| Product: |
Johnny and the Dead - Terry Pratchett |
| Date: |
20/08/02 (119 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Funny, Witty and Inventive, Pratchett at his Young Adults Best.
Disadvantages: None that I can think of.
Have you ever wandered into the cemetry and felt there was someone watching you? What if
there was infact someone watching you, an old man sitting by a tombstone smoking a pipe watching your ever move.. It`s scary, but not too scary, Now imagine that you can see right thru this man, you can read the tombstone thru his chest.. He is infact a ghost (excuse me: Dead Person), Now that`s scary. And that`s the problem that faces Young Johnny in this entertaining Terry Pratchett Novel, winner of the 1993 Macallan Award in the Children's Category.
Johnny Maxwell is all input. He sees and hears the same things that we do, but we filter them out because we have this idea that life should be real. Johnny has no such idea. He just picks it all up and and tries to sort it out. and so because of that Johnny Maxwell finds out that he can see the dead, not many people can see the dead (not many would want to) and the dead are like nothing he expected, not even in his worst nightmares.. You see, they don`t lurching around, they don`t walk thru walls, and they can`t even dance like they do in the Thriller Video, No, they are just almost-ordinary people, just post-senior citizens, and they are Always in.. I remember walking thru Cemetry's when I was younger looking at some of the mausoleum's thinking of the dead people living in them, having a cup of tea and reading the daily newspaper, just getting on with life, but just happening to be dead, and it`s those thoughts that Terry Pratchett has tried to latch onto with this story.. and he does it very well indeed, The story starts with Johnny knocking on a front door of a mausoleum, wondering why it's got a lock, I mean, who are you going to keep out and who do you want to keep in?
But not only can Johnny see the dead he can talk to them too, and the dead people that live in his local cemmetry want his help. The council is about to sell the cemetry land, but the dead folk have learned a thing or two
from Johnny (like the fact that life is more fun when you are dead, for instance..) and they`re not about to take things lying down, especially as they`ve found that life is a whole lot more interesting than well when they were alive, and after all it`s halloween tomorrow..
We are submerged headlong into this witty and exciting plot, and Pratchett uses his wicked sense of humour to hillarious effect in this story, As you`d expect from a Terry Pratchett Novel the Characters are all well defined, and the Plot is an original one which has been mimiced in a number of recent movies. Terry's handling of Johnny and Friends is perfect, reminding me of the antics of my not-to-distant youth.
Johnny and the Dead Is aimed at the 10 to 12 Age Group but I think anyone young or old will find something to raise a smile, If you are an adult in search of a light and funny read, then this may well hit the mark, I`ve found that most of Terry Pratchett's Young Adult books can appeal to any age group as they are all embued with Pratchett's warmth and charm.
I must say I was surprised by the journey the book took. Upon reading the front and back covers I was worried by the way the main subject matter would be handled and While this is indeed a simple little story, it is moving and it does have something very positive to say. It struck me that it would be really good for any child who has been recently bereaved, as it handles the whole issue of death in such a fresh and effortless way. Far from feeling weighed down, the pages are positively uplifting. Almost everyone will come out of the story feeling charmed.
This book has also now been made into a Children's Drama by LWT's Art's Department, featuring amongst others Andrew Falvey, Brian Blessed, George Baker and Jane Lapotaire, and although I`m a self-confessed booklover and I definetly say read the book first, the Children's Drama is an entertaining one and follows the pl
ot quite closely.
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