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'THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM is the kind of book that turned me into a reader in the first place. It has the same clever interweaving of history and fantasy that I so admired in Nigel McDowell's previous books but is also filled with an utterly infectious kind of delight. The characters are so vivid and the world brims with the most gorgeous detail. And if this wasn't enough, the language itself is a pure joy. Nigel McDowell has left an extraordinary legacy behind, something of the imagination and something of the soul.' Eimear McBride, multi-award-winning author of A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING'Lyrical, ominous and utterly original, with a passionate sense of place and history, THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM is one of those books that pushes strange roots down into your mind.' Frances Hardinge, Costa Award-winning author of THE LIE TREELuke Mountfathom knows he is special and odd. He is told so by everyone he knows. His parents are special and odd too - they are the keepers of the House of Mountfathom, a magnificent stately home where the wrong door could take you to a far away land, and strange animals appear to stalk the grounds at midnight. The house is his home - but it is also the headquarters of the Driochta, a magic-weaving group of poets, artists, politicians and activists charged with keeping the peace in Ireland. They have many powers - have mastered Mirror-Predicting and Smoke-Summoning and Storm-Breaching - and a final ability: that of Mogrifying; taking on a unique animal form.But Luke's idyllic existence at Mountfathom cannot last. Word reaches the House of protests across Ireland. There is a wish for independence, a rising discontent and scenes of violence that even the Driochta cannot control. In Dublin, death and disease is running rife in the tenements; a darkness is clogging the air, and is intent on staying. And when things quickly spin out of control for the Driochta, it is up to Luke, his cat Morrigan and his best friend Killian to worm out the heart of the evil in their land.
Format: Paperback / softbackCONTRIBUTORS: Nigel McDowellEAN: 9781471404047COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 318 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Hot Key BooksDATE PUBLISHED: 2017-03-09CITY: GENRE: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General, JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & MagicWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Interest age: from c 12 years, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy
A unique creation ... a gripping fantasy adventure that's very difficult to put down., A great read and a cunning reworking of Irish history and lore into fantasy, 'An inventive and sometimes dark caper told in playful, idiosyncratic language, The House of Mountfathom is a vivid children's novel, overflowing with magic and the fantastic., McDowell's language is poetic. I read more than one phrase aloud to savour the effect. The novel itself is something between a narrative and a piece of prose poetry. Divided into short sections, it is as interesting to read some of these separately for meaning as it is to work through the overall narrative., I definitely recommend this book if you like Harry Potter but don't expect anything too much like Harry Potter, it is a different kind of Magic!
Nigel McDowell grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of his time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with his brother and sister, and reading. His favourite book as a child was The Witches by Roald Dahl.After graduating with a degree in English he spent almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With him he took a small notebook containing notes about a boy called "Bruno Atlas", and a seaside town called "Pitch End". When he returned to Ireland after his travels, one notebook had multiplied into many, and eventually his notes for Tall Tales from Pitch End filled a large cardboard box... TALL TALES FROM PITCH END was Nigel's first novel, followed up by THE BLACK NORTH. THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM was Nigel's final novel, before his death in early 2016 at the age of thirty-four.
'THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM is the kind of book that turned me into a reader in the first place. It has the same clever interweaving of history and fantasy that I so admired in Nigel McDowell's previous books but is also filled with an utterly infectious kind of delight. The characters are so vivid and the world brims with the most gorgeous detail. And if this wasn't enough, the language itself is a pure joy. Nigel McDowell has left an extraordinary legacy behind, something of the imagination and something of the soul.' Eimear McBride, multi-award-winning author of A GIRL IS A HALF-FORMED THING'Lyrical, ominous and utterly original, with a passionate sense of place and history, THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM is one of those books that pushes strange roots down into your mind.' Frances Hardinge, Costa Award-winning author of THE LIE TREELuke Mountfathom knows he is special and odd. He is told so by everyone he knows. His parents are special and odd too - they are the keepers of the House of Mountfathom, a magnificent stately home where the wrong door could take you to a far away land, and strange animals appear to stalk the grounds at midnight. The house is his home - but it is also the headquarters of the Driochta, a magic-weaving group of poets, artists, politicians and activists charged with keeping the peace in Ireland. They have many powers - have mastered Mirror-Predicting and Smoke-Summoning and Storm-Breaching - and a final ability: that of Mogrifying; taking on a unique animal form.But Luke's idyllic existence at Mountfathom cannot last. Word reaches the House of protests across Ireland. There is a wish for independence, a rising discontent and scenes of violence that even the Driochta cannot control. In Dublin, death and disease is running rife in the tenements; a darkness is clogging the air, and is intent on staying. And when things quickly spin out of control for the Driochta, it is up to Luke, his cat Morrigan and his best friend Killian to worm out the heart of the evil in their land.
