Live on a plain and what is that woman on about! (Three To See The King - Magnus Mills)

Member Name: KingHerrod

Product:	Three To See The King - Magnus Mills
Date:	31/05/02 (231 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Plains, Wind, Crows

Disadvantages: Wind, Wind, Damn people

Live on a plain, sweep the sand away from your front door and balk when your neighbours come calling. That is the life for the narrator of this story and he likes his solitude and his sand sweeping. Not to mention his hobby of listening to the wind in the eaves of his house made of tin. It was his dream to live in a house of tin, but not on a windy plain, but what the heck, it is a house of tin and he is on his own. Well, until a woman named Mary Petrie comes calling. Mary Petrie quickly decides to exert her womanly influences on the house and solitary peace is disturbed, but companionship is strangely welcomed.

There we have the simple base for Magnus Mills' sparse novel, Three To See The King. Mills is known for his deadpan and distinctly original works and deadpan and original are how I found this. Mills' first book, The Restraint of Beasts has been a success across our globe and garnished a Booker nomination and the Whitbread first novel award. This his third novel has met with praise but no awards - but that doesn't matter it is still a rollicking thoughtful read.

The plot is simple and stripped to the bone; there cannot be a book where so little happens, whilst so much happens - not in a narrative sense but in a philosophical sense. Our narrator becomes intrigued and irate at the exodus across the windy plain, an exodus to live with and be part of the charismatic Michael Hawkin's grand vision and society. What is so clever and compelling about Michael, what is wrong with living on your own, or with a strangely appealing and demanding woman, named Mary Petrie? (Sweep the sand, don't sweep the sand; walk with me, don't walk with me!) Why would people want to move their entire house of tin, piece by piece, to go and live on another part of the plain? Why don't people just get on with their own lives - instead of fawning to Michael?

""Have you got something against Michael?"
&qu
ot;Of course not."
"I mean you should give him a chance before you judge him."
"Yes, OK." I said. "You're probably right.""

Three To See the King is deadpan and comic in the same way as certain Python sketches are, poking fun at the most simple of things, analysing human behaviour and interaction between friends and the sexes. Why do men seem to think that a friendly woman has sex on the mind? Why do women change their mind so often? I would go so far as to say that Three To See The King is an allegory on life as powerful as some of Nietzsche's own. Represented in the novel are powerful questions such as, blind faith, the social standing and conflicting nature of human beings. Why are some people gregarious, whilst are others quietly observant? Why are some obedient to anyone willing to take command and show the lead, whilst others look to themselves to lead themselves. Perhaps Mills' is also pointing out why Religious bodies can exercise such power with their own blindly made promises, based purely on blind faith. But then despite a feeling I possess, that human beings are ultimately rational creatures, blind faith plays a huge role in all societies. To me though, the crucial message of this wonderful book, is think for yourself, don't be a sheep and follow the crowds or crows because that is the comfortable thing to do - go your way and no one else's.

"By now some of the trails had merged to form more obvious routes, and I noticed that once they'd joined together like this they never separated again. After I'd been going for some while I began to yearn for the sight of a stray set of footprints wandering off to the left or the right, choosing their own direction, rather than merely following the crowd. None appeared."

To me the books force exists in its simplicity, it is easy to read, almost a page turner in some respects, yet in the sim
ple and sparse writing there exists a powerful celebration of the diversity of human beings, with warnings cleverly signposted, to make sure that you know what you want. The style of writing, surprisingly allows the reader to be swept away to this plain, to soar on its winds in a magical, beautiful and unique way. Without long detailed flowery descriptions or long words, Mills' manages to convey an eccentric plot with real feeling for all the characters and the location. A house made entirely of tin, a wind swept plain. The solitary, the grumpy, the strong silent types and those that possess that gift of charisma.

Three To See The King is dry humour at its best and most intelligent. Furthermore, in a world where so few contemporary novels genuinely stand out from the crowd, this one does.

Having read this short novel, Mills is now an author that I would go out of my way to read more of - just watch out for crows and try not to be drawn into following them, without asking yourself why follow can I not lead?

Published by Flamingo.

Priced £6.99.

A short but satisfying read at 167 pages long.

ISBN 0-00-711047-2.

Further details can be found at www.fireandwater.com and www.amazon.co.uk.

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