Unless... (The Lorax - Dr. Seuss)

Member Name: helican

Product:	The Lorax - Dr. Seuss
Date:	31/05/09 (13 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: an enthralling story with a clear message

Disadvantages: not for you if you're after simple Dr Seuss daftness

The Lorax is a classic Dr Seuss book, but this time it comes with a hard-hitting message rather than just wordplay for the sheer fun of it.

It's the tale of the Once-ler, who arrives by covered wagon to a beautiful, unspoilt wilderness 'when the grass was still green & the pond was still wet & the clouds were still clean.' He sees the lovely Truffula trees whose friuts support the Brown Bar-ba-loots - & begins to chop them down to make Thneeds, which are big Seuss-ish multipurpose garments.

Suddenly the Lorax appears ('He was shortish. And oldish. And brownish. And mossy,') & begs the Once-ler to leave the Truffula trees alone, to no avail.

The Thneed-making business booms: the Once-ler's family arrive & 'I biggered my factory, I biggered my roads, I biggered my wagons, I biggered the loads' as the Truffula trees fast disappear.

The hungry Bar-ba-loots leave & the Swomee-Swans can't sing any more, & the skies & waterways are filling with pollution from the factory. The Lorax shows the Once-ler the damage he's causing, "...making Gluppity-Glupp. Also Schloppity-Schlop. And what do you do with this leftover goo? I'll show you." But his pleas fall on deaf ears as the last Truffula tree falls.

The workforce leave, the animals & plants have gone, & 'Now all that was left 'neath the bad-smelling sky was my big empty factory... the Lorax... & I.' But finally the Lorax leaves too & the Once-ler is left to ponder his terrible mistake. Only the very end of the book leaves us with a glimmer of hope that things could be put right.

It's a sobering book that sets out clearly & simply how easy it is for greed to cause shortsightedness, which in turn can have catastrophic consequences. It shows young readers the direct link between industry & the environment & shows just what pollution means in real terms for wildlife.

The two pages that describe the land before the Once-ler arrives are pure joyous Dr Seuss silliness, & fabulously multicoloured.The changes that come about are a gradual thing, as the Once-ler makes first just one Thneed in a little hut, then mechanisation appears, the trees gradually go & the sky gets darker & smokier until it's a choked, barren, gloomy landscape.

Mercifully the ending saves the book from being complete doom & gloom & makes it an enjoyable read rather than a lecture: a Truffula seed has been kept, & entrusted to the Once-ler's young visitor in the hope that he'll 'Protect it from axes that hack. Then the Lorax & all of his friends may come back.'

It would be nice to think that we could do the same.

Summary: a wise fable on the importance of safeguarding the environment, in classic Dr Seuss style.