby and Daniel were the most interesting characters and the ending was amazing. It was amazing because it was so soft and lovely. This is a book that wins you without understanding why. For me, it was the peaceful feelings it created in my heart.
I started the book but nothing really interesting happened. Still, I couldn't say I won't read it. Something inside me kept telling me there is more. When I did finish the book, I felt it was a wonderful book. It has no dragons, no elves, no great deeds. It is a book about two months, about ordinary lives in a period of dread.
Aisla, Bobby and Daniel were the most interesting characters and the ending was amazing. It was amazing because it was so soft and lovely. This is a book that wins you without understanding why. For me, it was the peaceful feelings it created in my heart.
October 18, 2023
What a lovely little book
July 20, 2023
My favourite thing about David Almond's writing is the consistent attention to and celebration of sensory experiences, no matter how small. ESPECIALLY if they're small. This book was no different. I can't honestly say that much actually happens in his stories, but they're alive with the tiniest of moments, finding joy even while much of what's going on is very big and very scary. Knowing that this kind of thing is what I grew up reading feels like it explains an awful lot about the way I exist in the world.
April 30, 2021
蹖讴 乇賲丕賳 囟丿 噩賳诏 亘乇丕蹖 賳賵噩賵丕賳丕賳. 丕賱亘鬲賴 亘賴 诏賲丕賳賲 倬蹖趩蹖丿诏蹖 賳蹖賲賴 丕賵賱卮 亘乇丕蹖 賳賵噩賵丕賳鈥屬囏� 禺蹖賱蹖 夭蹖丕丿 丕爻鬲. 丨鬲蹖 亘乇丕蹖 亘夭乇诏爻丕賱鈥屬囏�. 賴賲趩賳蹖賳 亘乇丕蹖 賲禺丕胤亘 丕卮丕乇賴鈥屬囏� 亘賴 賲爻丕蹖賱 鬲丕乇蹖禺蹖 氐乇蹖丨 丕爻鬲 丕賲丕 亘乇丕蹖 賳賵噩賵丕賳蹖 讴賴 趩蹖夭蹖 丕夭 丕蹖賳 丨賵丕丿孬 賵 鬲丕乇蹖禺鈥屬囏� 賳賲蹖鈥屫з嗀� (賲孬賱 噩賳诏 噩賴丕賳蹖貙 噩賳诏 爻乇丿貙 禺胤乇 噩賳诏 賴爻鬲賴鈥屫й屫� 亘丨乇丕賳 賲賵卮讴蹖 讴賵亘丕 賵 ...) 卮丕蹖丿 亘賴 禺賵亘蹖 賲賮賴賲賵賲 賳亘丕卮丿.
October 11, 2014
Almond paints the world from the view of a child so well that you forget he is not a child himself. Dealing with some heavy themes, The Fire Eaters makes you question aspects of reality that you accepted long ago. Why is the world the way it is?
What is childhood?
Is there a God?
Almond asks these questions, but never answers them. If you are triggered by heavier themes or prone to existential crises, maybe give it a miss.
What is childhood?
Is there a God?
Almond asks these questions, but never answers them. If you are triggered by heavier themes or prone to existential crises, maybe give it a miss.
April 2, 2013
This book is the worst thing I've ever read!!!!
It's not even propper english, and u can NOT understand a word they say. It makes no sense what so ever. And the plot is completely useless. It is something I would NEVER recommend to anyone. It is a disgrace to all those GOOD books out there! And I hope no-one ever has to go through the torture of reading this book.
It's not even propper english, and u can NOT understand a word they say. It makes no sense what so ever. And the plot is completely useless. It is something I would NEVER recommend to anyone. It is a disgrace to all those GOOD books out there! And I hope no-one ever has to go through the torture of reading this book.
August 30, 2012
yo be honest, i hadn't even finished the book. i couldn't ever understand what the characters were talking about and they spoke in old timely/British style which was confusing. i do not advise this book to anyone.
