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Title: The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson, Sue Porter ISBN: 0-14-130286-0 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: November, 1999 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.39 (85 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Funny, lively and imaginative
Comment: Platform 13 of King's Cross Railway Station has a doorway that leads to a magical island harmoniously inhabited by a diverse assortment of beings, including humans, hags, feys, mermaids, and furry little creatures called mistmakers. The kingdom's prince was kidnapped as an infant during a visit to London. Nine years later, when the portal between worlds reopens, four rescuers -- Cornelius, an elderly wizard who used to be a university professor in our world; Odge, a young and remarkably unhaglike hag; Gurkintrude, a fey who is sort of a goddess of agricultural plenty; and Hans, a kindly one-eyed ogre from the Alps who yodels and tends goats -- are sent by the king and queen to bring him home. The story is full of eccentric characters, mostly likable, a few definitely not: sundry ghosts who help the rescuers; Melisande, a water nymph who wants it known that she has feet and is not a mermaid; the hilariously obnoxious Mrs. Trottle and her equally unpleasant son; some horrifically amusing and ghastly harpies who have permanent waves and carry handbags; and Ben, a delightful kitchen boy of unknown parentage. The whole thing is very humorous, lively and imaginative, and fans of Diana Wynne Jones and J.K. Rowling most likely will enjoy it immensely. Also well worth reading are Ms. Ibbotson's extremely funny ghost books, obtainable in British paperback editions.
Rating: 4
Summary: despite comparisons, it's not MEANT to be like Harry Potter!
Comment: This book was written years before Harry ever wound up on a publisher's desk, and it should not be viewed in comparison to J.K. Rowling's books. The value of Platform 13 comes in the delightful opportunities for imagination and discussion when an adult and a child read it together. We used this book for a mother/daughter group and had wonderfully creative time addressing points in Ms. Ibbotson's book. What atmosphere is the best place for a gump, and where would be the best place to find a gump in this country? If YOUR child was stolen, who would you send to rescue him or her - Odge and her friends or the harpies? (Moms had a surprising answer for this one.) Is it true that "when children behave badly it is nearly always the fault of those who bring them up"? Other quotes that sparked spirited debate included, "when you have worked and worked for something, it is almost impossible to believe that you can fail", and "it doesn't matter what your home is like - it's that it's yours that matters". This is an ingeniously creative fantasy for pre-teens, and for those adults who can still see magic in the art of storytelling. If you open your mind and your imagination you'll love this book for what it offers, and not find it necessary to make comparisons. Oh yes, if you're all grown up, don't forget to check out the harpie with a handbag, who bears a curious resemblance to a former prime minister...
Rating: 3
Summary: Good enough
Comment: _The Secret of Platform 13_ was a hit with the 6-year-old bookaholic in our house; I can't say (speaking as the person who read it aloud to her) that it did all that much for me, though. The basic plot is simple enough. Through the nefariousness of a rich but childless woman named Mrs Trottle, a baby is abducted--who is, unbeknownst to her, the prince of a faraway magic island. The "gump", a magic hole that joins Platform 13 of King's Cross Station in London with the island, only opens for nine days every nine years; though Ibbotson states that the island is simply on a remote part of the Earth (not on a different world entirely), the King & Queen seem inexplicably to think it necessary to wait nine years till the next opening of the gump before they can rescue the child. So: jump ahead nine years, & a bunch of rescuers make the journey to London: an old wizard named Cor, a "fay" named Gerkintrude, a giant named Hans (rendered invisible with fernseed), & a young hag named Odge. There they encounter an incredibly nice, helpful boy named Ben at Trottle Towers, whom they initially assume is the Prince, but they then discover he's only in a quasi-menial position there, & that the son of Mrs Trottle is really the odious Raymond. Ibbotson hints heavily from the start that Ben is the real Prince & that Raymond is indeed pure Trottle--suffice it to say even my 6-year-old daughter already had it figured out after a few chapters--so the main suspense (aside from the increasingly elaborate plans to kidnap the disgusting Raymond from his possessive mommy) is exactly when & how the rescuers will figure out the switch.
Like other reviewers I find it hard not to compare this book to the Harry Potter series (which of course postdates Ibbotson's book). Imagine a Harry Potter book if Dudley Dursley became a central figure, & you begin to see the problem with _The Secret of Platform 13_. Furthermore, there's a big difference: the Dursleys are fools & subjected to an endless series of humiliations, but they are basically figures of fun. But Ibbotson's visceral loathing of Raymond Trottle & his mother pushes beyond Rowlingesque slapstick into genuine hatred, & occasionally into borderline prurience (the fascination with Mrs Trottle's personal hygiene, her appalling perfume called "Maneater", her interest in attracting the attentions of a male bass player when she's away from her husband [her plan is to place a rose in her cleavage]). -- Ben himself is pure goody-two-shoes: he knows (& pointedly tells the other characters on occasion) that you shouldn't tell lies, that you must always keep a promise, &c &c. I guess I could take this seriously if he actually had much personality but he's basically there to be a paragon of niceness. Animals like him, too, & in general he's just too good for this world, so it's just as well there's another world to be going to.
Ibbotson's habitual themes turn up in the book, as one expects: I've yet to read a book of hers, for instance, that didn't have an unsubtle plug for vegetarianism in it (here, the fay Gerkintrude can virtually hear the bits of meat calling out in pain when she has to go into a fancy restaurant). The incredibly disgusted portrait of the harpies (their reek & lack of hygiene is described in the most hyperbolic terms) is clearly meant as a dig at Margaret Thatcher--Ibbotson equips each harpy with a handbag, to cement the resemblance. & there's other bits of editorializing here, like the flat assertion at one point that bad parenting is to blame if a kid turns out no good. Well, fine, I'm hardly asking that kid's books be bland & lacking in strongly held ideas; for that matter the kinds of disgust & hatred on display here are emotions that kids can certainly relate to--witness Roald Dahl's books (though Dahl is far better at transmuting these emotions into knockabout comedy, removing their sting). But looking at this book with an adult's eye I can't really enjoy it too much: it's simply too pushy & tetchy. I'll give this 3 stars for my daughter's enjoyment, but it's not I think all that good nonetheless. Like Philip Pullman, whose recommendation emblazons my edition of _The Secret of Platform 13_, Ibbotson rather lacks a light touch. This book isn't nearly as funny as it _could_ have been.
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Title: Island of the Aunts by Eva Ibbotson, Kevin Hawkes ISBN: 0142300497 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: 10 September, 2001 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Which Witch by Eva Ibbotson, Annabel Large ISBN: 0141304278 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: June, 2000 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Journey to the River Sea by Eva Ibbotson, Kevin Hawkes ISBN: 0142501840 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: October, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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Title: Not Just a Witch by Eva Ibbotson, Kevin Hawkes ISBN: 0525471014 Publisher: Dutton Books Pub. Date: June, 2003 List Price(USD): $15.99 |
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Title: Dial-A-Ghost by Eva Ibbotson, Kevin Hawkes ISBN: 0142500186 Publisher: Puffin Pub. Date: April, 2003 List Price(USD): $5.99 |
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