Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Strange Objects by Gary Crew, Kam Mak ISBN: 0-671-79759-X Publisher: Simon & Schuster (Juv) Pub. Date: May, 1993 Format: School & Library Binding Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $15.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.31 (42 reviews)
Rating: 3
Summary: Weird, Wonderful or Just Strange?
Comment: Strange Objects is a spiritualistic and sometimes chilling tale that takes reader-text interpretation to a new level. This book is complex and at times confusing but at the same time is intriguing, gripping and original. It comes as no surprise that it was awarded the 1991 Australian children's book of the year.
Steven Messenger is a confused and empty teenager growing up in rural Australia. On a school Biology camp he stumbles upon mythical and sacred objects; an ancient, previously mummified human hand and a mysterious gold ring in an iron pot. These amazing discoveries soon become public knowledge and the question and fascination over the origin of these objects enthrals the public. Found too is a journal, dating back to the 17th Century, detailing the story of a criminal who survived banishment of a Dutch ship- the Batavia, which struck uncharted rocks off the Western Australian coast in 1629. Gary Crew uses multiple genres including Steven's personal journal, letters, newspaper articles, historical records and the publicly published journal of Wouter Loos, the survivor of the ship. Collectively these 'articles' slowly piece together the complex jigsaw surrounding the objects found and Steven's personal experiences, that take him closer and closer to the borderline of insanity as the story develops. Revealed too is the links the objects have with traditional Aboriginal culture and the mysterious native local, Charlie- a key figure in Steven's pursuits. What unfolds is a story that leaves an open interpretation for the reader- it is up to ones self to judge if this is fantasy, science fiction or indeed a second-hand account of actual events that unfolded.
This book will give you back, as much as you put in to it. Take a cynical and restricted outlook into this story and you too, like me, will be left no more than irritated and confused. In turn, hop on board Steven's twisted journey and the events that surround it and this book will leave you fascinated and begging for more.
Rating: 2
Summary: Intruiging, yet very constrversial
Comment: Strange Objects is written by Gary Crew and published in 1991 by Mammoth Australia.
Have you ever wondered about the past and its influences on present life? And what happens when you suddenly bring the dead back to life? These and more are the questions your head will be filled with when reading this fantastic novel by Gary Crew. Crew's other novel bestsellers include The Inner Circle and Angel's Gate, and his creative and original approach will leave the reader thinking long before the last line has been read.
Strange Objects is about a boy named Steven Messenger who lives in the remoteness of the midway on Highway One - 25 kilometres south of Hamelin. Other characters inlcude Charlie Sunrise, Jan Pelgrom, and Nigel Kratzman. One day on a school Biology trip, quite by accident, Messenger discovers a pot containing a journal of survivor Wouter Loos of the Dutch shipwreck "Batavia" that struck rocks off the Western Australian coast in 1629, and a mummified human hand with a ring. Four months later Messenger disappears. Somehow, all these characters and events are linked, but how? Readers will be left with many questions - How was Messenger linked to the found items? Where did he go? What is the importance of this missing ring?
The somewhat difficult to follow plot seems fairly easy to understand, that is, until the last few chapters where it starts to get very strange indeed.... It could be described as keeping you in suspense, and very intriguing with a touch of craziness that is found only in very few people.
In this reviewer's opinion, Strange Objects is a somewhat scrambled tale, however through its open ended plots and questions left unanswered, one can see into a whole new dimension of themes. I think this is very cleverly done by Gary Crew and feel that his supremely talented ability has made this a book to remember, and shall keep me thinking for a long time after I have finished it. I must add however, that it bothered me somewhat about the lack of a distinct conclusion to a very open plotline.
Rating: 3
Summary: Be Prepared for Confusion
Comment: Strange Objects, written by Gary Crew, is a very confusing book that tends to jump from genre to genre. Because of this, you have to be alert and in full thinking mode in order to link all of the texts and different genres together. There is much mystery from the first chapter of the book and it only gets more mysterious as the book progresses, introducing more questions and more confusion. You may think that the book is too hard to follow when you start to read it however if you are keen enough to read on, it gets much easier to follow the story line and the book itself. The story line will no doubt startle you when you try to categorise it as fiction, non-fiction, fantasy or science fiction since you will most probably not know if the events actually happened or not. The whole story line is worked around the historical event of the Batavia shipwreck that happened in 1629. Gary Crew has integrated many facts into the novel that can be verified as being non-fiction but there are many things that cannot be verified being fact so it is left for you to decide or to find out.
Steven Messenger is a teenager from rural Australia who stumbles across relics from the Batavia shipwreck in a cave during a school biology excursion. This relic contains crucial information about the past and has historical remains of people. A journal, which was written by one of the Batavia castaways, was found among the relics and is translated from Old Dutch into Modern English. Throughout the book, a parallel can be seen between events that happened in the Batavia castaways in 1629 and what is happening in the present and this also poses even more questions. Steven Messenger has possession of an important piece of the puzzle and he refuses to declare it to the professionals in the historical field. Steven finds the ring to have a power to change his dreams and to send him messages where he dreams about the past and other weird and wonderful things. Nigel Kratzman is Steven Messenger's neighbour and may even be his only friend and may be the only person who is willing to help Steven with what is happening around him.
This book is no doubt the kind of book that you have to be constantly thinking about how to piece together the information that is given to you and to sift out what is truth and what has been manipulated in some way or another. As another reader from Adelaide has mentioned in one of his reviews, 'You'll only get out of it, what you put into it!'
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