July 22, 2018
My son read this before me. We are both David Almond fans and he couldn't wait for me to finish it so that we could discuss it. One thing we both agreed on, Almond has such a talent for writing in a flawlessly simple way which somehow manages to convey so much beauty and tragedy. For me that makes his books perfect for children and adults. The Fire Eater of the title is a homeless war veteran named McNulty who makes money by performing tricks for passerbys, such as fire-eating and escapology. The narrator is a young boy called Bobby Burns who leads a simple but happy life with his mum and dad in Keeley Bay. Life is hard for the locals, but with a true working class spirit of community, they all get by and Bobby has very little to worry about. Bobby becomes fascinated with McNulty when his father explains how he met him during the war. The man had seen such horror it had altered his mind forever. Meanwhile, the threat of World War Three is looming with the Russians and Americans threatening to launch missiles. The whole book has a sad and desperate feel to it, as the characters try to live their lives with the threat of nuclear war hanging over their heads. The fear begins to affect them in different ways and Bobby's young life is turned upside down when his father becomes ill, and he finds his new school a cruel and hostile place where one particular teacher revels in dealing out violence. The new boy in town is not fazed though, and together they hatch a plan for revenge. This is just one of many gripping storylines that make this book so touching. I also loved Ailsa and Joseph, both strong characters you can't help fall in love with. I think Almond has such a talent for weaving universal themes such as war and death and morality into a simple children's story. I was left moved, having read it in one day, transferred from my world into theirs, and wanting more. An important story of family, friendships, community and standing up for what you know is right. Highly recommended.
May 5, 2021
Uh ova me je ba拧 rastu啪ila. Pri膷a o siroma拧nim ljudima, bolesti, smrti, strahu od rata, posljedicama rata. Isprva mi je bila malo dosadna, ali kako je radnja napredovala sve me je nekako vi拧e zanimalo 拧to 膰e se do kraja dogoditi. Ba拧 ba拧 me dirnula.
Autor je dobitnik Andersenove nagrade za dje膷ju knji啪evnost.
Autor je dobitnik Andersenove nagrade za dje膷ju knji啪evnost.
April 15, 2019
Almond has the ability to make me care about his characters. There is enough here to interest a range of 10 to 15 year olds, dependent on reading and emotional maturity. The mad fire-eater is another edge-of-reality character - the sort we all can be entertained by.
June 24, 2022
I鈥檝e always admired David Almond鈥檚 ability to convey so clearly and poetically the small wonders and beauties in everyday realities, and to show how important compassion and forgiveness are 鈥� especially in a world devoid of certainty and full of strife and turbulence.
January 30, 2021
Beautiful!
March 5, 2020
Personal response
I like the book, The Fire-Eaters by David Almond, because of how historically accurate it is. I like all the different characters鈥� personalities and how they all evolve throughout the book. I also really like how the author emphasizes how much power religion has during this time period.
Plot Summary
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it becomes starts to fall apart he, protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or supernatural causes.
Characterization
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it starts to fall apart, he protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or other supernatural causes.
Bobby's childhood friend Alisa is a really down to earth character, and she is the big reason Bobby has a newfound belief in God. She really does not change much throughout the book, but she really supports Bobby throughout the storyline.
Setting
The Fire-Eaters takes place in Northern England in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This plays a big role in the book because even though Keely Bay is nowhere near Cuba and the United States, the Cuban Missile Crisis is thought to be the end of the world. This causes Bobby to look beyond this world and into the next, to question the existence of God and other supernatural beings.
Personal Recommendation
I would recommend The Fire-Eaters to ages 12 and up because the book makes many historical references that younger kids may not know about. This book is suitable for fans of historical fiction, and slice-of-life novels because the book is set in the 1960s, but it mainly focuses on the daily life of the main character.
I like the book, The Fire-Eaters by David Almond, because of how historically accurate it is. I like all the different characters鈥� personalities and how they all evolve throughout the book. I also really like how the author emphasizes how much power religion has during this time period.
Plot Summary
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it becomes starts to fall apart he, protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or supernatural causes.
Characterization
The book is told through the view of Bobby, the main character. Bobby is very naive at the beginning of the story, but as the world, as he knows it starts to fall apart, he protests for change. Although his efforts are in vain, everything works out in the end and Bobby attributes it as the work of God or other supernatural causes.
Bobby's childhood friend Alisa is a really down to earth character, and she is the big reason Bobby has a newfound belief in God. She really does not change much throughout the book, but she really supports Bobby throughout the storyline.
Setting
The Fire-Eaters takes place in Northern England in the 1960s during the Cuban Missile Crisis. This plays a big role in the book because even though Keely Bay is nowhere near Cuba and the United States, the Cuban Missile Crisis is thought to be the end of the world. This causes Bobby to look beyond this world and into the next, to question the existence of God and other supernatural beings.
Personal Recommendation
I would recommend The Fire-Eaters to ages 12 and up because the book makes many historical references that younger kids may not know about. This book is suitable for fans of historical fiction, and slice-of-life novels because the book is set in the 1960s, but it mainly focuses on the daily life of the main character.
