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Elidor - Book review
I remembered reading Elidor (by Alan Garner) as a teenager and it left a couple of strong images in my mind. The children with the four treasures standing next to a ruined church in Manchester, a door set into a green mound and a dying unicorn.
Turns out on rereading the book that this is pretty much all there is to it. There's so much more that it could have been.
The 'Treasures' have no purpose. We never learn who made them or why. Elidor itself is never seen beyond a passing glimpse. What is this place that we should care about it?
Findhorn has no existence other than to die. Why is his singing important? Again, no reason. In Narnia, we understand Aslan's death - it has a meaning in mythological terms.
Last, but not least, who are the bad guys? There are people trying to kill Findhorn, but why? What do they gain from his death? Why do they wish to destroy Elidor?
The whole book seems to be a sequence of atmospheric scenes, but with no real plot behind them to grant them any meaning.
Turns out on rereading the book that this is pretty much all there is to it. There's so much more that it could have been.
The 'Treasures' have no purpose. We never learn who made them or why. Elidor itself is never seen beyond a passing glimpse. What is this place that we should care about it?
Findhorn has no existence other than to die. Why is his singing important? Again, no reason. In Narnia, we understand Aslan's death - it has a meaning in mythological terms.
Last, but not least, who are the bad guys? There are people trying to kill Findhorn, but why? What do they gain from his death? Why do they wish to destroy Elidor?
The whole book seems to be a sequence of atmospheric scenes, but with no real plot behind them to grant them any meaning.