I left buzzing, brimming with enthusiasm and positive energy. But the thing that stuck out most in my mind was a workshop which involved several texts that were recommended. I was particularly impressed with the lovely Nikki Gamble, who recommended the texts, she seemed genuinely passionate and knowledgable about them. My mind set, I visited the library the following day and picked up a couple of the stand out ones.
The first of the books I read was called 'The Silver Donkey', a World War One story of a deserter who is discovered in a forest by two young girls who set out to take care of him and help him get home. Terrified that he will be caught he insists that they keep his presence a secret but it isn't long before things begin to unravel.
At first (say the first 2 or 3 chapters) I was wondering what all the fuss was about. Yes the story read well, but it wasn't remarkable. In fact I made the mistake of judging it too harshly as 'just another war story'. I'm not ordinarily a lover of war stories.
I've never been happier to be wrong. As the story progressed and the characters unfolded I fell a little more and more in love with it. I found myself crying at a story told of a soldier who died in agony and denial whilst no one noticed. It broke my heart!
But the real stand out feature of this story was the sudden explosion of rich, varied, beautiful language. To show you just how rich the language was I decided to show a picture of all the interesting words I'd noted.
After a while I simply gave up noting, not because I was put off but more because I was concerned that if I noted every word, I wouldn't be giving other books a chance to impress me. This book reminded me that the English language is truly something of value and beauty, with all of its intricacies, rules and exceptions. We should treasure it. How can you not enjoy rolling words such as unpeturbed (p108), larrikin (p146) and uncouth (p168) off the tongue?
The chapters are of ideal length and the rich language is well used, serving the plot instead of hampering it. All in all it is something I would recommend for any child who can read and needs an enfusion of vocabulary.
So far it's my top read of the year... ...so far.
A book with a colour in the title it's book 9 on my 52 book list.
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