September 4, 2009
Bobby is growing up during the years of nuclear fear and worries about America and Russia starting another war. The book opens a few weeks before school starts, and Bobby has managed to get into an exclusive prep school, and he wonders how he will fit in鈥擝obby lives in a blue collar section of England鈥擪eely Bay, a coal mining town. Bobby also has to deal with his father having a bit of a medical scare, a contortionist who seems to defy the laws of nature, a girl he鈥檚 known all his life becoming more than just a neighbor (friendship/love but
nothing more than a walk on the beach) and an abusive head teacher.
This is a book similar to Skellig, though not quite as bizarre. Almond has created a story that captures life perfectly鈥攖here is no one thing going on in someone鈥檚 life (especially when they鈥檙e around middle school age), and everything does seem to blend together sometimes. We don鈥檛 see a lot of character development with Bobby, but he does grow and change a bit through the novel. He struggles with friendships, his father鈥檚 mysterious illness (that no one will tell him about鈥攖hey just say everything will be fine) and a strict school that uses corporal
punishment. Plus the allure of the fire eater, the Cuban Missile crisis and the worry of everyone getting everything they need in life. There are a couple of spots that made me a bit squeamish鈥攖he contortionist/fire eater does a trick where he sticks a needle through his cheeks, and this is described quite well. There also may be a bit of a language barrier鈥攕ome words and phrases are quite strange to Americans. Otherwise it was a well written novel, and I don鈥檛 usually like David Almond...
nothing more than a walk on the beach) and an abusive head teacher.
This is a book similar to Skellig, though not quite as bizarre. Almond has created a story that captures life perfectly鈥攖here is no one thing going on in someone鈥檚 life (especially when they鈥檙e around middle school age), and everything does seem to blend together sometimes. We don鈥檛 see a lot of character development with Bobby, but he does grow and change a bit through the novel. He struggles with friendships, his father鈥檚 mysterious illness (that no one will tell him about鈥攖hey just say everything will be fine) and a strict school that uses corporal
punishment. Plus the allure of the fire eater, the Cuban Missile crisis and the worry of everyone getting everything they need in life. There are a couple of spots that made me a bit squeamish鈥攖he contortionist/fire eater does a trick where he sticks a needle through his cheeks, and this is described quite well. There also may be a bit of a language barrier鈥攕ome words and phrases are quite strange to Americans. Otherwise it was a well written novel, and I don鈥檛 usually like David Almond...
July 19, 2021
Review of The Fire-Eaters and The Colour of the Sun.
It took about a page of The Colours of the Sun to remember why I love David Almond. Somehow I didn't expect his less well-known books to be quite on the same level as Skellig and Kit's Wilderness but neither of these two magical novels disappointed. He writes with beguiling simplicity, the sparseness of J.M. Coetzee combined with the social awareness and emotional bareness of Ken Loach. His depiction of Newcastle and the Tyne area is mythical and grimly realistic and his sense of history and memory merges seamlessly into the present. Both of these books retrace his favourite themes, amplify and combine them to turn his works into a satisfying and unified mythology of his own. Class systems and education are under scrutiny like in My Name is Mina; his Blakean imagery reappears, as well as his penchant for a Shakespearian retelling like in Ella Grey; his obsession with our anatomy, the internal workings of the human body, like in Skellig; old, mysterious men who blur the lines between angel and devil; characters that create art, poetry and other forms of expression; a dark, Gothic sense of romance that blurs gender lines. If you like David Almond, there's nothing to dislike about these books.
The Colour of the Sun tells the story of Davie, a boy in a coastal town who has recently lost his father. A murder occurs in his town, a boy killed in a knife fight with a rival family, and Davie roams the streets and the moorland of his hometown interviewing and being interviewed by the various inhabitants of the town. There are ghosts galore that populate his wanderings - the voice of his father, a strange errant man with one leg - as well as doubting priests and old washer women who tell folktales about babies kidnapped by birds. Religion and folklore merge into sweeping descriptions of Northern landscapes. At times the setting is quite magnificent. The story itself is relatively lean and dreamlike with little central thrust, but the murder story develops into a Tyneside Romeo and Juliet in which the two rival boys form a violent love triangle with a local girl, love, youthful passion and aggression converging with a sense of social frustration and not fitting in. One particular scene on the moorland above the town sums up Almond's talent for capturing a magical moment, as a brief kiss at a kissing gate sends Davie's soul reeling.
