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Erin's Reviews > Redwall
Redwall (Redwall, #1)
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you know what was the best part of these books? and i say books as in plural because there were so fucking many of them i can't sit still long enough to check them all off. and i DID read every single one. what else was there to do in middle school?
anyway, the best part of these books was brian's description of food. it was magnificent. it didn't just make you hungry, it made you crave weird ass things that nobody would ever dream about eating in middle school. nutted cheeses and flan bread and berry cakes and what-not; almost makes you want to be a sword weilding ferret yourself.
which was good because by the tenth book you started to realize there was a trend to the plotlines. something bad happens, small furry animals go on a quest. they fight a lot of little battles until one major battle which the good guys almost lose until, when all hope is lost, a giant contingent of allies created on the preceding journey show up to conquer evil: together.
still, i always finished satisfied. and a little hungry.
anyway, the best part of these books was brian's description of food. it was magnificent. it didn't just make you hungry, it made you crave weird ass things that nobody would ever dream about eating in middle school. nutted cheeses and flan bread and berry cakes and what-not; almost makes you want to be a sword weilding ferret yourself.
which was good because by the tenth book you started to realize there was a trend to the plotlines. something bad happens, small furry animals go on a quest. they fight a lot of little battles until one major battle which the good guys almost lose until, when all hope is lost, a giant contingent of allies created on the preceding journey show up to conquer evil: together.
still, i always finished satisfied. and a little hungry.
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And the moles' pudding!
i realized in later years (albeit this realization came during an extremely drunken trip to thai town after a long night of what the moles would call "reverly with ale") that my fascination with spicy thai soups must have been driven by my childhood obsession with shrimp hotroot soup!!!!!
Yep, you are spot on. Never have I ever craved elderberry-anything so much as when I read Jacques.
Yeah, way to drop the f-bomb in a review for a children's book.
oh my gosh, i'm on Mossflower right now and every time they mention biscuits with honey and strawberry cordial, i melt a little inside. you know when an author's good when they make you hungry haha.
Mmm, shrimp hotroot that always made me want to go on a eating rampage!
I couldn't agree more...It's the part I still remember all these years later!
message 11:
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yojharobed || I have no sword. I don't need a sword. Because I am the Doctor and this is my spoon. En garde!
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rated it 5 stars
I co-hosted a Redwall Feast back in '09 and it was EPIC! Everyone brought dishes from Redwall like "sconners wi' strawbee jam an' gurt dollops o' ee meddycream", Shrimp and Hotroot Soup, Strawberry Cordial, and Candied Chestnuts! We played Redwall Games and solved redwall riddles and ATE REDWALL FOOD! It was rad. and the food is definitely one of the best parts of Redwall!
I had to have something to munch on because of his food descriptions.
I miss these books! They were so awesome! My favourite was the very first one Martin the Warrior. Absolutely the strawberry cordial always made me thirsty and the cakes and pies and candied chestnuts always made me hungry!!
Excuse me I meant the sixth, not first***
I'm harvesting fresh Hotroot this weekend, someone else bring the shrimp.
agreed!! I have never read any authors who have given such amazing food descriptions! Jacques should do food commercials... that could actually sell stuff! :D
I love these books, but they are old. I'm on book 21 and my eyes are nearly vomiting from how many repeat characters, plots, and enemies their are. One disappointment to me is that if a "beast" is a vermin, they are evil (except for 1 that I know of)... I really like the use of slings, javelins, and the sheer number of characters. The songs kind of annoy me (1 in each chapter) and the use of Gousim in nearly every book. The hares intrigue me... They are similar to WWI troops. The Badger Lords are some of the only character to not have personalities reused. The accents of the various groups are some of the most impressive feats of the books. The sensual (not just visual) descriptions are amazing, too. The groups of peoples have weapons that make sense with them, too. One more thing I dislike is that there are absolutely no cities or villages other than Redwall, Salamandastron, and Southsward. Weapons and siege weapons seem very low tech. (No crossbows, catapults, ballista...etc.) Overall (as a mole would say) oits vurry top 'ole!
