Tuesday, February 28, 2017

On "The Marzipan Pig": A Book Review



Title: The Marzipan Pig
Author: Russell Hoban
Genre: Fiction, Children’s

About the book…
It all begins with a wistful marzipan pig behind a sofa who gets eaten by a mouse, who befriends a clock, and so it continues moving from one character to the next each who affects the other in turn.

What I think… 
I vaguely remembered having read this book when I was in elementary school and being a fan of Hoban (the Frances the Badger books have always been favorites), as well having never been disappointed with anything The New York Review: Children’s Collection has published, I decided it was time to reread it. I loved it. 

It’s as equally bittersweet as it is beautiful. The story is a fluid one, moving from one character to another seamlessly. In doing this Hoban delicately captures the nature of how life goes on and the effect we all have on one another. 

My favorite portions of the book are the parts about the owl in love with a taxi and the final mouse who makes a dress out of flower petals thinking that it could be more beautiful than the flower who shed them. 

The illustrations by Blake (yet another favorite of mine) are a charming companion to the story. 

To sum it all up…  
A lovely and unique book on life that adults can enjoy just as much as children.

2 comments:

  1. This sounds interesting! And I loved the Frances books ♥

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    Replies
    1. Yay, another Frances fan! Apparently Hoban also wrote novels for adults, which seem to be quite varied in theme, so you might see a review for one of those later this year.

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