There is also plenty of humour in The Colours of the Sun, shown by the jovial and surprising ending, like one of Ken Loach's rare happy films, but it doesn't remove the fact that Davie grows up in a restrictive, difficult environment. Like many of Almond's characters, he shows his release through his artwork, sketching the characters and scenes of the book as he goes. Almond frequently plays with the sense of authorship in the creative process, Davie more than once wondering if he is part of a story. If he is, he thinks, there's not much he can do about it anyway so he might as well just keep walking. In his grief, Davie's wanderings capture some of the beautiful loneliness of a solitary walk, the landscapes wrapping him up in their stories and their magic. Almond writes in dialectal English, increasing the sense of authenticity. More than other books, The Colour of the Sun expresses his deep love for the places that he grew up in and the stories that informed his growing up.
The Fire-Eaters is also a beautiful ode to his place of birth, combining many of the stylistic elements of The Colours of the Sun and Kit's Wilderness. Together, the three books make for a fascinating trilogy. Of the main characters, however, Robert Burns in The Fire-Eaters is perhaps the best and most sympathetic. The story is also the most conventional, a true Ken Loach social adventure. Robert is a working class boy who is accepted into a private school. His father isn't well and his friends are accept their fates - to stay in their coal town. He meets McNulty on a trip to Newcastle with his mother, a mad street performer who can skewer his cheeks and breathe fire. It turns out McNulty is an old war acquaintance whom he believed dead (another ghostly older demon). Robert befriends a boy called Daniel who has moved into the area because his father is attempting a photograph study of the working class. The two boys come together to protest against the violence shown by teachers towards the pupils at their school. Told in the first person, The Fire-Eaters is direct, clarion clear and infinitely believable. It allows Almond is delve into past traumas, look at how the war affected his parents' generation, and analyse that period of tension and opportunity that followed the war. Class barriers are beginning to break down, kids from coal towns can go to university, and middle class gentlemen from Kent are taking photographs of the working class, as if studying a different species.
Almond handles this social tension very well. Ailsa's family is particularly well portrayed. She has been accepted into the same school but doesn't want to go in order to continue in the family tradition. This masculine, working life is dissected with a mixture of rebellious disdain and mythical admiration. Again, Almond's description of the setting is amazing, culminating in a fire-side beach scene that combines the best of his work. Sometimes you stare in wonder at the brilliancy of a single sentence, or stop and check when he last used an adjective. He rarely needs them. When he uses them they are ringed with poignancy. Like Skellig, his best book, his characters and settings are described with deliberate, poetic repetitions that resonate like mantra in your head. He writes of young love and friendship in such a way that the characters throb with pain and longing, as well as the intangibility of those memories of youth. It makes you want to experience it all again. It makes you glad it's all behind you. The Fire-Eaters in particular is for older readers, although some of the themes in The Colour of Sun are also quite dark and difficult. If you were to criticise, one could say that his books are thematically very similar. The Fire-Eaters, loosely, treads the same path as Skellig. For me, Skellig was so perfect I was glad to have it retold and restructured. It allows Almond to expand upon his mythology and his themes.
Both of these books swept me up. Neither is better than Skellig but both are so much better than anything else out there. For me, there is no better writer today. It doesn't matter how old you are. If I had to choose, The Fire-Eaters is the better book, but The Colour of the Sun is perhaps a little more adventurous in style and more original. David Almond could probably tell me anything; he simply is the most consummate poet and storyteller there is.
The Colour of the Sun: 9
The Fire-Eaters: 10
It took about a page of The Colours of the Sun to remember why I love David Almond. Somehow I didn't expect his less well-known books to be quite on the same level as Skellig and Kit's Wilderness but neither of these two magical novels disappointed. He writes with beguiling simplicity, the sparseness of J.M. Coetzee combined with the social awareness and emotional bareness of Ken Loach. His depiction of Newcastle and the Tyne area is mythical and grimly realistic and his sense of history and memory merges seamlessly into the present. Both of these books retrace his favourite themes, amplify and combine them to turn his works into a satisfying and unified mythology of his own. Class systems and education are under scrutiny like in My Name is Mina; his Blakean imagery reappears, as well as his penchant for a Shakespearian retelling like in Ella Grey; his obsession with our anatomy, the internal workings of the human body, like in Skellig; old, mysterious men who blur the lines between angel and devil; characters that create art, poetry and other forms of expression; a dark, Gothic sense of romance that blurs gender lines. If you like David Almond, there's nothing to dislike about these books.
