Fire and Hemlock

One of my favourite books, i read it when i was much younger and have read it innumberable times since. I never tire of it and always get so drawn in by the narrative that i forget i've read it and thus i'm still excited and worried as if reading it for the first time.
Diana Wynne Jones is a great author and her other books are so charming, but this i feel is timeless and a read for all ages.

This is my first novel by Diana Wynne Jones, believe it or not, and it was so wonderful that I really shouldn't let it be my last. It's a masterful weaving together of the tales of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer. I fell in love with Thomas Lynn -- imagine a bookish musician, a cellist actually, just perfect -- and spent the story feverishly wondering how it would all turn out. Main character Polly grows up in the novel, trying to remember what really went on after she met Mr Lynn at what she thought was a funeral. I just wish this book had a better cover-- the edition I read (pictured here) has a perfectly awful one.

Suomeksi: Tuli ja myrkkykatko

Lumoava ja maaginen fantasiakirja. Sisältää melkoisesti symboliikkaa ja ihmeen tuntua. Monitasoinen nuortenromaani, josta irtoaa paljon vanhemmillekin.

Romaanissa seurataan Pollyn kasvua kymmenvuotiaasta parikymppiseksi. Se kuvaa Pollyn eri kasvunvaiheita ihastumisista, harrastusintoja, joista rakkaus lukemiseen ja kirjallisuuteen kantaa läpi koko tarinan. Romaani on fantasiakirja, tyttökirja ja kasvutarina. Sitä on vaikea kategorisoida yhteen luokkaan.

Romaani on psykologinen. Pollyn vanhemmat eroavat ja ja isä muuttaa pois kotoa. Kotona on vaikeaa ja arkielämä tuntuu synkältä. Samoihin aikoihin Polly tapaa Thomas Lynnin, nuoren sellistin, josta muodostuu hänelle rakkain ystävä, jonka kanssa Polly alkaa leikkiä mielikuvitusleikkejä, Yllättäen kuvitellut asiat alkavat käydä toteen. Yhdeksän vuotta myöhemmin Polly havahtuu unohtaneensa herran Lynnin. Kukaan muukaan ei tunnu muistavan häntä. Onko tärkeä ihminen ollut koko ajan pelkkää yksinäisen lapsen mielikuvituksen tuotetta?

Tuli ja myrkkykatko ei anna helppoja vastauksia vaan jättää paljon lukijan tulkinnan varaan. Kuuluu lempikirjoihini, luonnollisesti.

Just begun this one, it's looking good so far ...

And so it was! A very good story, lots of twists, and interesting characters. It's quite old now and written about a girl from age 10 to 15 ... i winder how old she seems to those who are currently that age? it's quite a jolt in some ways to see again just how different life was 23 years ago, how much more grown up, independant, intelligent, able to think for themsleves kids were than they are portrayed now. It makes me wonder how to do it in my own stories too. I cannot write gormless, ipod and computer-game-adisted kids!

Wynne Jones has built her story around the old legends of Tam Lin and Thomas the Rhymer, making a walking between worlds (phrase coined by Thomas the Rhymer) which is very effective. The lead character, Polly, discovers she's suffering from a memory loss and goes to refind the memories. Through this, Wynne Jones, revisits her life from age 10 to her current 19 yrs and shows us how she got to be who she now is. It's funny and scary and deep, and sad and meaningful and poignant and heart-tearing ... all the things that those years of one's life often are. Polly is by no means "super-woman", makes mistakes, is very believable, irritates the reader at times, but always she draws you on, deeper and deeper into her story.

The other good thing is that I didn;t know how it would end. i really didn't and usually i can suss out how the ending will be. I was not sure if Polly would live or die. I was not sure if her hero woul live or die. I didn;t know right up to the very end. that is quite an achievement for an author. The ending works. For me, it could have been slightly better drawn, i was getting the feel that wynne Jones was running out of steam - and this is a BIG DEAL for most authors, making an ending that truly works. things like Sam's "I'm back" at the end of LOTR are very hard to accomplish and soooooo brilliant when they arrive, leaving the reader still gasping! Wynne Jones doesn;t quite achieve that but that's probably a very minor quibble on my part!

The book is excellent, well written to a very high standard of language so that there are just about no jolts as you read, the whole thing flows. And always it draws you along. I really didn;t want to put it down and stayed up til 4am one nght reading in bed !!!

It is adventure, relationships, delicate romance, growing up, loss, gain, bout life.

Well recommended.

I love the way Jones writes, this isn't my favorite so far, but it is an excellent and engrossing read!

One of my favorite novels...a very philosophical, charming, mysterious, incredible fantasy book set in 1980s England! It's really more like magical realism.

A sweet and spooky story about memories lost and retrieved, bad magic and good magic, and the power of friendship.

Great read! A story that has many layers - from a girl with two sets of memories, a hero-in-training, love of books and writing stories, not to mention bargains with the fey folk - this is one of DWJ's best book ever!

And if you haven't read any of Diana Wynne Jones' books, seriously now what's wrong with you?

One of my all-time favorite mythologies.
Yay for people who weave Childe ballads and their cousins into stories for modern times.

I had to read the ending three times before I could sorta understand it, but the story was a fascinating read