(I love otters and actually made shrimp and 'otroot stew... (Nothin's 'otter fer an otter!))
I think George R.R. Martin read Redwall and a little light bulb went off and he thought if there were more sex and killing and less fuzzy animals Jacques could be onto something. The one thing they have in common is definitely the description of food and the power to leave you hungry.
I picked these books up today as I was having a slightly nostalgic moment but within about 3 chapters remembered that these books always made me craze random foods and drinks. Good review!
I picked these books up today as I was having a slightly nostalgic moment but within about 3 chapters remembered that these books always made me craze random foods and drinks. Good review!
Yes! You summed it up! I loved these books so much, and still do, but the bits that always really captivated me the most were the amazing feasts & the other domestic parts, rather than the battles etc. I just wanted to live snugly in Redwall Abbey as a little mouse. Same with Mouse Guard...
This makes me so happy BTW, it's made my day. :D
I agree! The way he describes food is mouth watering.
I loved these books when I was a kid, still do. I read them to my own children now. The reason I started eating cheese and fruit together was because of Jacques' amazing ability to describe the food and the feasts. Excellent author, easily one of my favorites.
It made me wonder what cordial was, and how I could fucking get it.
Oh my god... you are so right. I remember specifically them talking about this fish cooked with lemon and butter and fresh herbs while my mouth watered... The strangeness of Mice eating fish didnt hit me until just now.
Never read these books, but this description cracked me up! Nice job, Erin...now I'm hungry for some ferret food. Ha ha (to be honest some of my younger friends on Facebook were raving about reading these books growing up, so that's how I ended up here. And now I am wanting to read them!)
Spot on, I'm vegetarian (now and then) and these books still made me hungry when I was 11.
As an American reader, I didn't recognize all of the regional/local accents, but I recognized enough to know old-fashioned British bigotry when I see it. There are a number of social stereotypes associated with accents, like the savages (sparrows) having old movie American Indian accents. I'm reading the first book (Redwall) and the fox is a sly bitch, rats and mustellids are evil, and don't get me started on snakes!To say that this is just a children's book is not an excuse, it's even worse. Children are more impressionable than adults and are more easily accepting of stereotypes . These books should be read aloud to children with a bit of editorializing .
My kids still want to eat acorn soup with fern garnishes n shit.
The had a very good reason to be so descriptive with food, colors, etc.; he started writing books for children at a school for the blind.
The purpose behind the authors descriptive flair comes from his first audience: students at a school for the blind.
Foul language in reviews is not appreciated as some middle schoolers actually use this app to help with book selections
I know I always wanted to do the candied chestnuts as a Christmas present for other people to get my family members into the books
This is just the best review I've ever read, and I haven't even read the book
Trifle! Deeper'n ever turnip'n tater'n beetroot pie! Pasties! Mint tea! Scones! These books were my inspiration as a kid 😂
There is a Redwall cookbook! I got it for my mom for her birthday because I secretly wanted it too. It is awesome!
Omg, u r so right. I always have trail mix next to me when I read. I especially like the meadow cream and scones and all that delicioso desserts.........
I just re-read the first book in the series and literally thought the same thing about the food. Why do I want to eat these things? Never have a craved a mug of vegetable soup so much in my life. And but cheese?!? Am I right? I agree! Thank you for noting this as well!
there's a twitter account that is just the food descriptions! @RedwallFeasts
love you review, and btw l was like #420 B-)
i used to have picnics trying to recreate the food (it would be the most vile creations i could rummage together from food no one in my family would eat😂)
I kept wondering where they got the milk for the cheese. Goats cheese is mentioned at least once. Do the goats sell their milk to the Abbey? Or are they dumb beasts reared by the intelligent rodents? Puzzling�
Looking forward to seeing other childhood books we agree on.