The Colour of the Sun tells the story of Davie, a boy in a coastal town who has recently lost his father. A murder occurs in his town, a boy killed in a knife fight with a rival family, and Davie roams the streets and the moorland of his hometown interviewing and being interviewed by the various inhabitants of the town. There are ghosts galore that populate his wanderings - the voice of his father, a strange errant man with one leg - as well as doubting priests and old washer women who tell folktales about babies kidnapped by birds. Religion and folklore merge into sweeping descriptions of Northern landscapes. At times the setting is quite magnificent. The story itself is relatively lean and dreamlike with little central thrust, but the murder story develops into a Tyneside Romeo and Juliet in which the two rival boys form a violent love triangle with a local girl, love, youthful passion and aggression converging with a sense of social frustration and not fitting in. One particular scene on the moorland above the town sums up Almond's talent for capturing a magical moment, as a brief kiss at a kissing gate sends Davie's soul reeling.
There is also plenty of humour in The Colours of the Sun, shown by the jovial and surprising ending, like one of Ken Loach's rare happy films, but it doesn't remove the fact that Davie grows up in a restrictive, difficult environment. Like many of Almond's characters, he shows his release through his artwork, sketching the characters and scenes of the book as he goes. Almond frequently plays with the sense of authorship in the creative process, Davie more than once wondering if he is part of a story. If he is, he thinks, there's not much he can do about it anyway so he might as well just keep walking. In his grief, Davie's wanderings capture some of the beautiful loneliness of a solitary walk, the landscapes wrapping him up in their stories and their magic. Almond writes in dialectal English, increasing the sense of authenticity. More than other books, The Colour of the Sun expresses his deep love for the places that he grew up in and the stories that informed his growing up.
The Fire-Eaters is also a beautiful ode to his place of birth, combining many of the stylistic elements of The Colours of the Sun and Kit's Wilderness. Together, the three books make for a fascinating trilogy. Of the main characters, however, Robert Burns in The Fire-Eaters is perhaps the best and most sympathetic. The story is also the most conventional, a true Ken Loach social adventure. Robert is a working class boy who is accepted into a private school. His father isn't well and his friends are accept their fates - to stay in their coal town. He meets McNulty on a trip to Newcastle with his mother, a mad street performer who can skewer his cheeks and breathe fire. It turns out McNulty is an old war acquaintance whom he believed dead (another ghostly older demon). Robert befriends a boy called Daniel who has moved into the area because his father is attempting a photograph study of the working class. The two boys come together to protest against the violence shown by teachers towards the pupils at their school. Told in the first person, The Fire-Eaters is direct, clarion clear and infinitely believable. It allows Almond is delve into past traumas, look at how the war affected his parents' generation, and analyse that period of tension and opportunity that followed the war. Class barriers are beginning to break down, kids from coal towns can go to university, and middle class gentlemen from Kent are taking photographs of the working class, as if studying a different species.
Almond handles this social tension very well. Ailsa's family is particularly well portrayed. She has been accepted into the same school but doesn't want to go in order to continue in the family tradition. This masculine, working life is dissected with a mixture of rebellious disdain and mythical admiration. Again, Almond's description of the setting is amazing, culminating in a fire-side beach scene that combines the best of his work. Sometimes you stare in wonder at the brilliancy of a single sentence, or stop and check when he last used an adjective. He rarely needs them. When he uses them they are ringed with poignancy. Like Skellig, his best book, his characters and settings are described with deliberate, poetic repetitions that resonate like mantra in your head. He writes of young love and friendship in such a way that the characters throb with pain and longing, as well as the intangibility of those memories of youth. It makes you want to experience it all again. It makes you glad it's all behind you. The Fire-Eaters in particular is for older readers, although some of the themes in The Colour of Sun are also quite dark and difficult. If you were to criticise, one could say that his books are thematically very similar. The Fire-Eaters, loosely, treads the same path as Skellig. For me, Skellig was so perfect I was glad to have it retold and restructured. It allows Almond to expand upon his mythology and his themes.
Both of these books swept me up. Neither is better than Skellig but both are so much better than anything else out there. For me, there is no better writer today. It doesn't matter how old you are. If I had to choose, The Fire-Eaters is the better book, but The Colour of the Sun is perhaps a little more adventurous in style and more original. David Almond could probably tell me anything; he simply is the most consummate poet and storyteller there is.
The Colour of the Sun: 9
The Fire-Eaters: 10
January 22, 2016
Nothing too obviously about reincarnation and angels this time but a lot of too obvious and glaring messages against war and weapons of mass destruction. I can鈥檛 appreciate this book as much as "Skellig" or "My Name Is Mina" but I still appreciate David Almond鈥檚 simple yet strong writing style.
I guess young minds will be drawn to pray after reading this book. He encourages praying, 鈥渆ven if you don鈥檛 believe in anything鈥�.
Was it Bobby and Ailsa鈥檚 prayers that saved the fawn, that cured Bobby鈥檚 dad and stopped world destruction?
