ug (Stig of the Dump - Clive King)

Member Name: pje

Product:	Stig of the Dump - Clive King
Date:	13/01/02 (239 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Imaginative fun.

Disadvantages: Old-fashioned.

Story time... Remember that?
The teacher reading to the class at the end of the day?
I don't. Not really, I'm too old. :-( There are some vague glimmers though - I can remember some of the books that were read to us, for example:-
Three Men In A Boat, James and the Giant Peach, and Stig of the Dump...

So when I heard that the BBC were showing a new TV series based on Clive King's 1963 children's classic, I thought that would be a good excuse to read it again. Besides, I had to consider it for one of the last two places in my Top Ten Children's Books ops. (It'll be a while yet, so don't hold your breath!)

Eight-year-old Barney and his sister Lou, are staying with their Gran somewhere near Sevenoaks in Kent. The author doesn't bother to tell us why, or where Mum and Dad are, or what they're doing; nor does Barney. He's more interested in the nearby chalk-pit-cum-rubbish-dump:

"Men had come to dig away chalk and left this huge hole in the earth.
He thought of all the sticks of chalk they must have made, and all the blackboards in all the schools they must have written on."

Then, all of a sudden, the ground beneath his feet isn't there any more and he falls down a hole, as kids in books were wont to doo in the past.
(I wonder if Harry Potter will get to go down a hole in one of his books?)
Luckily Barney doesn't break his neck, otherwise it would be a very short book indeed. He does feel funny though...

"His thoughts did those funny things they do when you bump your head and you suddenly find yourself thinking about what you had for dinner last Tuesday, all mixed up with seven times six." I loved that line.

When he recovers he discovers that he's not alone, and finds himself face to face with a real live caveman! When he introduces himself, the caveman replies with a grunt. Can anyone guess what that grunt sounded l
ike? Hands up then! No, not you Jill, let's have someone else for a change... Brian! Stop picking your nose like that or you'll bend the aerial, and then you won't be able to send any text messages will you? Yes, Agnes?

"Can I go to the toilet please, Miss?"

Oh no, not again! Hurry up then... and stop calling me Miss - I think you might need some new glasses you know.

"Please Sir, I bet it sounded like "Stig" and that Barney thought that was the caveman's name."

That's right, Darius, but please just SAY the answer next time. I've told you before, there's really no need to sing everything in such a silly voice.
Anyway, Barney and Stig become friends even though they have trouble understanding each other, and, just as Mr. Benn, never returns home from that magical fancy dress shop without a souvenir, so Barney never leaves the cave empty handed, as he and Stig always swap stuff. Things which seem trivial to Barney, like matches and a penknife are valuable to Stig, and Stig's home-made (or rather cave-made) arrow-heads and spears would be highly prized by any eight-year-old boy.

The two of them spend their time wombling around the dump finding new uses for old junk, a bit like the programme controller for Granada Plus. Occasionally there is the odd old-fashioned expression (like "Golly!") which date the book rather, and the odd weak chapter. In fact I was beginning to think it was a mistake to read it during one silly episode where Barney encounters some robbers (think Home Alone but with a friendly caveman handy), but then it got quite exciting and unpredictable towards the end. The fancy-dress party at Mrs. Fawkham-Greene's house is particularly memorable. I'll be interested to see if the Beeb change her name! [It certainly looks like the TV series is going to be very different to the book - a much more modern version of the story.]
>
It's good fantasy, but children's books have moved on a lot since it was first published in 1963, at a cost of three shillings. The TV series tie-in edition, which will be in the shops soon, will set you back a fiver.

¶ Paperback: £4.99 ¶ ISBN: 0140301968 ¶ pp 157 ¶
¶ Paperback: £4.99 ¶ ISBN: 0141314672 ¶ pp 160 ¶ TV tie-in edition ¶
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