Format: Paperback / softbackCONTRIBUTORS: Nigel McDowellEAN: 9781471404047COUNTRY: United KingdomPAGES: WEIGHT: 318 gHEIGHT: 198 cm
PUBLISHED BY: Hot Key BooksDATE PUBLISHED: 2017-03-09CITY: GENRE: JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General, JUVENILE FICTION / Fantasy & MagicWIDTH: 129 cmSPINE:
Book Themes:
Interest age: from c 12 years, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Action and adventure stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy
Nigel McDowell grew up in County Fermanagh, rural Northern Ireland, and as a child spent most of his time battling boredom, looking for adventure - crawling through ditches, climbing trees, devising games to play with his brother and sister, and reading. His favourite book as a child was The Witches by Roald Dahl.After graduating with a degree in English he spent almost two years living and working in Australia and New Zealand. With him he took a small notebook containing notes about a boy called "Bruno Atlas", and a seaside town called "Pitch End". When he returned to Ireland after his travels, one notebook had multiplied into many, and eventually his notes for Tall Tales from Pitch End filled a large cardboard box... TALL TALES FROM PITCH END was Nigel's first novel, followed up by THE BLACK NORTH. THE HOUSE OF MOUNTFATHOM was Nigel's final novel, before his death in early 2016 at the age of thirty-four.
Die verhaal van die kasarm en die Calitze kom tot 'n mooi einde
Ek kan nie ’n boek summier toemaak nadat die slotsin geskryf is nie. Ek lees álles, tot by die outeursnotas en die bronnelys (gewoonlik gooi ek darem net vlugtig ’n oog oor die bonne!). Chanette Paul maak in die nota oor Maanschijnbaai 2, die verdere verhaal van Nan en Jeannie, die stelling: “Lesers moet my asseblief vergewe dat my verbeelding altyd die oorhand oor die werklikheid kry en verdigsel voorkeur bo feite.” (p.635) Ek wil daarby aanhaak en bieg dat ’n uitstekende verhoudingsroman soos hierdie tydelik die oorhand gekry het oor my traagheid om te lees oor reïnkarnasie en die esoteriese. Die klomp Calitzse het my tyd en aandag totaal gekaap.
Die skrywer wy die laaste bladsye aan ’n verduideliking oor hoe die Maanschijnbaai-tweeluik ontstaan het. Sy beweer dat die Calitze haar “onkant” betrap het. Sy wou ’n romanse skryf maar uiteindelik was die karakters so kompleks dat dit op twee dik boeke en ’n intense familiedrama uitgeloop het.
Van die onderskeie karakters raak diep waarhede kwyt wat die moeite werd is om te onderstreep en te onthou, soos Zach wat dit gehad het oor die risiko om iemand op ’n pedestal te plaas omdat jy daardeur die persoon ’n onreg aandoen. (p.539) En Nan, wat die hele klomp Calitze moes grootkry, se wyse raad: “Met eerlikheid, Jeannie, kom ’n mens baie verder as met opoffering. Met eerlikheid gee jy almal ’n regverdige kans. Opoffering beteken bloot jy doen iets teen jou sin omdat jy glo dit sal ander baat.” (p.613)
Maak seker dat jy genoeg tyd op hande het, dan lees jy hierdie tweeluik in volgorde, Jo & Sue, gevolg deur Nan & Jeannie. Dit is hersien en met splinternuwe, pragtige baadjies uitgegee deur Lapa Uitgewers.
A very practical approach and the tools to go along with it
Very useful. The book provides a structure and an approach that I would have been useful earlier in my investing. I like the five gates and in particular the attention to quality and management's capital allocation decisions. I will also apply the idea of the stewardship log to get more explicit on my investment theses. This is kind of the practical aspect of what I learned from the Psychology of Money.
the title ties in really nicley the more towards the end but the title for the book suits it real...
the book is very slow burn and takes a while for like captivating parts of the book .but the middle to the end the pace of the book is really nice the beginning is just repetitive and and trust the processes
Skuld en vergifnis word nie versuiker in hierdie jeugverhaal nie
Twee halwes maak ’n hele is die wenner van ’n jeugboekprys. Ek moes myself gedurig herinner wat die teikenmark nou eintlik is, want die sake wat aangeraak word, is geensins beperk tot jeugdige lesers nie. Die sterk newe-karakters dra daartoe by die selfs baie ouer lesers goed aanklank kan vind by die storielyn wat ontvou.
“Hulle sê as jy iemand vergewe, lig jy ’n vrag van daardie persoon se skouers af. Maar miskien is sommige dinge net te swaar om van iemand anders se skouers te lig?” (p.178) Baie aandag word gegee aan skuld en vergifnis, maar geen suikeromhulde kitsoplossings word aangebied nie. Dit sou die storie beslis vervlak het.
Na die aardskuddende ontdekking wat Lira gemaak het, gaan sy vir drie maande na ’n Griekse eiland en maak sy kennis met haar ander helfte, ’n halfsuster wat presies die teenoorgestelde is van haar eie ingetoë, overthinking self. Ek het daarvan gehou dat hulle, die verskille ten spyt, nie in heftige konflik was nie. Eerder besig om algaande te ontdek dat hulle by mekaar kan aanpas en albei sterker daardeur kan kom.
Marita van der Vyver is ’n waardige wenner van die Tafelberg Jeugboekprys en hierdie boek hoort beslis in van der Vyver versamelings. Dit is uitgegee deur Tafelberg, ’n druknaam van Jonathan Ball Uitgewers.