QUOTES:
From About the Author: 鈥淲riting can be difficult, but sometimes it really does feel like a kind of magic. I think that stories are living things 鈥� among the most important things in the world.鈥�
You got to believe, don鈥檛 you? Or nowt鈥檇 ever happen. Nowt worthwhile.
鈥榃hat if there鈥檚 no God?鈥� I said.
鈥楳ebbe that doesn鈥檛 matter. And mebbe it doesn鈥檛 mater to God if you think he鈥檚 there or not.'
鈥業s it always right to protest,鈥� I said, 鈥榚ven if you think it鈥檚 hopeless?鈥�
鈥楢ye,鈥� he said. 鈥楨specially then, when the odds seem stacked against you, when it seems you鈥檙e yelling in the dark.鈥�
I guess young minds will be drawn to pray after reading this book. He encourages praying, 鈥渆ven if you don鈥檛 believe in anything鈥�.
Was it Bobby and Ailsa鈥檚 prayers that saved the fawn, that cured Bobby鈥檚 dad and stopped world destruction?
QUOTES:
From About the Author: 鈥淲riting can be difficult, but sometimes it really does feel like a kind of magic. I think that stories are living things 鈥� among the most important things in the world.鈥�
You got to believe, don鈥檛 you? Or nowt鈥檇 ever happen. Nowt worthwhile.
鈥榃hat if there鈥檚 no God?鈥� I said.
鈥楳ebbe that doesn鈥檛 matter. And mebbe it doesn鈥檛 mater to God if you think he鈥檚 there or not.'
鈥業s it always right to protest,鈥� I said, 鈥榚ven if you think it鈥檚 hopeless?鈥�
鈥楢ye,鈥� he said. 鈥楨specially then, when the odds seem stacked against you, when it seems you鈥檙e yelling in the dark.鈥�
September 1, 2009
This one is set in a sleepy, off the beaten path, coal town near New Castle, England. As usual, Almond writes of coming of age experiences with a cast of characters both soft and hard, gritty and kind.
As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to charm, and harm!
As the world approaches disaster, Bobby's father, who is mysteriously ill, is a survivor of WWII and knows all too well the terrors of war. Bobby and his friends and family find a way to believe in miracles that have the power to heal.
As in his book Skelling, Almond weaves a motley group of characters who, through reaching out to the unknown and different, find the power of love and redemption.
As the United States and The Soviet Union prepare for potential nuclear disaster during the Cuban missile crisis, Bobby Burns witnesses McNulty, a fire breathing illusionist, carnival-like man who, as the story progresses, symbolically represents destruction and the power of fire to charm, and harm!
As the world approaches disaster, Bobby's father, who is mysteriously ill, is a survivor of WWII and knows all too well the terrors of war. Bobby and his friends and family find a way to believe in miracles that have the power to heal.
As in his book Skelling, Almond weaves a motley group of characters who, through reaching out to the unknown and different, find the power of love and redemption.
October 19, 2011
Reading this book made me remember what I liked so much about the first David Almond book I read, "Skellig." His stories are full of rich characters and so much wisdom you feel like your head might explode after reading it. This book follows young Robert Burns, an English boy starting a new school in 1962 at the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. In a world that's already been scarred by a terrible war and remains teetering on the brink of destruction, he tries to grow up and attain the life any normal boy should. Through it all, he deals with family illness, cruelty, budding friendship and first love. He also finds himself through the compassion he's able to show for a man who's never really been given a chance at life. Bobby grows and changes not through the fear that buckles the rest of the world but through faith and hope. This was an incredible book - it's eerie and frightening while being truly beautiful at the same time.
November 8, 2011
An even deeper, richer pleasure on re-reading than the first time.
Maybe I'm biased, because I too grew up in England in the 1960s, under the constant shadow of nuclear war. But this small, dark diamond of a book, about a boy growing up on the North Sea coast during the Cuba Missile Crisis, is an extraordinary accomplishment, and gets my vote for one of the best middle grade novels ever written. Oh, forget middle grade: this is a book for adults to read, just because it is simple yet intricate, emotionally pitch-perfect, and beautifully, brilliantly written. (Authors: ask yourselves, how does he do so much, with so little? If you figure it out, please let me know.)
Maybe I'm biased, because I too grew up in England in the 1960s, under the constant shadow of nuclear war. But this small, dark diamond of a book, about a boy growing up on the North Sea coast during the Cuba Missile Crisis, is an extraordinary accomplishment, and gets my vote for one of the best middle grade novels ever written. Oh, forget middle grade: this is a book for adults to read, just because it is simple yet intricate, emotionally pitch-perfect, and beautifully, brilliantly written. (Authors: ask yourselves, how does he do so much, with so little? If you figure it out, please let me know.)
May 20, 2015
袦芯褟 锌械褉胁邪褟 写械褌褋泻邪褟 泻薪懈谐邪 芯 褌芯屑, 泻邪泻 袣邪褉懈斜褋泻懈泄 泻褉懈蟹懈褋 胁褘谐谢褟写械谢 褋芯 褋褌芯褉芯薪褘. 袗谢屑芯薪写 褍写懈胁懈褌械谢褜薪芯 褏芯褉芯褕芯, 褌褉械蟹胁芯 懈 卸械褋褌泻芯 谐芯胁芯褉懈褌 芯 褌芯屑, 泻邪泻 芯谐褉芯屑械薪 懈 锌褉械泻褉邪褋械薪 屑懈褉, 泻邪泻 蟹邪 薪械谐芯 褋褌芯懈褌 斜芯褉芯褌褜褋褟, 泻邪泻 胁邪卸薪芯, 褔褌芯斜褘 胁芯泄薪褘 薪械 斜褘谢芯.
袚谢邪胁薪褘泄 谐械褉芯泄 芯斜谢邪写邪械褌 褝褌芯泄 薪邪懈胁薪芯泄 胁械褉芯泄 胁 褌芯, 褔褌芯 胁褋械 屑芯卸械褌 懈蟹屑械薪懈褌褜褋褟, 械褋谢懈 褌褘 锌芯芯斜械褖邪械褕褜 屑懈褉褍 褔褌芯-褌芯. 袗 屑芯卸械褌, 锌芯屑芯卸械褌 袘芯谐. 袗 屑芯卸械褌, 屑懈褉 褌邪泻 褋褌褉邪薪薪芯 褍褋褌褉芯械薪, 褔褌芯 胁 薪械屑 斜褍写褍褌 懈褋褑械谢械薪懈褟, 芯谢械薪褟褌邪 懈 褏芯褉芯褕邪褟 斜械褋泻芯薪械褔薪芯褋褌褜. 孝褉邪谐械写懈懈 斜褍写褍褌, 褍卸邪褋 斜褍写械褌, 斜褍写械褌 卸械褋褌芯泻芯褋褌褜 懈 褌褉邪胁谢褟 褋谢邪斜褘褏 - 薪芯 械泄 屑芯卸薪芯 斜褍写械褌 锌褉芯褌懈胁芯褋褌芯褟褌褜 - 懈 胁 褝褌芯屑 锌芯斜械写邪 懈 褋屑褘褋谢.
袚谢邪胁薪褘泄 谐械褉芯泄 芯斜谢邪写邪械褌 褝褌芯泄 薪邪懈胁薪芯泄 胁械褉芯泄 胁 褌芯, 褔褌芯 胁褋械 屑芯卸械褌 懈蟹屑械薪懈褌褜褋褟, 械褋谢懈 褌褘 锌芯芯斜械褖邪械褕褜 屑懈褉褍 褔褌芯-褌芯. 袗 屑芯卸械褌, 锌芯屑芯卸械褌 袘芯谐. 袗 屑芯卸械褌, 屑懈褉 褌邪泻 褋褌褉邪薪薪芯 褍褋褌褉芯械薪, 褔褌芯 胁 薪械屑 斜褍写褍褌 懈褋褑械谢械薪懈褟, 芯谢械薪褟褌邪 懈 褏芯褉芯褕邪褟 斜械褋泻芯薪械褔薪芯褋褌褜. 孝褉邪谐械写懈懈 斜褍写褍褌, 褍卸邪褋 斜褍写械褌, 斜褍写械褌 卸械褋褌芯泻芯褋褌褜 懈 褌褉邪胁谢褟 褋谢邪斜褘褏 - 薪芯 械泄 屑芯卸薪芯 斜褍写械褌 锌褉芯褌懈胁芯褋褌芯褟褌褜 - 懈 胁 褝褌芯屑 锌芯斜械写邪 懈 褋屑褘褋谢.
July 16, 2017
"Sometimes," said Ailsa, "the world's just so amazing."
I looked into her eyes.
"It is," I said.
It is these type of books that remind me why i love reading so much.
David Almond has this spectacular ability to twist the most simplest prose and transform it into a piece of poetic heartfelt wonder and every book of his that I have read has just crawled into a warm nook in my heart and has and will stay there forever and keep me content with everything life throws at me.
I looked into her eyes.
"It is," I said.
It is these type of books that remind me why i love reading so much.
David Almond has this spectacular ability to twist the most simplest prose and transform it into a piece of poetic heartfelt wonder and every book of his that I have read has just crawled into a warm nook in my heart and has and will stay there forever and keep me content with everything life throws at me.
April 24, 2007
An important period of recent history is brought to life through the eyes of a boy in Northeast England.
The threat of nuclear war, brought about by the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis. A memsmerising performance by a fire-eater, playing to the crowds of spellbound, slightly fearful people.
The threat of nuclear war, brought about by the infamous Cuban Missile Crisis. A memsmerising performance by a fire-eater, playing to the crowds of spellbound, slightly fearful people.
July 3, 2008
This book was not at all what I was expecting. The author's ability to express a coming-of-age male, without turing the book into a "growing up" book and without relying on the usual path, is excellent.
Read
January 26, 2017I think right book and make sure think about fire-eaters kid name Bobby was in school just first and his friend tell about story or ask about yourself then he know about his family but he don't know father is mystery and mom know about father.
November 5, 2008
My favorite Almond novel.
February 23, 2009
Another amazing Almond book :-)
April 17, 2009
I LOVED this book!!! The kids did as well, so beautiful so brilliant!
June 9, 2018
A book of mythic wonder, of death avoided and life regained. Of fire breathed out and drawn back in. Of life at the brink saved by the simplest of kindnesses and bravery.
Utterly wonderful.
Utterly wonderful.
April 2, 2018
1962 鈥� Nuclear war build-up
It is 1962. Robert (Bobby) Burns lives in Keely Bay, not too far from Newcastle in England. The world is gathering to a knot formed by the nuclear build-up between USA and USSR, John F. Kennedy and Kruschev. The potential of world war 3 builds up in the last quarter of the story.
In Newcastle, Bobby meets Mr. McNulty, a fire-eater, an escapologist, who eventually makes his way to Keely Bay. Coincidentally, Bobby鈥檚 Dad remembers McNulty from Burma, in 1945 during the war.
Other characters are Ailsa Spink and her family of father and two brothers who bring coal out of the seabed, her mother having recently died. Joseph Connor, a few years older than Bobby, a school-wagger and lout, is Bobby鈥檚 oldest friend. Then there鈥檚 the new boy, Daniel, and his family. Daniel will go to Sacred Heart as a new boy with Bobby. They鈥檙e more educated than the rest of Bobby鈥檚 friends.
PTSD is hinted at, but never defined, which makes the telling smoother. There鈥檚 illness and survival. There鈥檚 miracles like the fawn that Ailsa rescues. There鈥檚 bullies like the teachers at Sacred Heart. There鈥檚 rebellion, in the world by the nuclear disarmament crowd, and in Keely Bay.
It is a lyrical and emotional story, with some unresolved threads. For example, how Daniel and Bobby resolve the huge differences evident in their bringing up is not really told, other than they are on the same side at school. I didn鈥檛 really get how the fire-eating motif related to the nuclear war theme. It is a tale that stays with you.
It is 1962. Robert (Bobby) Burns lives in Keely Bay, not too far from Newcastle in England. The world is gathering to a knot formed by the nuclear build-up between USA and USSR, John F. Kennedy and Kruschev. The potential of world war 3 builds up in the last quarter of the story.
In Newcastle, Bobby meets Mr. McNulty, a fire-eater, an escapologist, who eventually makes his way to Keely Bay. Coincidentally, Bobby鈥檚 Dad remembers McNulty from Burma, in 1945 during the war.
Other characters are Ailsa Spink and her family of father and two brothers who bring coal out of the seabed, her mother having recently died. Joseph Connor, a few years older than Bobby, a school-wagger and lout, is Bobby鈥檚 oldest friend. Then there鈥檚 the new boy, Daniel, and his family. Daniel will go to Sacred Heart as a new boy with Bobby. They鈥檙e more educated than the rest of Bobby鈥檚 friends.
PTSD is hinted at, but never defined, which makes the telling smoother. There鈥檚 illness and survival. There鈥檚 miracles like the fawn that Ailsa rescues. There鈥檚 bullies like the teachers at Sacred Heart. There鈥檚 rebellion, in the world by the nuclear disarmament crowd, and in Keely Bay.
It is a lyrical and emotional story, with some unresolved threads. For example, how Daniel and Bobby resolve the huge differences evident in their bringing up is not really told, other than they are on the same side at school. I didn鈥檛 really get how the fire-eating motif related to the nuclear war theme. It is a tale that stays with you.
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